Sony files for restraining order against Geohot+fail0verflow

[Carbo]

What is it that people think it doesn't do that its supposed to do?

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

What is it that people think it doesn't do that its supposed to do?

The PS3 could originally serve as an extremely inexpensive equivalent to a bleeding edge home computer - upon release it was close to £2000+ worth of PC equipment for £350 - thanks to OtherOS, and it had in-built Blu-Ray which was obscenely expensive at the time, and yes this is despite the fact that access to the GPU was locked out in OtherOS mode. This feature was advertised as such - not to the gaming audience, but to the technophile audience. It no longer can perform this role. This is the issue behind all this - that you personally don't care about the loss of this feature and JUST WANT TO PLAY GAEMS LAWL is irrelevant, as is the fact that almost all PS3 customers feel the same way. To be blunt, this has nothing to with gamers at all except the knock-on effects this little battle has had by douchebag pirates and online cheats.

(That the PS3 is no longer hot shit by PC standards is besides the point, it's still incredibly inexpensive for the sheer guts it possesses. This is why the US military was caught using them.)

[Scar]

Fair enough.

And you're right, most of this is just because of pirates and online cheats. Fuck them all to hell. I just hope that this doesn't cause Sony to hold back with the PS4 (or whatever its called). I like having an obscenely powerful piece of equipment for relatively low prices.

[Tornado]

it does everything it was advertised to do besides the Other OS, which isn't advertised anymore anyway.

Stepping back from this, "we no longer advertise that feature so we are going to chop it out" isn't anywhere near a legal defense.

I mean they didn't even advertise Other OS as far as I'm aware.

They did.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Stepping back from this, "we no longer advertise that feature so we are going to chop it out" isn't anywhere near a legal defense.

But if you had the OS feature you can still use it.

People keep forgetting is that whilst you own the PS3, you do not own the PSN network, if you want access to that then you have to abide by their rules. That terms and conditions thing that virtually nobody reads.

You want access to the PSN, then you can't have the other OS feature. Want the other OS? Well you can't have access to the PSN. Make your choice.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Hogfather

[LunarEdge]

But if you had the OS feature you can still use it.

People keep forgetting is that whilst you own the PS3, you do not own the PSN network, if you want access to that then you have to abide by their rules. That terms and conditions thing that virtually nobody reads.

You want access to the PSN, then you can't have the other OS feature. Want the other OS? Well you can't have access to the PSN. Make your choice.

^This

Stepping back from this, "we no longer advertise that feature so we are going to chop it out" isn't anywhere near a legal defense.

You completely missed my point. I wasn't saying "since they didn't advertise it, lets get rid of it." I was saying that it isn't advertised anymore since they removed the feature (and when it was available it wasn't highly advertised to begin with).

[Badnik Mechanic]

Ah goody, the PSN network and various sony sites are down again...

This is working wonders to win my sympathy...

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

(It was pretty obvious they were never going to win your symapthy.)

Silly Anon, hack people who won't tear up the entire Internet to find you and annihilate your lives.

So silly. n_n

[Carbo]

This isn't even hacking. This is just babby's first DDoS-script and a coalition of the thickest.

Servers will probably be up whenever.

[Badnik Mechanic]

This isn't even hacking. This is just babby's first DDoS-script and a coalition of the thickest.

Servers will probably be up whenever.

I think you'll find many people don't care what it's called. And yes, whilst the servers will go back up, the fact of the matter is that they shouldn't even be down in the first place because the digital self righteous is aparently doing it all for the freedom of the world or some other anti 'the man' stance.

[Tornado]

But if you had the OS feature you can still use it.

People keep forgetting is that whilst you own the PS3, you do not own the PSN network, if you want access to that then you have to abide by their rules. That terms and conditions thing that virtually nobody reads.

You want access to the PSN, then you can't have the other OS feature. Want the other OS? Well you can't have access to the PSN. Make your choice.

We've been over this before. This would only be valid if Sony didn't require firmware updates to play games.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Tornado

[Badnik Mechanic]

We've been over this before. This would only be valid if Sony didn't require firmware updates to play games.

It's called buyer beware.

Sucks but thats life.

[Scar]

I think you'll find many people don't care what it's called. And yes, whilst the servers will go back up, the fact of the matter is that they shouldn't even be down in the first place because the digital self righteous is aparently doing it all for the freedom of the world or some other anti 'the man' stance.

You forget that the bulk of Sony's servers are in Japan, which is of course suffering from a large crisis.

I would have been surprised if there weren't any server issues at all.

[Tornado]

It's called buyer beware.

Sucks but thats life.

Er, no. Caveat emptor doesn't apply when the thing that makes the product not work as advertised was intentional.

[LunarEdge]

We've been over this before. This would only be valid if Sony didn't require firmware updates to play games.

the price you pay for wanting the Other OS. You're not forced to update if you don't want to, yea you won't be able to play newer games but if you actually utilized the Other OS system than couldn't you backdoor it somehow

[Tornado]

the price you pay for wanting the Other OS. You're not forced to update if you don't want to

The either or argument absolutely holds true for PSN because it is a service provided by Sony. Games are an entirely different issue.

[LunarEdge]

Alright, these Anonymous guys need to just stop despite the Geo issues.

Anonymous Takes down Playstation Website

http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20110406/tc_digitaltrends/anonymoustakesdownplaystationwebsite

Yesterday, Anonymous warned Sony that it’s the latest to incur the group’s wrath. The company’s legal crusade against PS3 hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz and others has gotten the attention of the hacktivist group, which is making a name for itself when it comes to DDoS attacks in recent months. There was also a fraction of the group (or very possibly, detractors trying to culminate some negative attention) who threatened Sony employees’ family members. While we’re suspect of that particular detail, there’s no denying Anonymous wasn’t bluffing about it other plans for Sony. PlayStation Lifestyle reports that Anonymous has been busy crippling various Sony sites, including Store.PlayStation.com and PlayStation.com. Sony.com was also subject to site failure, but at press time was accessible. Regardless of intermittent availability, Sony isn’t taking Anonymous’ attacks laying down: It appears that the company has hired hacker-prevention team Prolexic Technologies to thwart the groups’ efforts. The firm describes itself as offering “class-leading Network Protection Services…and an availability of channel partners to ensure that the most advanced and reliable DDoS mitigation services in the world are easily accessible to online businesses.” The company claims to work with various sectors, including members of the airline and online gaming industries. While various Sony websites are experiencing their fair share of technical difficulties, Prolexic may have been moderately successful at (perhaps temporarily) heading Anonymous off. An Anonymous chat room revealed that several members had come up against Prolexic’s defense: “Prolexic is holding up…I doubt we can DDoS Prolexic…you won’t kill Prolexic with l**c…it’s getting harder to DDoS store.ps.com.” PlayStation Lifestyle, which had come across and entered the Anonymous IRC, was quickly tracked down by Anon members and given additional details on its fight against Sony. A member by the handle “Takei” admitted to being “a current driving force behind SonyRecon” but would not give any additional background on his role within the group or operation. He did say he believes the FBI, Sony, and Prolexic are keeping a very close eye on the group’s chat room as well as Internet activity. But Anonymous isn’t discouraged – in fact, it might just take on Sony’s new defense team. Takei warned, “Well, if I had to put money on it…I’d say, Prolexic is going down like a two dollar wh*** in a Nevada chicken ranch.” He also revealed Anonymous isn’t done with Sony and that this was only “a simple salute to let them know, we’re coming.”

Why should people like us (who don't try hacking their consoles and etc.) have to pay just because this little group has a stick up their ass? Apparently during this whole ordeal, people had trouble accessing the store and PSN itself.

[Tornado]

Agreed.

[Scar]

Fuck those guys. It would actually be quite hilarious if Sony actually retaliated. It would actually be cyber warfare

[LunarEdge]

Fuck those guys. It would actually be quite hilarious if Sony actually retaliated. It would actually be cyber warfare

Sony kinda is by hiring that internet security group Prolexic or whatever they are called. If anything, Sony should just forget about Geo now and seek these guys out. Compared to what the Anonymous guys are doing, what Geo did doesn't seem all that bad at all (even though it wasn't in the first place).

[Carbo]

We've finally reached endgame.

Joint Statement

Sony Computer Entertainment America (“SCEA”) and George Hotz (“Hotz”) today announced the settlement of the lawsuit filed by SCEA against Hotz in federal court in San Francisco, California. The parties reached an agreement in principle on March 31, 2011. As part of the settlement, Hotz consented to a permanent injunction.

Both parties expressed satisfaction that litigation had been quickly resolved. “Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us,” said Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA. “Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal.”

“It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” said Hotz, “I’m happy to have the litigation behind me.” Hotz was not involved in the recent attacks on Sony’s internet services and websites.

In the action, SCEA accused Hotz of violating federal law by posting online information about the security system in the PlayStation 3 videogame console and software that SCEA claimed could be used to circumvent the security system in the console and allow the playing of pirated videogames. Hotz denies any wrongdoing on his part. Hotz’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was still pending before the federal court in San Francisco but a preliminary injunction was issued requiring Hotz to take down the postings challenged by SCEA.

“We want our consumers to be able to enjoy our devices and products in a safe and fun environment and we want to protect the hard work of the talented engineers, artists, musicians and game designers who make PlayStation games and support the PlayStation Network,” added Russell. “We appreciate Mr. Hotz’s willingness to address the legal issues involved in this case and work with us to quickly bring this matter to an early resolution.”

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

Huh.

I feel like a ton of background info is missing here.

[Badnik Mechanic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57v7Sn6UWFE

So basically we're still none the wiser over this? Who was right? Who was wrong?

Those who supported whoever are going to say that they were right, no doubt that Holtz is going to be the only one of the two parties that will go on youtube or release more statements over this unlike Sony which will just carry on as normal.

Chances are we'll see more stuff like this in the future, with the direction gaming is going in we'll see another case like this, if it's not Sony it'll be another one of the big 3. And then if it gets settled out of court we'll get nowhere with legalities once more.

Homer: Come on kids... lets go home.

Lisa: We are home?

Homer: That was fast

[Tornado]

So basically, this has been a colossal waste of time for everyone involved. Great.

[Velotix von Skruviktorrius]

...We are missing a lot of background information.

Apparently one of the conditions of the settlements is that the terms remain confidential, so we may never know what's gone on now.

Of course the legal questions this matter raised will inevitably come up again at a later date.