Sony Turns the Screws on PSP Importers

Sony dearly wants you to buy a PSP, but only when and how they say you should.

The battle over the right to sell imported PSPs took an ugly turn this week when Sony started sending out lawyer's letters informing online and high street stores that if they did not stop selling the new handheld, which is only set to go on sale in Europe in September, Sony would be forced to take legal action.

While several retailers, both online and off, have already complied, removing the PSP from their shelves, some, such as ElectricBirdLand, have contested whether Sony is in a position to order them to stop and responded to the company by saying it's merely filling an obvious gap in the market.

"All we offer is the one thing Sony has failed to do, and that is to give the customer exactly what they want, when they want it," Dan Morelle, managing director of ElectricBirdLand, told news service Reuters.

And according to Morelle, the situation is such that even members of Sony's own staff have bought PSPs from ElectricBirdLand.

For it's part, SCEE is adamant that what importers are doing is unlawful and violates the company's trademarks.

"It should be clearly understood that under no circumstances does SCE consent to such activities," a spokesman for the company told trade magazine MCV.

There does seem to be an issue over who, precisely, has control of the PSP name in the UK, as the brand has been registered by Bristol-based Owtanet for one of its e-commerce tools since 2000. Neither Sony nor Owtanet has said whether this legal entanglement is adding to the PSP's release woes.

Even if Sony does manage to squelch British importers, though, it is powerless to stop retailers based abroad, such as Play-Asia.com and Lik-Sang.com, both of which are still offering the PSP.

Sony will officially release the PSP in Europe on September 1st.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games