Arriving in Los Angeles for E3, the computer games industry's annual conference, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for Sony, who today had basic details of a new version of their PSP games console leaked online.

The games giant is expected to announce the PSP Go!, a smaller version of the PSP which can download games online, at a big even here on tuesday (look out for a first review of it in wednesday's Standard). However, somehow it leaked online, with photos and even videos surfacing. Sony's lawyers have been quick to remove videos from YouTube and other sites, but as soon as they are taken down they pop up elsewhere.

The leak is amazing given the secrecy here in LA. None of the major games firms, all expected to make big announcements this week, are saying a word. Even the normal tactic of showing journalists products under a non disclosure agreement is abandoned for fear details will leak ahead of the planned glitzy press conferences.

But in a world where news can travel online in seconds, Sony's woes are a sobering reminder that it really is virtually impossible to keep a secret online - even with the might of Sony's lawyers behind you, once the genie is out of the bottle, there really is no getting it back in.