Sign in / up

back to article Patent row gets Playstation 3s banned from Europe

The long-running patent dispute between LG and Sony over Blu-Ray technology just got serious - a European court has approved a ten day ban on imports of Playstation 3s into Europe. A court ruling in the Hague last week means Sony's game console and its Bravia TVs could disappear from the High Street in the next few weeks. …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.

Page:

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah, the Linux lovers...

    Get over it people. IT'S A GAMES CONSOLE!! It's what it was designed for and what it was marketed as. Yes, they 'allowed' users to install the geek lovers command line heaven on it but they didn't have to and they have the right to change it.

    If you want Linux, get any one of the cheap laptops or old PCs on ebay and type away. PS3s are for GAMES and Blu-Rays and they still do that and they do it well. That is what they were originally designed to do and what Sony said they were for. They never marketed the 'other OS' function, it was just a little extra they decided to remove. Yes, it's annoying but live with it and move on. This news item was about a Patent row between LG & Sony, not anything to do with Sony removing the Linux option on PS3s.

    Blasting at someone who disagrees with you as 'living in his Mum's basement' when in my experience is where all Linux lovers live is very ironic.

    get a life people. Live & let live. :)

    0 8
    1. John H Woods Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      "IT'S A GAMES CONSOLE"

      In other words, a post-sale change made by a manufacturer doesn't count because it is not something in which you are interested?

      You say "SONY had the right to change it." That, my friend, is what is called begging the question - you are assuming the very point that is at issue. Naturally, if everybody agreed with you that SONY had that right, you would be entirely correct. But they don't, so you aren't. What you need to demonstrate, if you wish to be taken seriously, is some supporting evidence that SONY have the right to make such changes in the first place.

      Of course this is all slightly off topic but, considering the timing (virtually contemporaneous) and the subject matter (ownership of intellectual property) it is hardly surprising that the matter has been raised.

      I personally don't give a toss about OtherOS, even though I experimented with it. But I can see why people who DO give a toss about it are aggrieved and, at the moment, I think they are correct that SONY have been (at the very least) unfair. No wonder they are pleased to see SONY getting some 'karmic retribution'.

      2 0
      1. Highlander
        Reply Icon

        Um, get it straight please.

        Sony made no change to the console in a unilateral manner. The firmware that disabled OtherOS was completely optional, and after reminding the user that it would remove OtherOS, it required the user to confirm that the installation should occur. Not installing the new firmware had no effect on the ability to play BluRays or games that consumers already owned.

        It's factual to say that users that upgraded to the new firmware lost OtherOS capability, and it's factual to say that PSN requires the latest firmware and so people who did not upgrade were unable to use PSN. It's also factual to point out that this was made clear at the time of installation, which gave people time to find an alternative Linux system before upgrading their firmware, if they desired.

        What people are arguing doesn't actually fit the facts. People regularly argue that Sony removed a feature from their PS3. Well, the slim never had OtherOS, so let's just discard that group, owners of the Phat system had to specifically affirm the installation of the new firmware ad the removal of the OtherOS feature themselves. It was not auto-installed by Sony, it was not mandated by Sony for the continued operation of the PS3. Failing to install the firmware did not deprive anyone of any product they had paid for at all. the fact that you can't access PSN is nothing to do with the issue because PSN is a separate service with it's own terms and conditions of use. Arguing that somehow the inability of a PS3 that wasn't upgraded to connect top PSN is a removal of a feature, ignores the simple fact that buying a PS3 does not guarantee PSN access.

        It was and is as it always has been, if you want OtherOS, keep the old firmware, if you want to use PSN, upgrade and find an alternative system for Linux. Your game console is primarily a game console, and secondarily a movie player. Other OS is at best a tertiary feature.

        0 2

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. Erroneous Howard

    One other thing to bear in mind

    Not entering into the "Sony are great/Sony are arseholes" debate, or even the legality/morality of the patent war, there is one point which may have no legal value but is of definite relevance:

    It is mainly down to Sony and to the PS3 that Blu-ray won the format war with HD-DVD. Had the situation been otherwise then the chances are that HD-DVD would now be the favoured format upon the high-street and LG's patent would be for a technology that had about as much retail value as a bag of frogs - as it would be almost impossible to topple a statistically similar tech once it was already established.

    I don't like Sony, or their attitude towards their customers, but I do think that is relevant.

    0 0

Page:

This topic is closed for new posts.