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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Following a referral from Subsonic, a French manufacturer of video game controllers, the Autorité has fined Sony (four group companies, including the Japanese parent company) for abusing its dominant position in the market for the supply of video game controllers for PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles for more than four years.

The Autorité has sanctioned two practices:

First, Sony’s use, from November 2015, of technical countermeasures, allegedly implemented to combat counterfeiting, which affected the proper functioning of third-party video game controllers (produced by manufacturers other than Sony and without an official Sony licence), regularly leading to them being disconnected during console operating system updates.

While the Autorité stresses the legitimacy of the objective of combating counterfeiting, it points out that such measures were disproportionate, since they affected all “unlicensed” controllers indiscriminately.

Second, an opaque licensing policy, which in several cases prevented rival companies that wanted to market PS4-compatible controllers from joining the OLP partnership programme, which is the only way for third parties to obtain an official licence and unique identification numbers. The Autorité found that by refusing to communicate the OLP access criteria to manufacturers who requested them, Sony applied the criteria in a discretionary manner, even though access to the programme was the only way to avoid disconnections.

The Autorité considers that the combination of these two practices significantly damaged the brand image of the third-party manufacturers affected, with regard to both players and distributors, slowing down their expansion in the market and leading to their possible foreclosure.

The fine, amounting to €13,527,000, is imposed jointly and severally on three subsidiaries and the parent company of the Sony group:

• Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited (in charge of the licensing programme in Europe);
• Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. K.K (responsible for rolling out operating system updates for the PS4 console);
• Sony Interactive Entertainment France (responsible for marketing controllers in France);
• Sony Group Corporation (parent company).

The Autorité de la concurrence fines Sony €13.5 million for abusing its dominant position (PS4 video game controllers)

www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Second, an opaque licensing policy, which in several cases prevented rival companies that wanted to market PS4-compatible controllers from joining the OLP partnership programme, which is the only way for third parties to obtain an official licence and unique identification numbers. The Autorité found that by refusing to communicate the OLP access criteria to manufacturers who requested them, Sony applied the criteria in a discretionary manner, even though access to the programme was the only way to avoid disconnections.

I wonder who is a rival company to Sony who would want to weaponized regulators against them by pulling something like this?...

Why would a rival company want to genuinely make compatible controllers for the PS4? And why shouldn't Sony want to and have the right to protect their product peripheral business from console rivals who want to leverage Sony's towering platform sales advantage to sell their own rival platform controllers?

 

[Flutta]

Damn Sony is not having a chill week that's for sure.

 

[lh032]

oh come on....

 

[rofif]

this is some stupid ass law.
You make and sell a console
And then you sell controllers for it
AND THAT'S BAD ?!

Of course 3rd parties should pay licensing fees if they make ps4 controllers. What is this shitty law not allowing a manufacturer of stuff control over it's stuff

 

[yurinka]

I wonder who is a rival company to Sony who would want to weaponized regulators against them by pulling something like this?...

Why would a rival company want to genuinely make compatible controllers for the PS4? And why shouldn't Sony want to and have the right to protect their product peripheral business from console rivals who want to leverage Sony's towering platform sales advantage to sell their own rival platform controllers?

By rival they clearly mean 3rd party controller manufacturers. They are 'rivals' of the 1st party controller sales. Sony can compete with them, but fairly. This court considered they did unfair stuff.

 

[Zathalus]

I wonder who is a rival company to Sony who would want to weaponized regulators against them by pulling something like this?...

Why would a rival company want to genuinely make compatible controllers for the PS4? And why shouldn't Sony want to and have the right to protect their product peripheral business from console rivals who want to leverage Sony's towering platform sales advantage to sell their own rival platform controllers?

I believe it would be referring to rivals in the controller market. Not Microsoft/Nintendo.

 

[demigod]

Oof, a rival console maker is about to get hit hard by this soon.

 

[Dis]

This reminds me of Phil Spencer ABK
“But they have Bloodborne!”

 

[Gaiff]

Release Bloodborne on PC and you can make that money back within 3 days, Sony.

 

[RoboFu]

All these “ democratic “ countries pushing for socialism as hard as they can go. “ No no. We will Tell you what you can and cannot make “

 

[KingT731]

what a joke....

 

[Moses85]

 

[Mr Moose]

Merde.

Xbox's new policy — say goodbye to unofficial accessories from November thanks to error '0x82d60002' (UPDATE)

Error 0x82d60002 informs players their devices will be blocked. Here's why.

www.windowscentral.com

Good thing they don't sell many consoles in France. €5 fine incoming.

It's a bullshit case and should've been thrown out.

 

[Soodanim]

I wonder who is a rival company to Sony who would want to weaponized regulators against them by pulling something like this?...

Why would a rival company want to genuinely make compatible controllers for the PS4? And why shouldn't Sony want to and have the right to protect their product peripheral business from console rivals who want to leverage Sony's towering platform sales advantage to sell their own rival platform controllers?

Jesus Christ, can we have one thread without someone jumping to some console war conspiracy theory shit? It's so tiring

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

"Play Station Tax"

and this is real boys.

 

[Holammer]

Jesus Christ, can we have one thread without someone jumping to some console war conspiracy theory shit? It's so tiring

This thread is a litmus test to identify the sper... Enthusiasts!

 

[Kdad]

All these “ democratic “ countries pushing for socialism as hard as they can go. “ No no. We will Tell you what you can and cannot make “

Which democratic countries do not have anti trust, anti monopoly laws?

Nothing to do with socialism.

 

[Chittagong]

13meur is almost literally nothing to Sony

 

[John Wick]

Be a dick and then get fined. Sony deliberately withholding information for licences from 3rd party controller makers. Deserved.

 

[Fake]

I can't even use Dualsense on PS4 while the Xbox 360 works on Series X lmao.

Even PS3 accept Dualsense. Sony really deserves this.

 

[adamsapple]

I can't even use Dualsense on PS4 while the Xbox 360 works on Series X lmao.

Even PS3 accept Dualsense. Sony really deserves this.

I thought it worked as a generic BT controller on the PS4 ?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Hall Effect sticks when?

 

[Hudo]

13.5 million is nothing, lmao.

 

[Mr Moose]

Hall Effect sticks when?

Fucking yes please, I have two controllers with drift now.

 

[PanzerCute]

this is some stupid ass law.
You make and sell a console
And then you sell controllers for it
AND THAT'S BAD ?!

Of course 3rd parties should pay licensing fees if they make ps4 controllers. What is this shitty law not allowing a manufacturer of stuff control over it's stuff

Read the details ffs.

 

[Ulysses 31]

Fucking yes please, I have two controllers with drift now.

If they're Switch Pro controllers, there's plenty of YT videos showing how to clean the sticks and fix the drifting. I did it with 3 of my Pro controllers.

 

[DeepEnigma]

All of the big 3 use licensed peripherals where theirs is the most dominate position.

 

[Topher]

13.5 million is nothing, lmao.

They could port another game to PC and cover that. lol

And also, Knack to PC confirmed.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I dont want to put too much thought into this kind of company vs government issue, but for thing like this I'm leaning to Sony.

If Sony doesn't want to dish out licensing and specs so third party makers can make gamepads thats their call. If a manufacturer wants to make knock off Swiffer refills, does Procter & Gamble have to grant licenses? Nope. The can make them if they want, but not with support from P&G,

 

[Chukhopops]

Merde.

Xbox's new policy — say goodbye to unofficial accessories from November thanks to error '0x82d60002' (UPDATE)

Error 0x82d60002 informs players their devices will be blocked. Here's why.

www.windowscentral.com

Good thing they don't sell many consoles in France. €5 fine incoming.

It's a bullshit case and should've been thrown out.

I know you didn’t really think about it but it won’t happen as long as MS provides clear rules on licensing, something Sony didn’t do according to the French ruling.

 

[squarealex]

No one want buying this kind of shit controller...

 

[Hudo]

They could port another game to PC and cover that. lol

Do you think 13.5 million could cover a Bloodborne port?

 

[Topher]

Do you think 13.5 million could cover a Bloodborne port?

Easily. We need more gamers in office to enforce penalties that are actually meaningful, don't we?

 

[Fake]

I thought it worked as a generic BT controller on the PS4 ?

No. Just PS3 can accept generic BT controller.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

By rival they clearly mean 3rd party controller manufacturers. They are 'rivals' of the 1st party controller sales. Sony can compete with them, but fairly. This court considered they did unfair stuff.

I believe it would be referring to rivals in the controller market. Not Microsoft/Nintendo.

3rd party controller manufacturers aren't rivals. They're potential partners.

They can join the PS licensing program and make officially licensed controllers for PS platforms or they can make 3rd party controllers unlicensed which may or may not work 100%.

 

[ReBurn]

13meur is almost literally nothing to Sony

They should infringe a few more times just because they can afford it. Show the French authorities who's boss.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Such nonsense.

Who buys 3rd party controllers anyway? 99% of those are overexpensive toys with a cheap feeling.

 

[diffusionx]

While the Autorité stresses the legitimacy of the objective of combating counterfeiting, it points out that such measures were disproportionate, since they affected all “unlicensed” controllers indiscriminately.

I don’t understand how they could present this reasoning. The only real difference between a “counterfeit” controller and an “unlicensed” one is the shell/design, eg the counterfeit one tries to look like a DS4 while the unlicensed does whatever. So how can Sony reasonably go after one but not the other?

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

First, Sony’s use, from November 2015, of technical countermeasures, allegedly implemented to combat counterfeiting, which affected the proper functioning of third-party video game controllers (produced by manufacturers other than Sony and without an official Sony licence), regularly leading to them being disconnected during console operating system updates.

Surely there must be more to it than this…? How is a software update supposed to distinguish between an unlicensed product and a counterfeit one? Although… I guess this is what makes the second issue so harmful.

Second, an opaque licensing policy, which in several cases prevented rival companies that wanted to market PS4-compatible controllers from joining the OLP partnership programme, which is the only way for third parties to obtain an official licence and unique identification numbers. The Autorité found that by refusing to communicate the OLP access criteria to manufacturers who requested them, Sony applied the criteria in a discretionary manner, even though access to the programme was the only way to avoid disconnections.

A lot of people here saying that Sony should be able to set their own rules for third party licensing and decrying this as “socialism” or something - whatever the fuck they think that means. This is, imo, a good ruling. Sony can set the rules, but they can’t discriminate - particularly if they’re going to shut out manufacturers to whom they have arbitrarily denied their licensing. Make the rules clear to everyone and apply them equally to everyone, or else refrain from applying punitive measures to those who fail to abide by rules you have made intentionally obscure.

Always good to see companies held to account for their actions.

 

[Famipan]

So this led to more DS4 controllers being sold. It’s my favourite controller out there so not too bad if this means more DS4 on the market for a lower price. Still, licensed controller manufacturers being unable to provide alternatives is wild.

I think Sony’s most ridiculous act regarding DS4 is how they won’t accept DS4 on PS5 and I was hoping we would see a courtcase for that.

Still, it seems as if Sony themselves doesn’t like too many peripherals:
- DS4 to PC bluetooth dongle only works for one single DS4
- Backpaddles for DS4. Many loved it but – No you can’t have it!

 

[Ar¢tos]

Surely there must be more to it than this…? How is a software update supposed to distinguish between an unlicensed product and a counterfeit one? Although… I guess this is what makes the second issue so harmful.



A lot of people here saying that Sony should be able to set their own rules for third party licensing and decrying this as “socialism” or something - whatever the fuck they think that means. This is, imo, a good ruling. Sony can set the rules, but they can’t discriminate - particularly if they’re going to shut out manufacturers to whom they have arbitrarily denied their licensing. Make the rules clear to everyone and apply them equally to everyone, or else refrain from applying punitive measures to those who fail to abide by rules you have made intentionally obscure.

Always good to see companies held to account for their actions.

Of course they can discriminate, otherwise someone could make a dick shaped controller and advertise it as a licensed Sony Playstation controller because Sony couldn't legally deny them a license if they applied and paid for it.

 

[Flutta]

This is a nothingburger.

 

[Gojiira]

Ok so Xbox does the exact same thing, why the fuck aren’t they paying up to?
What a stupid ruling, so they cant protect their own IP anymore?

 

[Mr Moose]

So this led to more DS4 controllers being sold. It’s my favourite controller out there so not too bad if this means more DS4 on the market for a lower price. Still, licensed controller manufacturers being unable to provide alternatives is wild.

I think Sony’s most ridiculous act regarding DS4 is how they won’t accept DS4 on PS5 and I was hoping we would see a courtcase for that.

Still, it seems as if Sony themselves doesn’t like too many peripherals:
- DS4 to PC bluetooth dongle only works for one single DS4
- Backpaddles for DS4. Many loved it but – No you can’t have it!

DUALSHOCK 4 Back Button Attachment | Hardware and Accessories | PlayStation

Step up your game with two additional, mappable buttons for your DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller.

www.playstation.com

 

[Aaron Olive]

Oh yeah France?

 

[LordCBH]

Well that’s tarded.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

13meur is almost literally nothing to Sony

Just a couple of layoffs at best

 

[poppabk]

Ok so Xbox does the exact same thing, why the fuck aren’t they paying up to?
What a stupid ruling, so they cant protect their own IP anymore?

Evidence for MS selectively withholding the procedure for applying to become an official partner?

 

[Gojiira]

Evidence for MS selectively withholding the procedure for applying to become an official partner?

It specified RIVAL companies so yes they damn well do the same, selecting official partners is normal.
But more importantly the use of counter measures/patches to prevent counterfeit software/hardware…Again Xbox does this, hell so does Nintendo…If it applies to Sony, it applies to the rest of them…