k wrote:
] ] Sony said Monday that a court has upheld an earlier
] ] ruling by a California jury and ordered the company to
] ] halt sales of its PlayStation videogame console.
] ]
] ] The intellectual property lawsuit brought by Immersion
] ] Corp. covers technology used to make a controller to
] ] vibrate during game play, which Immersion claims Sony
] ] copied without permission.
]
] [ wow. -k]

Don't blow it out of proportion; this is just an ongoing legal battle. From the Reuters story:

Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony's gaming unit, said it would appeal the decision by a California federal court in the patent infringement case.

For the time being, Sony will keep selling PlayStations as the order -- which covers the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, two game controllers and 47 software titles -- will not go into effect before the appeal. Sony will be paying compulsory license fees to Immersion.

If the appeal fails, Sony will just license the patents. The revised licensing terms might even be part of the appeals process. For now, the compulsory fees are a drop in the bucket.

This company is so small that it is not in their interest to force Sony to replace the technology for the next-generation PlayStation.

RE: BetaNews | Sony Ordered to Stop PlayStation Sales