Should Sony be liable?

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weve all heared of the PS3 release, sony have been beefing up their advertising and media coverage since the plans hit the table, but from the beginning, i believe, it was their plan to release the console in short supply on purpose, knowing full well that they would easily sell every single one. knowing that there would be a huge demand for this item, i think that large companies should have a quota placed on them by governments, of a minimum amount available for sale in an effort to prevent this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111700325.html

 

No. It is simple supply and demand. They keep the supply low at first so demand is high. It gets them free advertising and enables them to charge a premium price and get it. As time goes on and demand decreases they lower the price and get the people at the next "price point" to buy one.

Why a government should have any say in how a company sells/markets/manufactures a product is beyond me.

 

did you not read the link? all of those events described were caused by sony's strategy, people could have died - and when a company trading inside a country decides to make actions which will endanger the lives of the people of that country then it is the governments duty to step in and tell them to either play fair or find somewhere else to trade.

 

Caused by Sony's strategy? Oh we should punish companies for making products so good that people really want to buy them? Sony didn't shoot/rob/assault/threaten those people. People get shot/assaulted/etc. because the item is worth alot of money. If somebody assaults an eldery man for his gold ring should the jewelers who sold him that ring be responsiable for producing such a valuable item?

It seems unfair to force a company to over-supply and make less profit because some OTHER individuals realise the value of their products and are prepared to break the law in order to aquire them. Sony has not harmed anyone, it was the attackers and nobody else is responsiable. Sony didn't give them their weapons. People are mugged every day for their money, obviously the government is responsiable for producing the item that influenced the robbing - money.

 

It is simplistic in the extreme to actually describe this as an intentional strategy by Sony (goes for any other manufacutrer too for that matter).

It is NOT POSSIBLE for Sony to produce enough units to have a worldwide launch with enough units to satisfy the initial demand (without delaying lauch for so long it becomes a mute point). The practically of satisfying demand in Japan alone from day one would delay the remainder of the world by 6 months at a guess.

To suggest that a company should not bring a product to market unless there is enough product to satisfy demand at a price that people would like to pay is crazy. Just consider the logistics of the excercise.

 

football teams are not responsible for the actions of their fans when they riot, and yet it is still the team that gets fined. when firms start reaping punative actions for their shortsightedness or their greed, they will think twice, free trade is the most dangerous idea on the planet

i never said "over supply" the problem here is that sony hasnt even scratched the demand for this product yet, read that there was one store which had 8 ps3's and a crowd of 350 gathered for them - that store shouldnt have had any, because it could not cater to an unruly demand.

and youve gotten onto what im talking about, if they dont have enough, then it shouldnt have been launched, this item has been rushed out before christmas just so that sony could make an over inflated profit on these items, when in actual fact this item is not ready for release, it is up to the government or the WTO to say to these companies "you are not entitled to corner this market because you cannot cater to it" you wouldnt have an incompetant doctor on A&E same thing, if that person cant do the job, they shouldnt be there in the first place, this item cannot cater (to an acceptable extent hence my suggestion of minimum quota's) to the demand, so it shouldnt be there.

not as crazy as you think, but they didnt out price customers either, this was affordable if expensive, this item if released in such short supply should have had a far more excessive price tag attached to it, a simple rule of economics, if demand outstrips supply, you increase the price to drive off some of that demand.

 

So selling the PS3 at a higher price would stop people from robbing people for their PS3s?

 

I think you confuse things. Football clubs have the means to impose security measures in their premises to prevent riots. A company, however, cannot be liable for the idiocy of people outside their own premises.

The fact that there are people so stupid as to queue for days to buy something is astonishing. Specially considering that the same thing will be available later on, and at a considerably reduced price if one waits enough.

Blaming Sony for what people would do to obtain their products would be like blaming car manufacturers for accidents caused by speeding.

[ November 19, 2006, 19:26: Message edited by: Colthrun ]

 

Agreed with Colthunrn, its hardly Sony's fault that people are so ****ed up that they react with voilence about a soldout console...man I find such people sad.

 

It's silly to blame Sony for this. Good on them for creating something that was so amazingly popular.

Things sell out all the time. I went to the Warehouse to buy a barbecue on the weekend but the model I wanted had sold out. I should have turned around and smashed somebody in the face, but, alas, I didn't think of it until I got home.

 

In circumstances like this each individual is responsible for their own safety...and each assailant is to be held accountable for the violence which occurs. Sony has nothing to do with your safety or the actions of those who would rob you. If you stand outside all night long with five to six hundred dollars - you have placed yourself in a dangerous situation and you should not be surprised if the ugly side of human nature bites you in the ass.

 

I think this incident just shows the values of people...There's no reason to blame Sony....While the units are limited and unable to suffice demands...Still they could wait and get themselves a Ps3...I know 2 or 3 people who bought it already....

 

You're nuts to wander around with $600 in your pocket. Nobody carries cash these days, especially not that much.

 

While I'm not going to say Sony should be held fully responsable for the actions of its customers, I do think some responsability should be there. The first time this happened (Tickle-Me Elmo as far as I know), I could understand the company saying 'We had no idea people would get this crazy!' The second time, you should have at least guessed, and taking an action that you fully realize (by experience no less) is likely to cause bodily harm and even death to others, even if not directly through your own actions, is irresponsable.

Its like yelling 'FIRE!' or 'BOMB!' in a crouded theater. Your actions probably didn't directly hurt anyone. You may well have not personally trampled people, you may have even helped them up after others did, but you are still responsable.

Sony should have at least made some attempt to minimize the impact of this, something like releasing appropriate numbers in only the biggest cities, and only supply the smaller cities when they have enough.

So many companies have worked this into their corporate strategy, and it has happened so many times, that one has to come to the conclusion that the effect is intentional, if not the main goal. They knew it would happen and apparently did nothing to prevent it, or even to mitigate it's effect.

 

Yes, it was partially Sony's fault for deliberately causing a situation that triggered this. But in all fairness, I don't think think we can hold them responsible for what other people did. They've already apologized for their part, and one can only hope that they'll learn from this and won't do it again. Realistically, though, I somehow doubt it.

 

As much as I hate Sony, they've got nothing to do with the stupidity of their consumers.

 

Even if a corporation sets up a circumstance, it is the individual who must decide whether or not to participate. Nobody was forced to stand in line for hours on end with five hundred dollars in their possesion. I've been busted up for as little as a $15 dollar basketball...no one *anywhere* in public is safe with five hundred bucks in their pocket.

Anyone who participates in such idiocy must accept responsibility for placing themselves in harm's way. Kids who are too young and/or innocent to have the wisdom to understand the potential danger of such situations need to be guided by their parents.

Keep in mind that the consumers were also aware of the problems which "tickle-me-elmo" caused. Still, they lined up and directly through their own actions placed themselves in a situation that they knew, through experience, could turn ugly.

 

In a situation like that, the people in the line camping out to get the unit are likely prepared to spend up $1000 or more for the unit, the games they want and taxes included. If even 1 of those in the lineup has it in cash, the mugger has hit his jackpot. Sony (nor the stores for that matter) didn't tell them to bring cash, and they certainly didn't invite the muggers.

And I'm sure that the store, nor Sony, invited the guy that stole 5 units at gun point from the truck.

Sony didn't do that, but I'd say that the launch was botched, citing that they could have sold 3 or 4 times as many units at that $650 price tag on release day. They'd still run out...

A better solution would be at the retail level, by accepting pre-orders and booking appointments for people before the store opens to have all te chances to ask questions and buy the unit and games without the crowd and the muggers. Hiring a few extra security hired for a couple days wouldn't hurt either...

 

i may have worded the title wrongly, while it may imply that i think sony are completely responsible for the incidents i dont think that it is all sony's fault, but i also believe that it is a companies responsibility to realise that people are stupid, and in this instance sony have played this stupidity purposely and look at the impact, you cannot buy better advertising.

they get fined even if it happens outside their grounds

far better explained then i was doing, thanks

 

Another point is, sony dont own the shops, they only provide some off the items sold there. So shouldn't the shop be blamed for opening up the sale with to few units in the store? I meen the shopkeeper could clearly see that there where more people outside then he had ps3, yet he chose to let them line up and open the shop, well knowing that people apparently was desparate to get a silly consol.

or should we rightfully blame the stupid people, who value a consol over other peoples health and life. who are willing to wait outside and run amok about something so stupid as a consol. its not like its lifesaving medicin or anything. the fact is that these people did not care about any other then themself and they where willing to use voilence to get this.
as much as we humans like to blame someone else, preferely something faceless like a private coporation, there is really only one to blame, themself.