VICTORY!
ElectricBirdLand today was the first company with only one employee in the history of Sony's campaign of terrorising small businesses to secure a contractual obligation from Sony (cross undertaking) to pay us damages (money we could have earned) for the period that we choose not to sell the PSP.
So, what happened with ElectricBirdLand?
As I understand, Sony got what we offered them on May the 19th, to stop selling PSP consoles and games however whereas before we offered 3 days notice when we intend to start selling again, this time we only need to give them 24 hours notice. This time they gave us the cross undertaking that was rejected originally, of damages (which means they have to pay us any money we could have made during the period we are not selling).
One thing that was interesting was that Sony's barrister said that they would replace faulty stock received in the period of the injunction and issue replacements to our customers on September 1st! This has interesting implications to Sony's warrantying/not warrantying import devices.
We now have 28 days to file witness statements and evidence. If any of you guys out there are willing to provide statements where you have seen PSPs on sale in high street stores or even better photographs of them doing so it will assist us.
Thank you for your interest and thank you to all the retailers that came out in support. Remember Sony are NOT the police (but they do
have 151,400 persons (as of March 31,2005) and 7,159,600 million yen ($14.5 Billion) (Sales and Operating revenue 2004) [1]
Dan
26 comments:
Hang in there mate.
B
Hi Dan,
Is that a good result?
As I say, it is what we offered them 1 month ago, now there are less strings attached and they will pay us damages if they lose. It is a result, not good or bad.
By the way, the ruling was made as the matter has been adjourned until I file our witness statements in reply - we have 28 days to do that but we can file sooner and give Sony 24 hours notice that we will start selling PSPs again.
ElectricBirdLand will not be bulldozed (I much prefer mowing the grass. Speaking of which, my garden is being neglected. I will water the grass tonight and feed the sunflowers. I think It's time I spent some time with Susannah and Ella - maybe I will have a waterfight. Yes. I think I will)
Hey Dan, the CEX in Liverpool Central station has got PSPs in the window. I'll try and get pictures for you :-)
There's a shop in Western Road in Brighton that has PSP's in the window, I'll try and get some pics too.
last satardays kids tv show "Minstry Of Mayhem" on ITV gave one away as a prize with 5 games.
Well done Dan!!!
Now you can prepare for the next hurdle of your pending baby!!! I'll tell all!
From
Hayley ;-)
will you be selling the PSP again ? i was hoping to order one when i next get paid :)
Good to hear EBL came out top.
Ebuyer.com have them for sale. Can't get much bigger really.
TalkSPORT and the Wireless Group have been offering them as prizes on their reverse auctions across the commercial radio network.
IMHO Sony are just trying on bully boy tactics and nobody likes a bully. If they were that worried about losing sales then they would bring forward the official launch date of the PSP. You will most probably find that it is one of Sony's other 'distributors' such as Dixons Group PLC that have put them up to this action.
Fight them all the way matey. You have my backing
Well done there. It's good to see someone taking a stand against the bully boys - even if it's because you were forced to. I'm sick of this corporate nightmare society is just simply lying down and taking. I've got no problems with Sony, but I generally I have no problems boycotting unethical vendors with malacious commercial practices ;-) And thanks to google and The Register I found your story. Cheers - Andy L.
Dan your a star don't let the big wigs at sony drag you down. Keep up the good work, we're behind you all the way.
Jon
(Pending customer)
There is a small trader down the road from me (about 200yds away) that is selling PSPs, with a sign saying "PSPs on sale here" in the window.
I'll try and get some photos. They even offer a choice of Japanese and USA ones.
Being offered as prizes on some of the msic channels on satellite, Kiss is one i think
as for damaging sony my son had one for his birthday and he's had kids call around from school to see it, common reaction being they have to get one when they come out or for xmas etc......great free publicity for sony really
There's an electrical retailer in Amsterdam airport that sells PSPs and games.
Also, a small electronics retailer at Bayswater - turn left out of the tube station - can't miss it. £250 for a machine and £50 for games. I'd be surprised if they sold any...
Good luck sir ;)
i have a list of over 50 retailers of psps to europe on my website, that i think i could make a good case against sony's injunction
i have emailed you dan.
Hi Dan. I have just been reading about your case on www.theregister.co.uk and think that Sony's stance is disgusting. Anyway you asked about information regarding PSP's being available on the high street. I work in Glasgow and there is chain of stores called "Cash Convertors" in Scotland which buys and sells second hand electronic goods. However they are currenly selling brand new imported PSP's. With the basic pack retailling for £249. The store where I have seen it is at 74 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 1NQ and their phone number is 0141 332 6070. Up until last week they had PSP's displayed in the window with details of the offer.
CEX and X electrical in Kingston are both selling machines and games (US and Jap). X Electrical even has them displaid in their window.
None of this seems to have affected the ebay trade. there are still several hundred machines on there for sale, not to mention thousands of games.
Dan, why do you wish to know other retailers details?
Well David, the reasons are several. It's clear that this injunction has made little if no impact on the flood of PSPs and games coming in to the country.
I counted almost 1500 auctions on eBay.co.uk for PSPs and games. There are well over 100 websites within the UK selling.
There is a shop on EVERY high street in the UK selling.
Major high street retailers in the white market are using imported consoles to demonstrate the PSP. This includes DIXONS and GAME.
You can buy a PSP from every single European member state.
The Injunction on electricbirdland is a hollow result for Sony.
Some people have said to me (including staff within Sony) that it is an 'own goal'.
As well as a businessman I am also a fan of Play station products and this has left me feeling very dissapointed.
Very dissapointed indeed.
Hi,
How comes that the SCEE president David Reeves having described the selling of import PSP in the UK as "really small beer", SCEE lawyers can still argue in court that "the importation and sale of PSPs would "very significantly impact the excitement and anticipation of the market and the way we can exploit that in the run-up to the September launch" and the Judge not scoff at the contradiction ?
Did you not know that double standards are perfectly acceptable? This is business, if you have got money the rules do not apply.
Well, maybe SCE needs money to recover for their late March payment of $90.7 Million for patent infringement. And SCEA have another lawsuit coming from Marvel and 20th Century Fox for copyright infringement.
If someone sues them for trade marks infringement (PSP anyone ?), they will have cover all possible infringement categories. Nice job for a company who wants to police the world.
check out xbite on ebay
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