Let this be a lesson for those who intend to import Sony handhelds and consoles into the UK or European Economic Area (EEA) without the express consent of Sony. Online Asian electronics distributor Lik-Sang was found to be in breach of intellectual property rights for offering Japanese PSPs to European consumers.

The justification of Lik-Sang was that its operation was well within the boundaries of law as the company is based in Hong Kong, and does not physically have a trading presence in the EEA or UK. However, presiding Judge Michael Fysh held for plaintiff Sony, finding that, " The acts of which the complainant is made have, in my view, been perpetrated not in Hong Kong but here in the EEA, and without Sony's consent."

While Sony kept mum about the case, a company spokesperson did tell G.I.biz that they will not hesitate to fully utilize the protection granted to them by law with regard to the issue of grey importing. More than just the sale of their consoles and handhelds, what they are ultimately protecting is the consumers. They don't want people to be getting hardware that did not pass the strict EU or UK consumer safety standards. And there are, in fact, a lot of factors to consider, such as the voltage supply differences, the backwards compatibility of the softwares, and the warranty coverage.

The warning comes particularly strong in light of the upcoming release of the PlayStation 3 in the U. S. and Japan. They anticipate that European consumers would want to grab a hold of the next-gen consoles as soon as possible, given that the PAL release has been delayed for another four months.

Says Sony's unnamed spokesperson, "The law is clear; grey importing PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU, without the express permission of SCE is illegal. Therefore, we will utilize the full scope of the law to put a stop to any retailers who chose to do this."

That's tough.