Wow, that is a seriously dick move on Ubisoft's part. Way to make people think they're buying a new game when it's actually a seven year old game.
However, I'm sure the sands of time is actually better than the new one, so maybe it's not so much a deception tactic than them doing the purchaser a favor.
But seriously, with all the bullshit they are pulling with stunts like this and the DRM issues, I'll never buy another Ubisoft game again.