I saw this at work, nd had to laugh...

First off, for those that don't know, I'm not a fan of Sony.

I was looking at the Work Intranet and found a link to a page telling us that Sony had lost a court case against HMR&C, for the PS2 they brought into Europe between 2003 & 2004. They contested the demand for import duty. The rules were If it's a computer, there is no import duty. If it's a console, the import duty is charged at 1.7%. Sony claimed that the PS2 was a computer, and therefore not due to duty. The rules have now been changed, so neither pay duty, but Sony didn't pay the duty for machines brought in before the change. They also lost their right to appeal to the European court. They now have to pay 50 Million Euros in duty, plus court costs.

I couldn't help but laugh. I mean, did they really think they could convince intelligent people that a games console with no keyboard, mouse, monitor or hard drive could be classed as a computer. How stupid can you get? Just thought I'd share my amusement...

I sort of see their point and I guess maybe that is why the law was changed, but import tax is not really something that civil disobedience works on. They should have petitioned to change it or get an exemption, rather than just blowing it off, when they are a company that big.

Why do you not like Sony?

The case actually centered on the revokation of classification and not on whether the PS2 is a data processing machine or a games console. Sony was originally granted 'games console' status, but then the UK customs agency changed their minds. Sony contested the change and continued to use the old classification, hence the tax shortfall. Sony does not dispute that the PS2 is a games console under the new classification scheme - the original argument was that under the definitions used in the original classification, a games console cannot play CDs or DVDs but a computer can. The classifications were subsequently amended to say a games console is anything that 'primarily' plays an interactive game via a television screen.

mG