Export License Acquired
SCE Ships To US
and Europe Within This Year
One of the biggest players in home gaming console, SONY Computer Entertainment (SCE), will ship their newest gaming console, PlayStation 2, this autumn to US and Europe after acquiring the export license yesterday (April 17, 2000). Built of a Mini Super Computer construction, PlayStation 2 is able to deliver high definition graphics good enough to be classified as a military device. With that, the ministry defence department puts a ban on export of the product. SCE projects that they will achieve 600,000 console sales when PlayStation 2 launches in US and Europe later this year.
The license acquired are just one of the four types of export license. In regards to PlayStation 2 there are two major concerns, the high definition graphics processing capability technology and encrypted external memory media retrieval technology.
With the mentioned technologies, controlling movements of missiles or decrypting an encrypted message maybe possible. These fails the safe levels for export. Upon approval of the export of PlayStation 2 out of Japan is possible, all except Iran, Iraq, Liberia and North Korea.
SCE has made the world known of the export issue and had explain and address the export ban on their website on the day when PlayStation2 is launched in Japan on March 4, 2000.
Translated from page 13 of “The Nihon Keizai Shimbun – Asian Edition”
Dated Tuesday, April 18, 2000.
Translated By Michal Yaegashi.
COPYRITED by Pipe Records. All Rites Reserved.
If in doubt of any transcript error, please refer to the original text in Japanese below.