Sony settles with Geohot over PS3 hacking case

Sony America has announced today that they are settling with George "Geohot" Hotz in the high-profile case involving jailbreaking and homebrew for the PS3 console.

Both sides reached an agreement on March 31st and Sony says Hotz has agreed to a permanent injunction.

Geohot was sued after he released custom firmware for the PS3 which allowed for the installation of homebrew. Different firmwares from other hackers eventually led to piracy for the console.

Says Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA:

Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us. 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.

Hotz was also happy to have the case ended:

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.

Geohot has said he will join in on 'Anonymous' boycott of Sony products, and encourages others to do the same.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Apr 2011 23:07

21Q

That's not so bad. So much for a cfw for the xperia play though =/ Was looking forward to that.

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11.4.2011 23:45 #1

Mrguss

Dear Sony: Who is your Daddy ???

Sony dropped its jailbreaking lawsuit against PS3 hacker George Hotz on Monday in exchange for promises.......
The law does not require Sony to prove that Hotz received payment for the hack....
Jailbreaking a console is also a prerequisite to running pirated copies of games. Performing a similar hack on a mobile phone, however, is not unlawful.

http://bit.ly/fb6Tub

+4000

12.4.2011 00:05 #2

KillerBug

That is so bad...this whole lawsuit started because he refused to follow just such an agreement. All this time and trouble, and he lost...not only that, but he did so willingly.

12.4.2011 02:21 #3

trainmstr

wonder if he is going to give all the money back for his legal defense?

This really pisses me off ... because I don't feel Sony would have won ... in reality ..what was he facing on the worst case ... and sony was facing what ...

The ramifications of sony losing would have been epic! Id spent a year or 2 in prison somewhere for the chance of forever changing the landscape of electronics/electronic manufacturers v. consumers.

12.4.2011 03:32 #4

bhetrick

Originally posted by trainmstr: wonder if he is going to give all the money back for his legal defense?
It's not like he received 100's of 1000's in donations. He received 1000's and even though it didn't go to court his lawyers still sucked up that cash plus more.

12.4.2011 09:46 #5

bhetrick

12.4.2011 09:47 #6

Mrguss

Sony is just licking his wounds:
TOKYO - "Sony stock falls due to Anonymous web attacks"
http://bit.ly/fpng42
http://bit.ly/gVIt0J

#OpSony update:
http://bit.ly/f1NwWG
The protest is not over, despite GeoHot settlement with Sony.

+4000

12.4.2011 10:43 #7

DXR88

It doesn't matter that hotz lost, the truth is the way is now paved for all Modders, Hackers, and would be Pirates, this will not stop CFW. Sony cannot sue the millions of people it would take to stop it. they simply do not have that much money or power.

12.4.2011 12:50 #8

brockie

@Mrguss nothing to do with the huge earthquake then LOL.

12.4.2011 13:31 #9

bhetrick

Originally posted by brockie: @Mrguss nothing to do with the huge earthquake then LOL. He posted links. Learn to read. An education will go along way.

Quote:"Sony stock falls due to Anonymous web attacks"

TOKYO � Sony stock plunged 7.3 percent last weekend, a few days after the attack Anonymous started on Sony.

Sony Corp. stock finished at 2,401.76 yen ($28.35), down 7.3 percent from Friday, slightly helping drag down the benchmark Nikkei 225 index.

The drop shows that investors are nervous about the war going on between Sony and 'hacktivism' group Anonymous, which has been going on for some days now under the helm of Howard Stringer, a Welsh-born American, the first foreigner to head Sony. The company's stock had been rising lately.

Sony declined to give out comments or details, but analysts expect the Sony stock to drop even more. Anonymous has not responded to this news yet, but a member told us "this was just the start". Things are not looking good for Sony.

Anonymous has attacked multiple Sony websites, including the PlayStation Network, forcing the websites to go offline for some hours. In respons, Sony called in Prolexic, protecting Sony from any further DDoS attacks. In response, Anonymous says "no security is invulnerable".

12.4.2011 13:46 #10

brockie

@bhetrick yeah everyone shit themselves because of a 1 day anonymous attack what a load of CRAP. & learn some manners.

12.4.2011 14:34 #11

GryphB

Well, it's all just moot. Neither side wins big, and neither side loses much. As far as the whole fiasco with anonymous, more power to the battle.

12.4.2011 18:48 #12

Smacks

If George and his lawyers thought they had a case against Sony then they wouldn't have settled with a permanent injunction. That basically means if George is caught again jailbreaking anything with Sony's name on it he's screwed.

12.4.2011 22:00 #13

trainmstr

i think its still horseshyt. The same could be said about Sony... they would have pressed on if they had a valid case.

He should have fired his lawyer and picked up a fleet of pro-bono attorneys that had something to prove to the world.

Regardless of what sony had against him ... they would have taken a HUGE beating in the public eye ..even Sony knew that.

I feel ashamed that I even donated money to his cause now ..coward.

13.4.2011 00:03 #14

xtago

Originally posted by trainmstr: i think its still horseshyt. The same could be said about Sony... they would have pressed on if they had a valid case.

He should have fired his lawyer and picked up a fleet of pro-bono attorneys that had something to prove to the world.

Regardless of what sony had against him ... they would have taken a HUGE beating in the public eye ..even Sony knew that.

I feel ashamed that I even donated money to his cause now ..coward.

Sony could have but Geohot would have been screwed over in many ways, you have to ask yourself are you willing to goto jail just for hacking something bet not so Geohot will have settled, his lawyers will have said that, money only lasts for so long also options for getting out of a case will become limited.

Sony had provided all the evidence they needed for the case, where as gehohot was just blowing hot air around the place.

I doubt this would have been much of a PR bust even the Anon stuff was piss weak at best, DDoS for what an hour or 2 on US only sites and the rest of the world was all fine.

The funny thing is this settlement makes Anon look like a bunch of dickheads.

Oh and yeah freebie lawyers will do a shit hot job of getting you fucked over, good suggestion there.

13.4.2011 09:48 #15

Hephaestus (unverified)

Originally posted by KillerBug: That is so bad...this whole lawsuit started because he refused to follow just such an agreement. All this time and trouble, and he lost...not only that, but he did so willingly. Sony was coming after him and was not going to quit on the legal front. The probability is that because of the Anonymous attack, the related drop in SONY share price, Anonymous' tagging and tracking Sony exec family members, the take down of PSN, and the bad publicity Sony folded.

13.4.2011 10:27 #16

Oner

Originally posted by Hephaestus: Originally posted by KillerBug: That is so bad...this whole lawsuit started because he refused to follow just such an agreement. All this time and trouble, and he lost...not only that, but he did so willingly. Sony was coming after him and was not going to quit on the legal front. The probability is that because of the Anonymous attack, the related drop in SONY share price, Anonymous' tagging and tracking Sony exec family members, the take down of PSN, and the bad publicity Sony folded. Not true, because this settlement is dated March 31st on the .pdf which is the exact same day Anonymous started their Sony "attacks" so it was definitely not about pressure coming from them, not at all. This settlement most likely came from GeoHot & his lawyers because he/they felt the real pressure of losing.

Think about it. If you so strongly profess that you are "fighting the good fight" for "consumer rights" and you believe you are doing "good", or are going to "win"...then why the hell would you settle for absolutely nothing that you were supposedly fighting for?!?! Sure doesn't make sense to me (and many others). And it for damned sure doesn't look like a "win" for GeoHot no matter which way anyone tries to spin it.

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13.4.2011 13:40 #17

Mrguss

Originally posted by Oner: Originally posted by Hephaestus: Originally posted by KillerBug: That is so bad...this whole lawsuit started because he refused to follow just such an agreement. All this time and trouble, and he lost...not only that, but he did so willingly. Sony was coming after him and was not going to quit on the legal front. The probability is that because of the Anonymous attack, the related drop in SONY share price, Anonymous' tagging and tracking Sony exec family members, the take down of PSN, and the bad publicity Sony folded. Not true, because this settlement is dated March 31st on the .pdf which is the exact same day Anonymous started their Sony "attacks" so it was definitely not about pressure coming from them, not at all. This settlement most likely came from GeoHot & his lawyers because he/they felt the real pressure of losing.

Think about it. If you so strongly profess that you are "fighting the good fight" for "consumer rights" and you believe you are doing "good", or are going to "win"...then why the hell would you settle for absolutely nothing that you were supposedly fighting for?!?! Sure doesn't make sense to me (and many others). And it for damned sure doesn't look like a "win" for GeoHot no matter which way anyone tries to spin it. Hotz�s attorneys:
Sony do not have Good Grounds for the legal Fight 'cos the PS3 has always marketed the device as a �multimedia personal computer�and �can be enhanced by an end user�s ability to install and run third party software" on the Playstation computer.

http://bit.ly/fA1gDj

OP-SONY:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=136813236391154

+4000

13.4.2011 15:41 #18

Oner

Originally posted by Mrguss: Hotz�s attorneys:
Sony do not have Good Grounds for the legal Fight 'cos the PS3 has always marketed the device as a �multimedia personal computer�and �can be enhanced by an end user�s ability to install and run third party software" on the Playstation computer.4
I agree 100% in what was said by the legal team in that statement, but this is nothing more than posturing after the fact. Since as I already said ~ they did not accomplish ANYTHING of what they so emphatically professed to set out to do. So once again I ask (of which has not been answered only side stepped to avoid it)

Quote:<if> you are "fighting the good fight" for "consumer rights" and you believe you are doing "good", or are going to "win"...then why the hell would you settle for absolutely nothing that you were supposedly fighting for?!?! It amazes me is what people don't "get" or seem to want to admit (nor discuss) that this had nothing to do about OtherOS (or other features). This was about holding EgoHot accountable for releasing/distributing Sony's Intellectuality Property that was STOLEN. I really don't get it. I'm all for the cause of the scene, but honestly if you are stupid enough to do what he did in public then you can't bitch and complain when you get held accountable for it. There is a reason the people, who do what they do, do it in anonymity...he didn't, and was an idiot how he went about it. Especially since he did it off the back of other players who did all the work of which he was trying to claim all the notoriety for! He acted like he is some messiah to the scene yet he did not "hack/crack" ANYTHING. If the keys/software were never stolen he almost definitely would never have compromised the PS3...hell the fact is he completely gave up because he couldn't do it and got back into it AFTER the the software/keys became public! He did nothing in the scene and then rode others coat tails as if he did everything.

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13.4.2011 18:36 #19

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