Sony shuts down unauthorized PSP imports to Europe; PS3 likely held back

A British judge has ruled that Taiwanese import/export firm Lik-Sang cannot sell the Japanese version of the Sony PSP in Britain—or the rest of the EU—due to intellectual property and safety concerns.

The ruling was issued after a hearing where Lik-Sang had no representation, ending a year-long legal dispute. When the initial 6-to-9-month delay of the PSP in Europe created a juicy market opportunity for enterprising importers, Sony filed suit against Lik-Sang arguing economic harm to itself and dishonest selling tactics.

On its part, Lik-Sang maintains that Hong Kong law allows this "parrallel trade" operation, but Judge Michael Fysh felt that British law should overrule far-eastern statutes since the action was taking place on European and British soil. This case sets a stern precedent for would-be importers of PlayStation 3 consoles, should Europe lag behind Japan and North America once again—as expected.

Sony's safety concerns ring hollow, as the supposed culprit is the PSP power supply—which is an autosensing 110V to 240V unit that should work anywhere the plug fits. The "dishonest sales" argument, however, hits home for the PS3 case at least: Japanese or American units won't be able to play European DVDs or Blu-ray discs, at least not without some sort of aftermarket mod, thanks to region encoding issues etcetera.

European demand for the PS3 is expected to be rather high, but the official word is that the Old World will have to wait four months after the Japanese and US launches. With importers effectively shut down by this ruling, most European customers will apparently have to hold their horses until several months into 2007.