The Japanese electronics giant Sony removed some of the fun from its stand on Sunday after it was forced to take down a display for its PlayStation.

Earlier in the week, the American competitor Microsoft had complained to CeBIT organizers that Sony was violating "fair" play.

According to CeBIT exhibition rules, companies may not display video games. The CeBIT nomenclature states that neither electronic entertainment nor games shall be included in the fair contents.

Only the graphics or the software technology behind the games may be part of the official CeBIT exhibition catalogue.

Already at the start of the fair, CeBIT organizers had warned Sony to be careful of what it showcases.

According to the fair’s spokesman Detlev Rossa, Sony was told that its PlayStation stand could only focus on the game console’s graphic capabilities.

Sony consented. Instead of games, the Japanese company concentrated on demonstrating the online functions of PlayStation and an extra component making the game console compatible with Linux. The 27 consoles were for demonstrative purposes only.

But it wasn’t long before the fair rules were broken. The ever-watchful eyes of Microsoft spied several adolescent youths taking turns on the skateboard game AirBlade featured at Sony’s PlayStation stand on Saturday.

Microsoft cried foul

"Our customer Microsoft noticed the infringement and requested that we intervene," said Rossa on Sunday.

The American computer company has been keeping a close tab on its Japanese competition, and not only at CeBIT.

The two industry giants are fiercely competitive, and both are vying for the same market niche.

Once Sony brought out its PlayStation 2, Microsoft promised to one-up the Japanese with its Xbox, scheduled to debut in Europe this Thursday.

Visitors to CeBIT can get a glimpse of Microsoft’s Xbox, but only behind a glass case and certainly not for play.

When asked about the complaint his company lodged against Sony, Microsoft’s spokesman Frank Mihm said, "Sony presents itself as a victim and we are the bad guys. But the CeBIT’s nomenclature is definite."

Microsoft spoke to the fair management about the Xbox beforehand and had already dispensed with a big presentation.

"I do not think it is necessary to show 27 PlayStations as demo products," Mihm said, adding that Microsoft would have liked to have had a more extensive presentation of the Xbox, but "rules are the way they are."

Fair play

Sony’s company spokesman Udo Feialdenhofen gave in to the complaints by the fair’s organizers "on behalf of the fair peace." At the same time he emphasized, "We believe that products such as the PlayStation 2 belong to this fair". The PlayStation2 has been shown in the last two years of the CeBIT without any complaint, he added.

The Sony stand at CeBIT covered more than 2,000 square meters – one of the largest in the fair. Of this only 100 square meters were reserved for the PlayStation.

The conflict with Sony is the first such ever in CeBIT’s history, said fair spokesman Rossa. There is hardly any disagreement over the type of products presented at the fair.

When CeBIT concludes on Wednesday, the fair organizers will meet with all parties involved to come up with an agreeable position for the future display of computer games.

Who knows, maybe next year, Microsoft and Sony will sponsor a game day just for fun.