Following Sony's success in winning a court battle against Lik-Sang who was involved in selling Japanese PSPs to EU customers, Sony now wants to make it clear that it will prosecute any company that sells grey imported products, including the PS2, PSP and especially the PS3 to EU consumers. As Sony delayed the launch of the PS3 in Europe until March next year, Sony mentioned it will keep a very close eye on these and put the full scope of the law into use to stop any retailers who choose to ignore Sony's warning.
According to Sony, the main reason behind this policy is to prevent European consumers from being sold equipment that does not comply with Europe's strict safety standards, such as the voltage difference. They also mentioned that imported PS3s will not play European PS1 or PS2 software or movies on Blu-ray or DVD and will not be covered by warranty. Finally, Sony mentioned that it will also target anyone, including private individuals who attempt to sell the PS3 abroad online, such as through eBay.
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The company explained the reasoning behind this policy as trying to "protect" European consumers "from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards [due to voltage supply differences etc], is not backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software, will not play European Blu-ray movies or DVDs, and will not be covered by warranty." |
To me, it looks like Sony is aiming for maximum sales between the US and Japan if it is that serious about preventing it from being exported aboard. The region locking restriction may likely be another potential reason, for example, the last thing Sony would like to see is for a bulk of those who bought a grey imported model to try sending their player back 'as faulty" for not playing DVD or Blu-ray movie titles or been blown after being plugged into an EU power outlet without a transformer.
Source: c|net News
