Copyright violation doesn't occur only at small level through illegal copying of multimedia files or software piracy. Things become more interesting when dealing with big companies, and Sony is one of those big companies.

Copyright violation is condemnable at any level, but when you launch a product line based on the invention of somebody else, without acknowledging the author's contribution, the crime is even worse.

A judge from the United States reached the same conclusion and gave Sony a 90.7 million dollar penalty which will be transferred in the accounts of Immersion. Moreover, Sony is forced to stop selling products (especially Playstation consoles, Dual Shock controllers and many game titles) based on the inventions of Immersion.

Although the sentence was pronounced according to all legal rigors, Sony won't comply with it: Immersion won't get a cent and the products will not be withdrawn from the market. Fortunately for the company, Playstation Portable which has just been released in the United States released is not among the banned products.

In case PSP had been withdrawn from the market a few days after its release, Sony would have suffered a financial catastrophe and a credibility loss. Even so, if the products mentioned above will be withdrawn from the market, Sony's image will be pretty messed up.

Immersion got through a previous court rule another 26 million dollars from Sony, but in case Sony doesn't comply, the consequences can be severe.

Considering that Sony's main competitor in portable consoles is Xbox, Microsoft will profit from this.