Quick Jump Daily Digest

Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.

Cancel and Return to page

Sony Sues Fake Memory Stick Sellers

Posted Jul 17, 2006 at 4:59AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Accessories, News Tags: China, eBay, Memory Stick Pro Duo, psp accessories, psp gift ideas, Sandisk, Sony, Taiwan

Sony MS pro duo

Sony has taken legal action against companies and sellers in China and Taiwan that are selling fake memory sticks with the Sony mark on them. eBay sellers have been making a fortune ever since the launch of the PSP through selling fake Memory Stick Pro Duo's through the online auction site for half price, making out that they are genuine Sony/Sandisk memory sticks. In April we wrote an article on the difference between the Real and Fake memory sticks, as well as a report on the quality of memory sticks sold on eBay.

With Sony suing companies, its pretty obvious that most of the memory sticks on eBay will disappear, or will be re-branded with something else. The thing is, most people that buy the fake sticks know they are fake. All the sellers have to do is add another brand on them, and I'm sure they would still sell in the thousands. I know that for the price I bought my fake stick for, I'd still buy it with another label on. Make way for the Sonny Memory Stick Pro Duo!

Via I4U

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!

(0)

(0)

in my opinion, sony is right to sue the fake memory stick sellers. Although id hate to see these cheap sticks to disappear from the market. If they just changed their name that would be perfect.

it would also make distinguishing between the 2 alot easier. so that buyers actually know what they are paying for.

i bought a fake memory stick 2gb off amazon (new and used section, brand new) for £25. I didnt know it was fake (although i had my suspissions), when i found it it was fake, at first i was pissed off, but then again i do have a 1 year warranty with this. so it seems to me like a pritty safe investment :)

# I have a fake, but it works fine. — Guest 2006-07-17 06:34

I got a 2gb a few weeks ago.. and it turns out to be a fake (from this article's description at least). It works fine so far. The only thing I noticed is that the data transfer is a smudge slower than the 1gb sandisk I had.

I agree with past comments though -- if it is fake, and it works, why worry? I think the official ones are too expensive anyway.

# I have a fake 2gb stick — BULL3TPR00F 2006-07-17 06:44

and knew it was fake when ipurchased it, but these companies have no right stamping Sony's name on them, so they deserve whats comming to them. They are getting rich off of sony's name, and thats not right. They no that if they stamped a different name on them (like they're own manufactureres name), barely anyone would buy them, because they are unheard of. BUT THAT DOESNT ALLOW THEM TO PUT SONY'S NAME ON THE STICKS THEY MAKE!

# FONY MEMORY STICK PRO DUO! — RaiderX 2006-07-17 06:45

Yea, they need to do Fony, Ill buy one of those.

and you guys forgot Korean sellers.

Anyway, I dont crae, I just got my sandisk ultra II 4GB stick today and enjoying it!

# why buy the fake ones. — Guest 2006-07-17 06:53

I bought my sandisk 2gb stick for less than they charge for the fake sony ones. cant see why you would want to buy those.

# i piss on number 7 — Guest 2006-07-17 06:54

your an idiot..it is perfectly legal to make memory sticks if you want to..what is illegal is using sony name without authorization

# I bought one -_- — EndtheSorrow 2006-07-17 07:00

All I can say is that they deserve what they are getting for putting "Sony" on em. My car works...and all but its alot fatter persay (thicker) than my other cards and since I got one for my digicam it stays stuck in the slot lol ...

In a few words they deserve it...at least for using the name not for making it...uh...I confused my self lol

# About time — Guest 2006-07-17 07:04

About time they sue em Coz I think there F**KED

# quit the insults — Guest 2006-07-17 07:10

...at least until you have the facts straight.

It is _not_ legal to make memory sticks unless you are licensed by Sony who owns the format.

So far, only Sandisk and Samsung have the rights to manufacture (and sell) memory stick media.

You can, of course, be an oem for Sony and create Sony-branded memory sticks.

# OMGWTF1 — Guest 2006-07-17 07:16

THEY SPELT SONY WRONG! OMG THEY SPELT IT LIEK SONNY WTF LOL!!!!!1

# Fakes — Guest 2006-07-17 07:19

Yep they'll just switch names to Samdisk or Sansung...

# hmm Know on ebay — Guest 2006-07-17 07:20

all people know when they buy something in taiwan or china it gonna be fake i bought a 2gb ms pro duo fake sony 90$ 3 month ago and i never got any prob like if i was gonna buy a 2gb ms 200$ (2-3month ago they was)but yeah u can broke ur ms easily than a reg but if u use it correctly and remove from psp each day it cant broke

# w — Guest 2006-07-17 07:22

they did it on purpose cause if they change it to sonny than it would be fine to sell

# Why bother anymore? — Guest 2006-07-17 07:52

Here in the UK you can get a 2Gb memory stick from scan.co.uk for just over £60 and thats worth it. You get the full capacity, warranty and the decent label. Where as the cheap ones aren't that much cheaper and is just plain dodgy. Works, but not as much memory.

# why do we buy these fake ones??? — Guest 2006-07-17 08:10

simply because you can pick up a 2gb stick on ebay uk for £25 including postage.

mine have about 1935mb available on them and they have never failed me. What point is there in paying 3 or 4 times that price for a card which offers little more?

# good for them — lansingone 2006-07-17 08:10

thay need somthing since people keep suing them, and it would make them change the name on the fake ones so we don't buy the fake ones by mistake

# Lol — Guest 2006-07-17 08:12

My father once but a fake sony television , guess what? it was made with stronegr material than the sony one and it was way cheaper , anyways if sony does this I will tell 50 people with psp's about isos ( I had once send an e-mail to sony that if they patched homebrew on 2.7 I was gonna tell 20 psp users in front of a gaming retail about isos and how to get them , guess what? I did it , but I'm gonna send an e-mail to them threatening to tell 50 persons this time , it's easy cause I live near a Babbages and I stand in front of it and in a week of standing there in front for 10 min I will have my goal accomplished! ).

# It's about time. — PlayStation4 2006-07-17 08:18

It's about time sony finally did something about these developers. They do not have the right to make sony branded memory sticks.

If they really want to make them they should make their own brand and stop printing sony/magicgate logos on their products.

# Hmm.. — Guest 2006-07-17 08:40

Wow... Sony sueing someone for a change...instead of the other way around! :)

# hahaah — Guest 2006-07-17 08:43

Well, with all the money that Sony is forced to dish out with all the lawsuits they're getting, at least Sony is getting something back for a change....to possibly pay the bastards who are suing them..haha.

# CONY — Guest 2006-07-17 08:45

i'll buy a cony memory stick :)

# Thats right. — Guest 2006-07-17 08:45

#27: Haha, thats very true!

# my stick off ebay... — BULL3TPR00F 2006-07-17 08:46

my fake 2gb stick only cost me $50

# ill second that piss — Guest 2006-07-17 09:06

il also piss on #7. dumb

# #25 metalspector is a retard — Guest 2006-07-17 09:32

you are a loser.

you have no life.

you will die alone.

# .. — Guest 2006-07-17 09:39

i'll wait for a 4 gig stick but theyre about 4 times more expensive than a 2 gig stick....so i could have a 4 gigs for 50 pounds if i bought two two gig sticks. i bought a 1 gig stick for 60 pounds less than a year ago. for the same price i could buy maybe 2 2 gig sticks and a pizza. but i cant be bothered taking the memory stick out and swapping so i may as well get 1 4 gig stick rather than 2 2 gig sticks. but if i do buy a 2 gig stick ill my 1 gig stick spare and then i'll have 3 gigs all together...but i stocll wouldnt want to swap them over. if i get two two gig sticks and i still have my 1 gig stick , that will make 5 gigs alltogether but the chsnging of the sticks would be a pain, so i'll just wait for the 4 gig stick to hit like 30 pounds and then ill buy that.

# @no.25 — PHae 2006-07-17 09:44

If sony allows homebrew game developers will sue them.

# GO SONY — Guest 2006-07-17 09:54

SONY IS ALWAYS GETTING SUE'ED BUT NOW ITS TIME TO STRIKE BACK DIE FAKE MEMORY STICK COMPANY

# LOL at #7 — Guest 2006-07-17 10:23

I fart in your general direction.

# are these for real?????? — Guest 2006-07-17 10:25

#25 & #34 are two of the most ridiculous posts i have ever read. These people need to go and pull their psp's out of their fat spotty asses and get on with their lives.

# has the recent success got anyting to do wit it?? — insa8ne2k4 2006-07-17 10:27

do u rekon $ony is lashing out because of the psp-homebrew-scene's recent success with the downgrader and custom firmwares.

$ony are sore losers ...lol

# to #14 — Guest 2006-07-17 10:34

Its legal to make a memory stick, but they can't call it a "memory stick pro duo." you need a liscence to do that because it's a brand name that belongs to sony.

# cheap?? — Guest 2006-07-17 10:41

cheapest i saw on ebay was 56 for a 2 gig card. id rather sepnd 10 bucks more and buy a real deal sony 2 gig card from newegg.

# no involved — Guest 2006-07-17 10:42

im not involved in this fake or real sony memory sticks because i have got the best memory stick of them all, the sandisk 2 gb :)

# hhhmmm... — Guest 2006-07-17 10:47

i dont care.

# comment title is not empty — anonymous stranger 2006-07-17 10:51

#7 lawyer... yeah.... your a lawyer alright... "noone can make memory stick but sony"? so sandisk ms are illegal? how about "noone can put 'sony' label on their memory stick until the approval of sony"? or even better... noone can make memory stick until they notify the inventor of memory stick? huh?

I've been hearing a lot of cool name for fake memory sticks here.. how about just straight $ony?

hey just a warning #25... sony might do something to you... lol

#25 the more iso user there is... the less likely you will get a game that could be "your dream game" now more people use gta iso... less rockstar gonna make... less they try... who knows.. they might just make a sucky gta next time... go ahead and tell people about isos, and force game maker to raise prize and make suckier game... and even worse... one day eventurally if theres so many like you there will be no games...

#25 dont you think you look like a fool to some people? ok your telling people how to break the law... good people would just walk away and think your such a cheap sore loser...

hey #39... your the sore loser who choose to use stuff thats made by "sore losers", atleast they ARE making money....

I hope sony wins the case... I still want a better psp... if sony keep loosing money, chances of them making a better psp faster just get smaller... hey more piracy just mean that game maker spend LOT of time worrying about piracy and security that they might miss deadline(hey is you who get the game later)... make suckier game because of time AND money issue(hey your the one that plays the game... they can all just switch jobs... they are good programmers anyways)

And YES piracy could get out of hand... don't say "ohhh only a few know about it" well few enough for people to make modchips and make big bucks... few enough for people all around the globe to know about it...

Fake memory stick SUCKS... they prob write slower... no warranty... less storage... more easier to break... hey you loose money not me, what a waste of metal and plastic and time to make them? just because some people like money.

# 2 — Guest 2006-07-17 10:54

i think its just impossible that sony looses this case, they are using sony's name

# edit to #44 — anonymous stranger 2006-07-17 11:02

Also yeah... i would buy a stick named Sonny knowing it sucks because its cheap.. but shame on them for using Sony's name....

when they change name... it will suddenly turn from "illegal" to "cheap brand'.... wow benefit for them, also a lot of you are right, we buy fake stuff knowing full will they are fake because they well... are cheaper...

Just like the Mountain dew and Mountain Lightning case... and I think Mountain lightning sells more then mountain dew because of its cheap price ...

# Whell finall $ony sues. — steve_723 2006-07-17 11:25

The fake memory sticks have beenb out for a whial. Whell I will mis cheap memory sticks.

# i got a sonny ms pro duo — Guest 2006-07-17 12:02

http://i2.tinypic.com/20937ll.jpg

# no — Guest 2006-07-17 12:04

I bought a 1gb msd of ebay for $28 and its real by the discription on here

# comment — Guest 2006-07-17 12:04

Other people making memory stick pro duo's is okay, as long as they don't stamp Sony on them.

# to #44 — Guest 2006-07-17 12:34

Unlike you I hate sony and I hope the guys making the fake ms win miracurously , I mean do you know how many good things are being sued , first sue the guys with the fake ms , then sue limewire , then sue everyone , *****ig suers of this world , only sue if it's a case of murder or something life threatening , don't sue for things people like. Yes this ms are illegal but if Bush and the stupid senators USA has pass a law that everyone must use buy copyrighted air by from the government and not breathe the free air , will you? , I mean you all should support what is good for you and not what is good for big companies. BTW to #33 , I have a life and it's not psp , it's playing the drums , playing guitar , and listening to metal , music life 8 hours daily! , psp is when I am at bporing places like the dentist , doctor, ect. and mostly use my psp for watching rammstein , slipknot , emperor , dimmu borgir , kittie , in flames , korn , black sabath , iron maiden , dream theater , one dead three wounded , kittie , pantera and metallica music videos , but I need space for the music videos cause I'm tired of deleting and coping new ones too many times so I'm deciding on buying five 2gb ms at 30 dollars each , I am not buying the ipod video cause it's too expensive , I don't need 40gb I need 9gb only so I guess I would buy five 2gb ms , not four 2gb ms and one 1gb ms cause I may need the spare 1gb in the future.

# um... — Guest 2006-07-17 12:36

Um, the fake memory sticks on Ebay won't be dissapearing. I can guarentee you that there will still be plenty of fake "Sony" memory sticks on Ebay.

# ugh — GFOX 2006-07-17 12:55

Regaurdless wether you hate Sony or not, to say you want these people that are STEALING and RIPPING people off to win a court case, then you are a dumb arse.

Sony is doing the right thing here, be mature and relize that, friggin 12 year olds...i swear

# finally — Guest 2006-07-17 12:58

those bastards got what was comming to em

# For the love of God. — SupaDawg 2006-07-17 13:17

The grammar in the comments on this site is becoming unbearable. Your parents pay taxes so you can get a god damn education. USE IT!

It is not illegal to manufacture flash memory that happens to work on the psp. What is illegal is the use of Sony Brand registered trademarks such as MagicGate, Sony & MemoryStick. Trademark law is international and applies in any country that is a part of the United Nations. Sony is simply exercising their right as the holder of said trademark.

Go ahead and boycott Sony for protecting intellectual property that belongs to them. You're fighting a useless fight and you are, without a doubt, the minority.

# lol — cory1492 2006-07-17 13:23

finally Sony is suing someone who's jerking them around for a change.. though I doubt they'll get all that much out of people faking their entire product instead of just stealing a bit of patented tech.

# hmm — Guest 2006-07-17 13:38

Sony is acting like any other company would have in this case IMO. This isnt some sony specific *RAMPAGE* or anything.

# I must be pretty stupid then... — Guest 2006-07-17 14:49

Whoops...I guess I DID buy a fake one...I wondered how I got a 1GB memory stick for friggin ten dollars...Oh well, works good enough for me...

And yes, I'm sure that this makes Sony an evil company - like they need MORE money considering PS3 price. (poor attempt at sarcasm...)

# #25 — Guest 2006-07-17 14:58

#25 is a loser, wow. He definately takes the cake for being a loser.

# Fake MS — Guest 2006-07-17 15:55

urgh , i just bought a 2gb off ebay for cheap ... now i know it must be a fake one. $60 AUD for a 2gb memory stick seemed too good to believe

# I got a 2 gig fake :D — Guest 2006-07-17 16:15

Yeah i got a fake...it was 75 bucks AU and is 2gigs. I love it lol. If it breaks...id still buy a fake. cus they are cheeap as the budgie sais.

# hahahahahahahah aha — Guest 2006-07-17 16:26

omfg get over it sony they F U... Cking work quit your complaining, if it wasnt for them mem sticks i wouldnt buy a psp... cause it would cost over 300 AUD to get homebrew...

Lol sony are only doing this to crack down on hackers and xploiters wat a bunch of Toal Noobs!!!!!

# Meh — Guest 2006-07-17 16:57

Well from my experience fakes are significantly slower than the real deal.

I'm comparing against Sandisk cards here but my fake "sony" 2gb card is insanely slow compared to my real 1Gb SanDisk card.

So personally, from experience, i will allways stick with official SanDisk cards!

Marginally less space (if at all!) on the fakes doesn't bother me at all. What does bother me is taking more time to transfer files to stick than it would take to burn to disk on a crappy burner!

# idiots — Guest 2006-07-17 19:43

yeh bloody asians and there cheap rip-offs and scams. i bought a phone cable from hong-kong or something and it was full of SARS n ***** n broke after 2 days. SUE THEM FOR ALL THEY'VE GOT AND PUT 'EM OUT OF BUSINESS!

# just a quickie — Guest 2006-07-17 23:28

#64 you make yourself look like a real idiot with that SARS comment mixed it.

# Hmmm — Guest 2006-07-17 23:57

Yea those wakers making fake copies deserver to get owned for using the Sony brand name, and it should be the same for the fake Sandisk makers...

Still I recently went to China and got a Sandisk 2gb blue transparent memory stick, for $40 Australian, and I couldent belive it when I found it it was a real one

# mem — Guest 2006-07-18 12:18

my ***** is real only spent 60 right on ebay 1959 megs

# fakefake fake — Guest 2006-07-19 02:56

Mines a fake 2 gig got it for 20 GBP not much at all USD like 40 bucks and it runs perfect has done over last month i think fake rock since it means u dont need to go waste a fortune on the real thing just coz it says SONY

[censored] SONY

# lala — Guest 2006-07-30 08:12

what about this? http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/-/-/-/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=MSXM2GN .. it isnt fake.. its in the sony site!

# uhh 69 — Jumpin Jehosaphat 2006-08-16 15:02

69 that card costs $200.

Anyways I just got a 2GB card on ebay for $30

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments

QUICK JUMP DAILY DIGEST

Welcome to QJ.Net!

If you want your comments to go live without waiting for moderation, you need to be logged in. Being logged in has its benefits:

Logged in members do not wait for their comments to be approved.
Logged in members can create Profiles to be seen by other users.

So why wait? Create an account or login now! It's easy, quick, and free.

To get started, use the LOGIN boxes, or the REGISTER link below!

Want to learn more about the team who brings you the QJ news?

Read about them now!

HOT FLASH GAMES

PSP Categories

• Accessories
• Add-ons
• Applications
• Artwork
• Batteries
• Cheats
• Deals
• Emulators
• Events
• Featured Articles
• Firmware
• Flash Applications
• Flash games
• Game Demos
• Games
• Hacks & Exploits
• Homebrew Applications
• Homebrew Demos
• Homebrew Development
• Homebrew Emulators
• Homebrew Games
• Homebrew Themes
• How-To
• Humor
• Imports
• Interviews

• Magazines
• Mods
• MY QJ
• News
• Off Topic
• On Shelves This Week
• Opinions & Analysis
• Podcasts
• Previews
• PSP Go
• PSP Minis
• PSP Slim & Lite
• QJ How-To Series
• QuickJump QuickGuide
• QuickJump QuickPeek
• Reviews
• Rumors
• Scans
• Screenshots
• Site News
• Titles
• UMD Movies
• Videos
• Weekend Warrior
• Wi-Fi

Sitemap

Newest Downloads

05/15/2013 - 05/24/2013

Want an Update? Find It With the Final Build of Simple PS3Updates	05/23/2013
IrisManager version 2.45	05/22/2013
PSP Homebrew: Cube Runner Advanced v1.3 - 20 More Levels	05/20/2013
Bite v1.5.1: PS3 Minis and Emulator Support	05/18/2013
Grab the latest IrisManager Update. Version 2.42 is Out.	05/18/2013
PS3 Homebrew: Super Pixel Jumper v1.2	05/18/2013
PSP Homebrew: Cosmos Lunar v1.01	05/17/2013
PSP Homebrew: Xonergy	05/16/2013
PSP Homebrew: Cube Runner Advanced v1.2	05/16/2013
IrisManager 2.41: New Payload, Updated Discless	05/15/2013
PSP Homebrew: Wagic 0.19.0	05/15/2013
PSP / PS3MInis Bite v1.5: Homebrew Support	05/14/2013
This Tool Makes Playing PSP Games on PS3 EZ!	05/12/2013
Iris Manager v2.40 Has Some Cool New Features	05/11/2013
Estwald Updates Fan Control Utility to v1.6	05/10/2013

Most Comments this Month
QJ How To: What Emulators..	(5)
QJ Shootout: PSP Vs. PS Vi..	(2)
PSP Homebrew: Camxpspx123..	(2)
PSP Dungeons 3D v0.7 Relea..	(1)
Tutorial: How to unbrick y..	(1)
PSP homebrew - Audio Boost..	(1)
PSP homebrew - Snes9x Euph..	(1)
PSP homebrew - PSPdisp v0...	(1)
Sound Off: Best Game Song..	(1)
The Walking Dead Tops PSN'..	(1)

Top Jumps this Month
PSP Homebrew: Camxps..	(120)
WiFiHack Now Availab..	(56)
PSP homebrew - LameC..	(53)
PSP GBA v1.2: Gamebo..	(39)
Custom Firmware PRO-..	(37)
PSP Comics Reader v2..	(29)
Speed Gamers Are Pla..	(27)
PPSSPP: A Windows an..	(22)
QJ How To: What Emul..	(21)
Treyarch Responds to..	(17)
PSP Homebrew - PSPDi..	(16)
PSP Fans Unite! Toda..	(16)
PSP homebrew - Mario..	(15)
PSPE (PSP Emulator f..	(14)
Minecraft PC Hits 8..	(14)
QJ Shootout: PSP Vs...	(12)
PSP homebrew - Save..	(11)
The World Is In Trou..	(11)
PSP CFW: 6.60 ME & L..	(11)
The Walking Dead Top..	(10)
PSP homebrew - GoTub..	(10)
PSP homebrew - Audio..	(10)
PSP homebrew - PMPla..	(10)
RE6's "On disc DLC"..	(9)
Gamescom: Sports Gam..	(8)

Quick Jump Daily Digest

Sony Sues Fake Memory Stick Sellers

Related Stories:

Comments

Add comment

Newest Downloads