Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

January 12, 2011

According to documents on the web sites of PS3 hacker George "geohot" Hotz and hacking group fail0verflow, Sony Computer Entertainment America has asked a court to issue a temporary restraining order against parties involved in circumventing its console's "technological protection measures." The motion further seeks to take those circumvention "devices" offline.

The websites of both parties feature court documents and a warning that "any legal fund donation things you see are 100% fake as of now, don't get scammed."

The complaint filed by Sony also accuses Hotz of gaining "financial benefit through his unlawful conduct" via a PayPal account. The motion also names group fail0verflow and its alleged members: "Bushing," Hector Cantero, Sven Peter and "Segher," as well as a number of "John Doe" defendants.

The motion further asks the court to impound the "computers, hard drives, CD-ROMs, DVDs, USB sticks and other media" of the named defendants that "contain circumvention devices."

Sony's court action is a direct result of the aforementioned parties creating hacks and custom firmware for the PS3. Mostly, these groups did this to enable homebrew software and re-enable the OtherOS (allows users to run Linux) feature on the PS3.

Holtz's older web site is still available here.

Legal Documents:

Source: Kotaku

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Comments

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by Bennett Beeny on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 14:07.

I just want to play Codemasters' International Cricket 2010 on my console. I mean, surely it shouldn't be that difficult. I live in the most powerful nation in the world, a nation that has espoused consumerism for centuries.

But Sony won't let me. Neither will Microsoft or Nintendo. Not because the game won't work on the system - it works fine in England. My only option, if I want to play here in the US, is to hack the console.

This is not just about backing up media or DRM. It's about gaining access to media that should be available to everyone who owns a console, not just the privileged few who happen to live in the right countries.

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by Andrew Eisen on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 16:49.

"My only option, if I want to play here in the US, is to hack the console."

Just import it. The PS3 is region free so it should play just fine.

Andrew Eisen

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by SeanB on Thu, 01/13/2011 - 03:47.

Not all games are Region free. All games are capable of being region free, and it's up to the publisher weather it is or not.

So him blaming Sony for the region lock on his cricket game is wrong... unless of course it's a Sony made game, but I don't think so.

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by Andrew Eisen on Thu, 01/13/2011 - 12:43.

While that's technically possible, as far as I know, no game has done that (except maybe some Korean games or something) and International Cricket 2010 appears to be no exception.

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/international-cricket-2010-game-1...

Andrew Eisen

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 16:26.

I know the PS3 works JPN-?USA and JPN/UK but I dunno if it likes UK/US I never did confrim that and I know the 360 is set to whatever the publisher sets it to.

But rather than that I'd like to use open soruce stuff to run more than 4 formats of media and store my games on the HDD for quicker acces.

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

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http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 12:04.

That didn't take long.

Re: Sony Fights PS3 Hackers in Court

Submitted by ZippyDSMlee on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 11:24.

It dose not matter the individuals right of plying a backups and their own media supersedes any DRM scheme short of what is kept on someone eases sever. We already can not return bad media and tools to whack modded consoles even modded data thats a decent trade off to allow backups and mod chips regardless of what conglomerates and their fuck buddies want.

I hope sony loses big on this menavuer!

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

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http://zippydsm.deviantart.com/

Shout box

MechaTama31: Imautobot: I dunno. Ask my hundreds-strong Steam library, which I have played maybe 10-20% of. Those sales are just too good to pass up... >.>06/19/2013 - 7:38am

Imautobot: Bought 5 GOG games last night, now I wonder if I'll play them. Why is it so comforting to know we have it, and yet such a challenge to bring ourselves to play it?06/19/2013 - 7:28am

Andrew Eisen: Okay, fixed. For really reals this time!06/19/2013 - 12:42am

Sleaker: @AE The actual link to the pay what you want is www.indiegamestand.com not desura. You seem to infer where it's at but never posted a link.06/19/2013 - 12:01am

Andrew Eisen: LEGO: The Movie! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg06/18/2013 - 9:39pm

Zen: http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130614/OFFDUTY02/306140030/New-Xbox-sin-against-all-service-members-06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Zen: Been out for a few days, but has anyone brought up the possible ban on Xbox One on military bases because of security concerns that it could be a listening device by Commanders?06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Andrew Eisen: Sleaker - Fixed.06/18/2013 - 6:34pm

MechaTama31: CMiner: Another issue is that every camera/webcam combination is going to be pretty different, in terms of the software/hardware exploits available. A homogenous hardware/software combo like a console, in millions of homes, will be a much juicier target.06/18/2013 - 6:31pm

Sleaker: Vox pay what you want link is busted.06/18/2013 - 6:27pm

ZippyDSMlee: Mics have to breath put tape over it.06/18/2013 - 6:25pm

NyuRena: You nailed it James! Yikes..06/18/2013 - 1:56pm

james_fudge: With MS willing to share with the government, an always listening device should give everyone pause.06/18/2013 - 1:37pm

james_fudge: you can't turn off the Microphone on the Kinect and it has to be plugged in. It's not rocket science.06/18/2013 - 1:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: The Humble Bundle Guys just don't like me having money in my pocket do they? https://www.humblebundle.com/06/18/2013 - 1:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, I know that my Android camera is off unless I am using an application that turns it on. Same with the microphone.06/18/2013 - 12:38pm

CMiner: Can you turn off the camera on an iPhone? Like, -really- turn it off, not just change a setting that -tells- you the camera is off?06/18/2013 - 12:13pm

james_fudge: when they make it a requirement, yes they are06/18/2013 - 12:10pm

CMiner: I just don't think Microsoft bears any more (or less) responsibility for privacy with its Kinect camera than do the makers of laptops or smartphones with integrated cameras.06/18/2013 - 12:00pm

Imautobot: The ability to operate the console without the camera is key. It's a peripheral, not directly integrated into the console, and yet it behaves as if it is. Thankfully I don't have kids, and won't have an Xbone either.06/18/2013 - 11:49am

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