[Free-sklyarov-uk] Sony destroys the PSX and PS2 mod market

[Edward Welbourne]

> Sony has just effectively destroyed the market for modchips for
> their consoles by issuing threats of legal action against the
> producers of them.

> Even thought the modchips are not illegal it seems that everyone is
> folding and ceasing to supply the chips.

not only does this damage consumer rights, it's a form of malicious
prosecution (hmm, there's a more apt term but I've forgotten it) and
clearly being done in order to intimidate.  I'd love to see this
treated as a form of assault ... threatening behaviour intended to
cause fear ...

It harms business generally - folk who've invested non-trivially in
designing modchips (whatever those may be - I confess ignorance) have
no guarantee of any return on their investment ... yes, boys and
girls, this is IP law managing to serve the direct opposite of its
supposed purpose: it's suppressing innovation.  Please, Jason, would
you gather together more documentation on this - it's important !

Thus is the law abused and brought into disrepute ... which will come
back to bite Sony in the end, as folk without respect for the law only
abide by the 11th commandment.

Missing jargon - can anyone remind me:
  going to court wantonly
  taking folk to court in order to inconvenience them
it's not `malicious prosecution' per se and there's a quite specific
piece of legal jargon for it. [I remember a news story a few months
back involving a pair of brothers, with very limited talents, who were
convicted of it after taking a whole slew of cases alleging unjust
discrimination against assorted parties who'd refused them A levels,
jobs, etc. on the legitimate grounds of lack of ability.]
It's something along the lines of `frivolous litigation'.

	Eddy.
--
... it's practically impossible to copy-protect music.  But what you
can do very effectively is annoy the very people who are quite
prepared to pay for the use of music.
                   -- Dave Shapton, in Sound-on-Sound, 2001/December