Jailbreaker Geohot Slapped with Restraining Order from Sony

[Michael Essany]

On Tuesday, consumer electronics giant Sony proceeded to file a restraining order against jailbreaker extraordinaire George Hotz - better known in our community as "Geohot," the famous iPhone hacker. Geohot and his team have been cited by Sony for bypassing "effective technological protective measures" in PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.55. Just days ago, Geohot released a controversial jailbreak which enables PlayStation 3 hackers to run custom packages on the console. Geohot is endeavoring to restore the "Other OS" option pulled from the hugely popular gaming system in 2010.

According to Sony, the restraining order is necessary to stop Geohot from offering the jailbreak. The PS3 maker alleges Geohot and his cohorts are blatantly violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud Abuse Act. Based on what's known of the court filing, Sony takes direct aim at Geohot claiming the jailbreaker has "trafficked in circumvention technology, products, services, methods, codes, software tools, [and] devices."

The main reason Sony is upset? The company doesn't want illegal (aka pirated) games played on its system. As with all related jailbreak concerns, this case boils down to the almighty dollar. And Sony says Geohot's antics will continue to cost the company - and ultimately consumers - a pretty penny. Although "Save Geohot" t-shirts are not yet available, someone may want to fire up the printing press because Sony is seriously gunning for Geohot's head like no one has before.

CNET

[kevin.e.white]

oh dear,good luck george.

[Micara57]

Wow, this is getting out of hand.

[dq13]

leave the kid alone. he is not pirating anything, just modifying HIS PS3. if someone else is pirating games, go after them

[theomer]

Thee FCC set the precident last summer when they ruled consumers are within their rights to jailbreak AND unlock any device they own, as long as the benefit sought was not piracy.
Jailbreaking a PS3 for homebrew apps, or the OtherOS option seems straightforward, especially considering Geohot's staunch public opposition to piracy.

Regardless, Sony could do alot for themselves if they hired the guy.

IN my humble opinion.

[feidhlim1986]

This story is blowing up all over tech websites and will only advertise the new "abilities" of a PS3.
Funny how Sony removed the OtherOS feature to prevent piracy happening and then a few short months later, the PS3's security was blown apart completely. Good Job Sony.

[StealthBravo]

Sue happy Sony would love to make an example out of him

[EskimoRuler]

Thee FCC set the precident last summer when they ruled consumers are within their rights to jailbreak AND unlock any device they own, as long as the benefit sought was not piracy.
Jailbreaking a PS3 for homebrew apps, or the OtherOS option seems straightforward, especially considering Geohot's staunch public opposition to piracy.

Regardless, Sony could do alot for themselves if they hired the guy.

IN my humble opinion.

i would think that jailbreaking the ps3 would be like jailbreaking an iphone and should be legal

[doomsday116]

he can do whatever he wants with his own stuff...Sony get off his nutz already


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[luigimaster24]

Leave geohot alone!!!!!

[Zwayne]

That is some crazy sh!t!!

[Poseidon79]

Did Nintendo get all upset when the Wii got hacked? People are selling mod chips and distributing soft mods all over the place and it seems to me legal.

[Jay316]

.....bypassing "effective technological protective measures" hardly effective if they're hackable lol

[feidhlim1986]

The hack or tools or whatever is already out there, and once on the net it's on the net for life. No amount of restraining orders are gonna remove it from the net.

[Simon]

Definitely a bit of an overreaction.

[jpato21]

any guides floating around on how to jb my ps3? i havent checked that thing called google yet, but that may be my next option.

[vantheman169]

wow, wtf Sony. This is some total BS. The jailbreak he released does not even install the backup manager. So wtf is Sony talking about, Geohot already said he does not condone piracy.

[djgunner]

he's got harry potter hair!

[vantheman169]

any guides floating around on how to jb my ps3? i havent checked that thing called google yet, but that may be my next option.

Thanks to @StealthBravo here is the guide below, i have not tried this yet. But will be jumping on the bandwagon soon!

How To: Jailbreak Your PS3 on Firmware 3.55 | iJailbreak - Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Apple TV Jailbreak, Unlock, Cydia News

[KBI2113]

Please, please, please someone make a "Save Geohot" shirt. I would buy that ASAP