Look like Sony is escalating its war against all things related to George "GeoHot" Hotz, who published Sony's encryption key for the PlayStation 3. Last week, they won a decision to acquire the IP addresses of anyone who visited GeoHot's website or viewed his YouTube videos between January 2009 and March 4th, 2011. The purpose of collecting IP addresses is to determine where many of the downloads originated and whether or not they can try the case in a California court, as opposed to a court in Hotz's home state of New Jersey.
If this is something you've been interested in and / or following, the IP addresses most likely includes yours, and it definitely includes mine. After he published the encryption key on his website, I visited a number of times, checking out what all the hoopla was about. After he was sued, I had even considered making a donation to fight against Sony's draconian policy.
One of Sony's arguments against Hotz is that this encryption key can be used to pirate and hack their games. It's an unfortunate side effect of this (and those that violate those rules and are caught should be dealt with appropriately), but the potential benefits of allowing people to tinker with their own consoles, install home brew software, and even other operating systems is huge! It just baffles my mind that Sony is completely dropping the ball on this.
This behavior from Sony makes me want to smash any Sony product I own, and it will definitely make me think twice about purchasing a product from them in the future. Sadly, this case is just further evidence that we don't technically own the products we buy -- companies actively discourage consumers to tinker with their gadgets and will go to no end to prevent dissemination of information related to said gadgets.
More info via Wired: www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/geohot-site-unma...
Discussion about
Sony just lost a customer and a fan.
Sony's reaction to this is so overblown and delayed it's nearly hilarious. What did they expect after having allowed hacking so openly on the PS3 for years? Next thing you know, Sony will figure out that Android can be rooted.
Yeah, I removed the PS3 from my 'Want' list and am done with all of the companies products. This strikes me as a decision made my some old man in a grey suit in a dusty boardroom who has yet to look outside his window and see that the world's changed without his noticing. They seem to be treating him like some Mafia kingpin rather than as a dude on the internet.
It's like a massive supermarket chain cutting the hand off a teenage shoplifter for stealing a bar of chocolate and then nailing it to the wall above their front door.
It's like a massive supermarket chain cutting the hand off a teenage shoplifter for stealing a bar of chocolate and then nailing it to the wall above their front door.
It's worse than that. Geohot is no shoplifter and hasn't stolen anything from Sony v
Since I'm from the South, I'm going to compare this Sony thing to two things near and dear to my heart; cars and hunting.
Hunters have a code and they are the country's greatest environmentalists. Poachers are shunned, rules are strictly enforced in hunting camps and Wildlife Officers are revered and respected. The culture of hunters reduces the amount of poaching. There are scumbags out there that will break the rules, but we should build a similar culture within the hacker/maker community.
Ford will NEVER sue me for putting a different carburetor in my 67 Mustang. They will NEVER sue me for boring out the cylinders. I will not get pulled over or arrested simply for driving it on the same roads as stock vehicles. I WILL get stopped for using that vehicle to endanger other users. The same should apply to anything and everything I buy.
Hunters have a code and they are the country's greatest environmentalists. Poachers are shunned, rules are strictly enforced in hunting camps and Wildlife Officers are revered and respected. The culture of hunters reduces the amount of poaching. There are scumbags out there that will break the rules, but we should build a similar culture within the hacker/maker community.
Ford will NEVER sue me for putting a different carburetor in my 67 Mustang. They will NEVER sue me for boring out the cylinders. I will not get pulled over or arrested simply for driving it on the same roads as stock vehicles. I WILL get stopped for using that vehicle to endanger other users. The same should apply to anything and everything I buy.
You have the right ideas here. I think all of us here would agree that we should be able to modify the gear and products we buy. But I don't know if your analogies quite fit. The difference here, is that the work that Geohot and others are doing to unlock the system is then enabling the more nefarious uses of people who pirate, and ruin it for everybody. Sony's logic is that they can cut it all off at the source. The alternative is to let the good guys have their fun with the system, while also letting the pirates have free reign to do what they will. And they're choosing the former. And maybe that is the logical business decision to make. There will never be many people who are hacking their system for true homebrew. But lots of people pirate. And that's potential lost profit.
And remember, we should have the right to modify our own stuff, BUT, if Sony chooses to run their business in this way, we have the ultimate choice not to buy from them.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but I think my points are valid, whether we like them or not.
And remember, we should have the right to modify our own stuff, BUT, if Sony chooses to run their business in this way, we have the ultimate choice not to buy from them.
Just playing devil's advocate here, but I think my points are valid, whether we like them or not.
No one can stop pirating. If we have learned anything in recent years, it's that piracy can't be stopped by making things inconvenient for paying customers. (www.bspcn.com/2010/02/18/pirated-dvd-vs-legal-dvd/) Sony makes plenty of money up front. The majority of "lost money" is not lost at all; most of the people who pirate would not pay for the music/movie/software if there was no pirated option available. Pirates are not potential buyers; they steal things they would have never bought in the first place. The concept of great deals of lost revenue due to piracy is ridiculous.
I'm not going to jailbreak my PS3, but I do jailbreak my iPhone. I don't pirate software, even though there are tools readily available for it. I BUY these products, not rent them from the manufacturers. I pay dearly for them and I deserve to mod these things how I want. It's up to me not to break the law, just like when I have a car that can do 140, I need to make sure that I get there lawfully.
I'm not going to jailbreak my PS3, but I do jailbreak my iPhone. I don't pirate software, even though there are tools readily available for it. I BUY these products, not rent them from the manufacturers. I pay dearly for them and I deserve to mod these things how I want. It's up to me not to break the law, just like when I have a car that can do 140, I need to make sure that I get there lawfully.
I don't see the problem with the Sony actions. As much as I know Sony loves to shoot themselves in the foot, remember that the consoles are sold at a loss (or were over a very long time) in order to derive revenue from sales of games - and a 'jailbreak' would easily allow duplication of games.
Lots of people are making reference to the iPhone on this - the story ain't the same folks as many of you well know if you plug in your brain.
Lots of people are making reference to the iPhone on this - the story ain't the same folks as many of you well know if you plug in your brain.
If Sony thinks that bullying this guy in court will make piracy will go away, they are sadly mistaken. We've all seen tools used to pirate stuff get shut down only to be replaced by something else (Naptster > Kazaa > Bittorrent). There's many others out there just like GeoHot who hack their gadgets that will pick up where he left off.
Sony and the game publishers need to figure out what kind of people are pirating these games and if there's a way to get them to start buying them again (what's the root cause?). Maybe they need to make games more affordable or more accessible (downloadable). They're wasting resources on the wrong things.
Sony and the game publishers need to figure out what kind of people are pirating these games and if there's a way to get them to start buying them again (what's the root cause?). Maybe they need to make games more affordable or more accessible (downloadable). They're wasting resources on the wrong things.
I agree with what everyone has said here and really hate what Sony is doing in this situation. But what about piracy? Is there anything else they can do to curb it? It will become a major problem if they do nothing about it. I totally support all the homebrew efforts, but unfortunately more people will use the console's vulnerabilities for the use of piracy than regular homebrew. The software market for the PSP has basically been destroyed because of this. Some of the most amazing games to come out on that system in past few years sold so little because of the piracy problem. I really feel bad for the publishers who want to make great games but end up having more copies stolen than bought.
Again, I'm not in favor of Sony's methods here, but it seems like too many people are quick to denounce them without realizing the problem they and their game publishers face.
Again, I'm not in favor of Sony's methods here, but it seems like too many people are quick to denounce them without realizing the problem they and their game publishers face.
I think I'm mostly fine with Sony blocking hacked consoles (or at the very least, those who pirate games -- it's not too difficult to detect). It's a reasonable compromise. I'm not sure I totally agree with using piracy as a justification for this. Where there's a will, there's a way, and a cryptographic key has never stopped people pirating games before, anyway.
Anyway, here's the main thing I'm upset about: Sony suing GeoHot for releasing the information ("information is meant to be free!") and gathering IP addresses of anyone who visited his site. It's inexcusable.
Anyway, here's the main thing I'm upset about: Sony suing GeoHot for releasing the information ("information is meant to be free!") and gathering IP addresses of anyone who visited his site. It's inexcusable.
