Sony Suffers Setback in Battle to Stop Global Imports
Australian consumer watchdogs have stated that they will attempt to block SCE’s court action to have “chipping” of any of its machines made illegal.
A pirate, yesterday
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been granted a chance to speak at the court case, at which Sony is expected to present a case stating that to allow machines to play imported games via a modification chip opens the floodgates to piracy, as most of the modification devices remove the copy protection from the console that prevents them from running pirated software. Phew!
The case goes before the Australian courts this April and is being viewed as a test-case for Europe and America by the industry.
The ACCC says Sony is protecting a system of global zones that operates against the interests of Australian consumers.
ACCC chairman Allan Fels said: "It is an attempt to lock out Australian mums, dads and children from enjoyment of legitimate products they have bought. Sony Computer Entertainment is moving, in this particular case, to prevent Australian consumers from reaping the benefits of globalisation."
SCE Australia MD Michael Ephraim defended Sony’s position. “The real issue is piracy," he said. "We have enough proof to show that piracy is rampant in Australia. The most pro-active way for us to stop piracy is stopping the modification of the systems to accept pirated games."
The case goes before the Australian courts this April and is being viewed as a test-case for Europe and America by the industry.
The ACCC says Sony is protecting a system of global zones that operates against the interests of Australian consumers.
ACCC chairman Allan Fels said: "It is an attempt to lock out Australian mums, dads and children from enjoyment of legitimate products they have bought. Sony Computer Entertainment is moving, in this particular case, to prevent Australian consumers from reaping the benefits of globalisation."
SCE Australia MD Michael Ephraim defended Sony’s position. “The real issue is piracy," he said. "We have enough proof to show that piracy is rampant in Australia. The most pro-active way for us to stop piracy is stopping the modification of the systems to accept pirated games."
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