Geohot speaks out on PS3 jailbreak legal battle

After being hit with a restraining order from Sony earlier this week for allegedly bypassing "effective technological protective measures" in PlayStation 3 firmware 3.55, iPhone hacker George Hotz, better known as "Geohot," has decided it's time to stand up to the tech giant.

"Right now, still legally, you can go to my Web site and download my jailbreak for your PS3," Hotz said in an interview with G4TV's Attack of the Show last night. "And what it lets you do is install home-brew applications."

Sony won't be happy to hear that. The company said in its court filing that by offering the jailbreak to others, Hotz has "trafficked in circumvention technology, products, services, methods, codes, software tools, [and] devices." The company believes the jailbreak will "enable use or playing of illegal copies of PlayStation 3 video games on the PS3 system."

That's a claim that Hotz denies.

"Actually, no," Hotz said in response to a question asking if his jailbreak allows users to run pirated games on the console. "The way piracy was previously done doesn't work in my jailbreak. And I made a specific effort while I was working on this to try and enable home-brewing without enabling things I don't support, like piracy."

Hotz then turned his attention to Sony's claim that his jailbreak violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The far-reaching act currently allows mobile phone owners to jailbreak their devices without fear of recourse. However, it doesn't specifically mention other devices.

"I think the same precedent should apply," Hotz said. "If you can jailbreak one closed system, why can't you jailbreak another?"

Sony evidently fails to see the logic in Hotz's argument. The company asked the court to impound any circumvention technology Hotz and his team used to jailbreak the PlayStation 3. In addition, Sony has requested Hotz take down mention of the jailbreak from the Internet and not help anyone to further hack the device going forward.

Sony's decision to release a restraining order is just the latest move on the company's part to battle PlayStation 3 hackers that took issue with its announcement in March that it was removing the "Other OS" feature from its console. Sony said at the time that its decision to remove "Other OS," which allows PlayStation 3 owners to run other operating systems on the console, was based on its desire to make the platform "a more secure system."

Subsequently, Sony found itself battling with hackers who continued to find ways around the console's security features. In August, hackers offered up a tool called PS Jailbreak that allowed users to play games on the PlayStation 3 from the device's hard drive or an external storage device. Sony was able to stop sales of the hack in Australia later that month.

But that failed to quell the unrest. The subject of Sony's restraining order against Hotz, firmware version 3.55, included a security update that patched holes hackers were exploiting.

For his part, Hotz doesn't believe that the act of circumventing the PlayStation 3's security features caused him to get hit with a restraining order. He said on Attack of the Show that he is feeling the wrath of Sony's legal team because he did one thing wrong: "making Sony mad."


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ok, geohot probably didnt make it for piracy purposes, but, othewr hackers managed to use geohot's jb to make it able to run hacked games

His site is back up because the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is still not even actually active. So if ya wish to visit his site and get what ya want from it go ahead while you can

A federal judge here on Friday put off deciding whether PlayStation 3 hacker George Hotz should surrender his computer gear as part of a lawsuit from console-maker Sony.

Sony sued Hotz on Tuesday, alleging Hotz’ posting of the code to crack the PlayStation 3 was a breach of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions. Sony, which is also seeking unspecified monetary damages, also wanted Hotz to remove any code the New Jersey man had uploaded to the internet last week.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, without deciding any of the merits of Sony’s DMCA claim and other allegations, said she was unsure whether the lawsuit should even be tried in her courtroom. She wondered aloud whether the case should be aired in the 21-year-old’s home state of New Jersey, where the hacking took place.

“I’m really worried about the jurisdictional question,” the judge said from the bench during a 20-minute hearing.

Sony’s attorney, James Gilliland Jr., argued the case could proceed in San Francisco because Hotz posted the hack on Twitter and YouTube, which are based in California. And Gilliland said Hotz received donations for the hack through PayPal, also based in California — an allegation Hotz’ attorney denied.

But if using Twitter or Facebook is enough to bring a case to San Francisco, “the entire universe would be subject to my jurisdiction,” the judge told the Sony attorney about his argument.

Gilliland countered, arguing that the PlayStation’s terms-of-service agreement demands that legal disputes be settled in federal court here, near where Sony Computer Entertainment America is based.

In the end, Judge Illston said she would rule at an undisclosed time.

“Serious questions have been raised here,” she said.

Hotz accessed the so-called “metldr keys” and obtained root access to trick the PS3 into running software not approved by Sony. He published the code a week ago, and was greeted Tuesday with a lawsuit from Sony, which has sold 41 million PS3 units since the console’s 2006 debut. The code allows a user to play pirated and homebrew software on the console, and has spread across the net like wildfire.

In an e-mail, Hotz said the case “doesn’t have any basis.”

“I am a firm believer in digital rights. I would expect a company that prides itself on intellectual property to be well-versed in the provisions of the law, so I am disappointed in Sony’s current action. I have spoken with legal counsel and I feel comfortable that Sony’s action against me doesn’t have any basis,” he wrote.

The DMCA makes it either a civil or criminal offense to traffic in wares meant to circumvent devices protecting copyrighted works.

But hacking or jailbreaking an iPhone so it will run apps not authorized by Apple is neither a civil nor criminal offense. The U.S. Copyright Office made that activity lawful in July.

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Sony will lose this one i wonder if prices in psn and home now to paid for sony legal battle fu sony -.-