“Sony has won its request for a temporary restraining order in its PS3 jailbreak case against Geohot and fail0verflow, despite a jurisdictional technicality. At the same time, the judge at the US District Court for the Northern District of California has allowed Sony to keep the lawsuit in San Francisco. The restraining order forbids the jailbreak team from distributing or linking the jailbreak procedure, or encouraging others to jailbreak or hack their PS3 or PSN. They’ve also been ordered to turn over any computers or storage media used to create the jailbreak to Sony’s lawyers.” Land of the free fail.
I hope they turn over a VIC-20 and a 5.25 inch floppy with a copy of the code on it. Lt them try to prove that wasn’t the machine he used to do the job.
I was almost thinking that I might buy a PS3 too, since maybe I could run homebrew (and Linux) on it again. Never mind, Sony, I’ll just keep my money.
What!?!?!? Did I wake up in Communist Russia this morning and not realize it? This action by Sony and these “judges” is futile. Anyone with half a brain knows this. This lawsuit will not stop people like GeoHot from hacking their hardware; rather it will merely incite ever more hackers to be even bolder and more brazen with doing whatever they want with HARDWARE THEY OWN!! If I were a current “owner” of a PS3 (or any Sony product for that matter) I’d box the piece of junk up and send it to Sony’s headquarters with a letter demanding all or most of my money back since it is Sony and not I who obviously owns the hardware. In fact, I’d do the same with all of my old, broken Sony hardware too: televisions, radios, CD players etc… after all, Sony owns them, let them pay to dispose of them.
Send them (Sony) letters demaning storage fees to be paid to you for their old eleltronic goods at your home/work place.
Anyone know the going rate for long term storage these days?
Communist russia, capitalist usa..who can tell the difference? They just use different names for the same kind of crooks.
This action by Sony and these “judges” is futile. Anyone with half a brain knows this. This lawsuit will not stop people like GeoHot from hacking their hardware
Indeed. I was just thinking to myself that this is really like throwing pure gasoline in an open fire and hoping it’ll douse the flames: now people will continue hacking and cracking Sony’s stuff just in spite of them, quite the reverse Sony wanted.
Oh well, Sony as a company really sucks nowadays and you can bet that they’ll continue to make themselves look like even bigger asshats than before.
You own hardware, but you do not own the PSN.
There are a lot of things that depends on console security – paid content distribution / trophies / multiplayer / game modification protection.
Now all that things are lost.
So anyone can pirate software, use trophies unlockers (automatically drawing the system almost useless), cheat in multiplayer, etc
So honest people, who bought games/content, will suffer from it.
GeoHot has accepted license what he will not reverse engineer the thing. And that can lead to certain consequences.
So if for example somebody makes the keys from your home and give it to some random thief. I guess you will be very glad and make that person your best friend.
I guess they should complain to Sony about hiring complete nincompoops to design the security.
Bullshit. Just because it’s in the shrinkwrap license does not mean it’s valid by contract law. If he bought it he can do whatever he wants with it. Well, at least that’s the rule in sane countries.
Funny how Sony gets away scott-free even when their design is fundamentally flawed.
No but if you’re stupid enough to hide your keys under the doormat it’s your own fault.
Its a bit more then that, its like buying and using a lock and key system where every key ever made for it has the exact same 4 bumps, you can bring along your own key with 4 bumps and unlock any door in the house.
Not only that, but if you unlock the front door, and show your 4 bump key to the alarm system it’ll give you detailed directions to the safe box in the house along with the number combo to open it.
if you’d own ps3, you’d know that you don’t need to sign to psn to use it. and with that they can only specify your network conducting rules
i’m simply not buying one single sony product, not because i wouldn’t want, because i can’t. it seems ps3 i bought is just on loan from sony
and keys analogy is flawed. how happy would you be if i sold you house, retain one set of keys and give them to some random thief?
Edited 2011-01-28 16:28 UTC
Ever hear of a bump key? They can open just about any lock, and can easily be made even by yourself if you wanted with just about any spare or old/unused standard-sized key and a cheap, specialized metal file. Not to mention, if you have a lot of keys to deal with with your own property, they’d probably be a hell of a lot more convenient replacing them all with… one key. You’d just need something to “bump” it with.
YouTube hosts plenty of videos demonstrating just how easy it is to make and use bump keys. Physical locks, in reality, are no more secure against attacks than Sony’s PS3 root key. Hell, all a burgler needs to do is find a big enough rock somewhere (hint: they’re everywhere) to throw at a window and bypass the door (including lock) entirely. If that for some reason can’t be done, other objects–including hands and feet–could be used to strike against the glass.
So really, bad example: standard locks can be broken just as well as cryptographic keys can be cracked. Nothing’s really “secure” and all locks do is provide you with a sense of security by making it just a bit harder to open a door. Nothing more. You could say it’s the McAfee or Norton for physical doors; a false sense of security.
Edited 2011-01-28 21:08 UTC
Most of what you say is very true.
I respect Sony’s wishes to maintain the integrity of their network but remember why this all happened in the first place.
This happened when Sony took away the ability to run Linux. That ability was an advertised feature of the console and the reason why a lot of the hackers bought the thing in the first place.
It just so happens that hoops to jump through to get Linux running again are the same hoops needed for piracy and cheating.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/09/first-sale-doctrine/
Excerpt form the wired article:
“The first-sale doctrine of 1909, in its current form, allows the “owner of a particular copy†of a copyrighted work to sell or dispose of his copy without the copyright owner’s authorization. “The first sale doctrine does not apply to a person who possesses a copy of the copyrighted work without owning it, such as a licensee,†the court ruled.”
It’s all in those last sentence. It has to do with difference in licensee rights
Most software you dont license to resell, modify ect, you only buy the right of usage.
I noticed this in the terms of condition of most software. Dont modify is among them.
PS3 Terms of use
http://www.ps3news.com/forums/playstation-3-news/sonys-ps3-system-s…
Part of the PS3 license agreement
“2. RESTRICTIONS
You may not lease, rent, sublicense, publish, modify, adapt, or translate any portion of the System Software. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the System Software, or create any derivative works, or otherwise attempt to create System Software source code from its object code. You may not (i) use any unauthorized, illegal, counterfeit, or modified hardware or software in connection with the System Software, including use of tools to bypass, disable, or circumvent any encryption, security, or authentication mechanism for the PS3â„¢ system; (ii) violate any laws, regulations or statutes, or rights of SCE, its affiliated companies, or third parties in connection with your access to or use of the System Software, including the access, use, or distribution of any software or hardware that you know or should have known to be infringing or pirated; (iii) use any hardware or software to cause the System Software to accept or use unauthorized, illegal, or pirated software or hardware; (iv) obtain the System Software in any manner other than through SCE’s authorized distribution methods; or (v) exploit the System Software in any manner other than to use it in your PS3â„¢ system in accordance with the accompanying documentation and with authorized software or hardware, including use of the System Software to design, develop, update, or distribute unauthorized software or hardware for use in connection with the PS3â„¢ system for any reason. Without limiting the scope of SCE’s remedies, any violation of these restrictions will void the PS3â„¢ system’s warranty and affect your ability to obtain warranty services and repair services from SCE or its affiliated companies.”
I’m not saying that i’m in principle against what Geohot did. Enabling “other os” function.
The removal of the other os ability from Sony in my eyes is also a sort of contravention of sales agreement.
Norway consumer’s council for instance is looking into this.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/01/27/claims.some.updates.a…
It’s unfortunate and we dont like it, but as it stand it’s the way it is.
When you buy certain things you dont actually “own” it in the true sense of the word.
When I buy software in a shop, the vendor doesn’t ask me to agree with the EULA or show me said EULA before taking my money.
I discover the EULA when I get back home and put the CD/DVD in my drive. If, at this point, I refuse to accept the EULA, the shop won’t take my copy of the software and give me my money back.
Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, EULAs are invalid for every software that is sold in a shop
Edited 2011-01-30 14:21 UTC
If you keep your money, it is good for Sony =)
Because console is still slightly subsidized. Profit is from games.
Are you crazy!?
You have to take my life before you can take my VIC-20!.
Ok, so I have a question. Lets say I buy a washing machine and I think “Hey, this washing machine is really bitchin’, but you know what would make it even more bitchin’ ? If I replace the motor with a Chevy smallblock!”. Then lets say I release the schematics I used to do the job. What is the worst thing that will happen to me, I’ll void my warranty? Why should the punishment be any greater for hacking “your own” PS3 and maybe also telling others how to do it? Forgive my language, but if the US gov’t and Sony are reading this: f–k you!
Edited 2011-01-27 23:59 UTC
If you programmed your washing machine to play DVDs with Linux while doing the laundry – then you’d be violating the DMCA, and they’d come after you…
but he didn’t bypass any locks or protections on his washing machine so he hasn’t violated the DMCA
And yet, playing legally-purchased DVDs with non-licensed playback software is by definition a violation.
Well at least I’d be entertained while I waited for the load to finish
Edited 2011-01-28 00:26 UTC
Two problems … DVDs are meant to be played, and when you purchase a DVD, you purchase a license to play it. How does using Linux to play the DVD (which you are licensed to do after all, since you bought the DVD) violate DMCA?
As for the person who programmed the libdvdcss library that allows Linux to play the DVD, that person does not come under US jurisdiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VideoLAN
Finally, getting back to the actual topic, AFAIK what GeoHot did does not allow anyone to pirate PS3 games. All it does is re-allow the “Other OS” option that Sony had originally provided anyway. If that is the case, how is there any breach of “circumvention”?
Edited 2011-01-28 00:46 UTC
Actually, I think you’re just buying the content. In order to “purchase” the license to play it, you must buy a DVD player (which already has the license fee built-in).
What he did is find the private key that allows code to appear trusted to the device.
Again, I agree that this may be against the accepted use policy, but seriously, should it be considered illegal? I don’t think so…no more than my bitchin’ V8 powered, DVD playin’ washing machine
From the talk that I watched – They didn’t have to find any key or do any hacking to decrypt any files or bypass any of the security to do witht he signed pair/trusted key. They simply asked the PS3 to do it and the PS3 did due to a fault in the way Sony had assumed the code running was authenic and not used any protection in the key signing process.
If anyone should be having law suites it should be the developers of games vs Sony for lack of basic security.
Who in their right minds uses a salt number of 4, every single time … oh yeah Sony do. And THAT is the reason why people can use the key to sign any code.
Well it must be a trivially cheap price for the license. Here in the Southern U.S., you can pick up a fairly nice home DVD player that will also play Divx/Xvid, VCD/SVCD, photo CDs and sometimes .mkv files for around $20-30 retail. Cheaper if you eschew the retail stores and buy online.
Considering I couldn’t homebrew a player that capable — even using a free second hand DVD tray/laser assembly, the most expensive part — for that price, I’d love to know just how inexpensive this license is and why it’s never been offered to the general public as a standalone purchase. The closest I’ve found is buying Cyberlink’s DVD playback software (which they did release for Linux) but it’s nearly $50 unless you find a license key on eBay at a discount. On top of that, I can’t stand their lame DVD software anyway. Even VLC is better (I personally prefer mplayer to VLC, for those who care).
Honestly, the idea of having to have a license for both the content and the playback mechanism is so redundant and unnecessary, it boggles the mind. I can almost accept being licensed to watch the content itself, but the moment my money becomes theirs and the media is in my hand it should be mine to watch how and when and where I please, on whatever hardware I can fit the disc into.
—–
Amusingly, the Daft Punk song “Technologic” started playing on my mp3 player as I was typing the second paragraph. My device is trying to tell me something…
http://www.fluendo.com/shop/category/end-user-products/
Are you sure that the Fluendo DVD player is fully legal in the U.S. though? From their license page:
I’m no lawyer, but it sounds to me like the end user still must purchase a license from the MPEG LA in order to legally use Fluendo DVD Player in the U.S. Whether they would even offer an individual license to a consumer, and at what price, is still unknown.
So I ask again, can I please buy a cheap (under $10) license that will grant me permission to use existing software such as mplayer, VLC, MPC, etc to play back discs I already purchased a license for when I bought the disc in the first place?
lol, sorry for misinformation
since i’m from eu, i don’t really feel the need to go trough those patent licenses so i wasn’t careful on what i posted
Edited 2011-01-28 19:46 UTC
It’s quite all right, the patent situation here in the States is bordering on ludicrous. I wish it were as easy as buying a Fluendo-licensed player; I’d much rather support them than the MPEG LA anyway.
bitchin’ V8 powered, DVD playin’ washing machine
Oh Yeah! I gotta get me one of those!
Edited 2011-01-28 09:54 UTC
Probably should try to get one with good LPG
Actually you’re buying the media and the privilege to read the content using blessed methods on that media alone. If you bought the content, you had the ability to use any means necessary to use the content.
If you break that media, they will be glad to sell you more media…you do not have the privilege to download that content again without paying for the use of the new media…
That’s how it was explained to me
Actually no. GeoHot released master keys for executables signing while fail0verflow did not.
Because the IT and media industries are special and rides on the short bus.
bush’s dmca says you don’t own your software.
More like you bought a washing machine with a small block. Then sears came out to do some maintenance on it and all of a sudden you don’t have a small block any more. Then you tell people how to hook it up again and get sent to court.
Sony is currently trying to ride the ‘open’ Zeitgeist by buddying up with people like the World Wildlife Fund:
http://gu.com/p/2myz4/tf
I suggest people identify similar initiatives and start asking awkward questions of such Sony partners as the WWF. As much as I once admired the WWF, they will now no longer get my support until they drop such backing.
It ain’t much, but it’s something
How can Sony be this stupid. Don’t they realize that this will only speed up the hacking of the PS3. I really hope the PS3 gets hacked even more now just to spite Sony.
Sony = selfish 2 year old.
and decided to live in a Sony … Microsoft … Apple and other lowlife scumbag corporations free world.
I´ve never regreted that decition … and chances are I never will.
Really? So you use no goods or services the production or delivery of which use products from any of those companies? The simple fact that you’ve posted that reply here indicates the contrary – nothing’s more certain than there being a product from at least one of those companies involved somewhere along the line in the delivery of your post.
As admirable as your intentions seem, the simple reality is it’s total folly. It’s like protesting about depleting the worlds fossil fuel reserves while having your kitchen cupboards full of plastic containers.
Well I can say that I no longer purchase products from Sony or Apple. These 2 are the most Draconian heartless companies I have experienced in my lifetime in the tech industry and I actively do my best to convince everyone I know never to purchase their products. When I purchase a piece of hardware its mine. not yours anymore. One can actually get sued for possessing their products in a way they do not agree. I will continue to actively steer people away from those companies as long as they continue to be dickheads.
While you’re right that it would be impossible to totally avoid any use of the big 3, you can certainly avoid any direct contribution.
If it wasn’t for my laptop coming with Win7 pre-installed (which now runs ArchLinux), I wouldn’t have a single Apple, MS nor Sony consumer product at home (and I’m pretty sure I haven’t contributed much in the way of non-consumer products by them either – except perhaps with items that pay an IP license fee to Sony/MS/Apple)
Yes, really.
Neither me nor any of the members of my family own a single product from any of those three corporations.
Our computers are either Dell or those I put toghether. All of them run Linux except from mine … thats running FreeBSD. All of us use Windows at our jobs and that´s about it.
We never bought, and will never buy no matter what, Ipods, Iphones, Ipads, Iunameit, Apple computers or any other Apple appliance for that matter. There´s a huge number of mp3, mp4, mpX players from a huge number of different vendors to chose from and the same thing applies to cell phones (samsung, motorola, nokia, etc) and smart phones (should we need want one, and we don´t).
As for the rest of our stuff, my TVs are LG, Samsung or Philips and my DVD players are from Matsushita, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, etc …
Only one of my nephews owns a video game console and it happens to be a Wii … the rest of the gaming goes on on our PCs.
As for your assumption:
“The simple fact that you’ve posted that reply here indicates the contrary – nothing’s more certain than there being a product from at least one of those companies involved somewhere along the line in the delivery of your post.”
aside from your logic beign flawed, the reason why I read the article and decide to post it´s because I´m a lawyer, I practice Consumer´s Right Law (amongst other branches of the Law) and I´m a concsious customer.
Where is this “land of the free” that you are speaking of?
I once wanted to buy a PS3 because it could run other OS. When they removed that feature, I changed my mind.
I expectantly watched this situation to unfold and see if I would ever be able to install another OS and finally buy a PS3.
Now, I just say: no more Sony products for me. Of any kind.
There are other companies that produce same quality products, cheaper. As for the PS3, it’s just a console. I don’t care anymore.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/01/sony-releases-new-ps3-fi…
I guess Sony’s definition of silencing that which cannot be silenced is in need of an overhaul.
It took hackers mere hours to hack the new firmware.
—
Jeff
I cannot endorse this course of action.
Who is representing geohot?
Someone from one of these open software groups?