144881477 889373e810 m Sony sues Playstation 3 hackers who published method to run illegal software on gaming system
by wili_hybrid

Article by Andreas Garciase

Sony has taken legal action against hackers who discovered and published a way of running any software, including pirated games, on the PlayStation 3. Making security codes widely available constitutes copyright infringement and computer fraud, Sony argues.

The secret codes are used by Sony to protect the device from being used for unauthorised purposes. Among them is a key number used to ‘sign’ all PlayStation games to make sure they are genuine. Once this information is known, it can be used to allow any software to run on the device, including pirated copies.

The PlayStation 3 had remained unhackable for the last few years until members of a hacking group called failOverflow accessed the information last month. They then presented this information at the Chaos Communication Congress, an annual meeting of international hackers, in Berlin.

George Hotz, 20, then revealed he had uncovered Sony’s secret ‘signing in’ number on failOverflow’s website. Sony responded by taking legal action against 100 people, including Mr Hotz, associated with the team. The failOverflow site was shut almost immediately and replaced with a note ‘Sony sued us’.

A brief statement, additionally posted, read: ‘We have never condoned, backed, approved of or urged videogame piracy. ‘We have not published any kind of encryption or signing secrets. We have not published any kind of Sony code, or signal derived from Sony’s code.’

However Sony disputes this and it is seeking a restraining purchase against Mr Hotz that restrictions any future hacking and also the distribution of the software created from such activity. Legal documents filed in the Northern Area Court of California study: ‘Working individually and in concert together, the defendants recently bypassed effective technological protection steps employed by Sony.

‘Through the internet, defendants are distributing software, resources and instructions that… facilitate the counterfeiting of video games. ‘Already, pirate video games are being packaged and distributed with these circumvention devices.’ Mr Hotz, however, is confident that Sony’s lawsuit will prove unsuccessful. ‘I am a firm believer in digital rights,’ Mr Hotz told the BBC. ‘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.’

Sony is now working to fix the hack by updating the PlayStation 3′s software online.

About the Author

Asolicity Limited LLC was set up to deliver information matters related to pc and additionally consumer electronics. We thrives for brilliance in giving a fair, honest and impartial evaluations that covers everything from design, functions, overall performance and sometimes even product packaging information. The results are derived from our study and conclusions are pulled only from facts.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines

whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

Asolicity Limited LLC was set up to deliver information matters related to pc and additionally consumer electronics. We thrives for brilliance in giving a fair, honest and impartial evaluations that covers everything from design, functions, overall performance and sometimes even product packaging information. The results are derived from our study and conclusions are pulled only from facts.












Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines

whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

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