A European Court of Appeal recently ruled on a long-running case brought forward by Sony, who said that the PS2 should be considered a computer instead of a gaming system. Between the PS2's launch in 2001 and three years later in 2004 when the taxes changed, European imports defined as "digital processing units" had much lighter tax rates than a "video game console".

Sony began the legal pursuit in 2001 to achieve the more preferrable tax rate. And just last Thursday, the case was finally brought to a close when Lord Justice Chadwick dismissed the claims. Over the 3 year period, Sony has had to pay 34.2 million pounds (over $60 million) more in European import taxes than they would have had they had the "digital processing unit" designation. That's the amount Sony requested but obviously they will not be receiving any of it.

Entire ruling. Via GamesIndustry.biz

Report Published by: Mark Raby