Sony Gets Nasty With PSBreak Buyers

YokimaSun writes "The war between hackers and Sony over the PlayStation 3 has now taken an even more sinister turn, with Sony going after not just shops but actual buyers of the PSBreak dongle, threatening them with fines of many thousands of Euros and forcing them to sign cease-and-desist letters. It seems Sony will use any means necessary to thwart both homebrew and piracy on the PS3."

And what if they refuse?

[Viol8]

Are Sony seriously going to sue people for not handing over their legal property to Sony?

What is it with this company? Just how far up their own arses can they go?

Useless

[xenobyte]

How do they expect this to work?

Sure you can sue if they use trademarked names like "Sony" or "PS3", but a dongle with a name like "Freedom" and containing no code or hardware copyrighted by Sony cannot be stopped.

Yes, it is a device to circumvent copy protection but far from all European countries have laws banning such devices, and once they're in a European country the device can be moved freely to other countries.

I would buy such a device, mostly just to spite Sony and their megalomania.

Is Litigation all Sony Has?

[BoRegardless]

If Sony didn't plan for this in the beginning, then I understand why they have resorted to this as a last gasp. That means there was a major hole in their business plan.

Sony once held the mindshare Apple has now. For me, so many Sony items have had problems, that they are off my radar.

The world moves on and a major player must move ahead of it, or at least with it or it dies. I just don't get the concept of a company suing the retail consumers of its hardware.

Re:Well, I'm not buying one

[Eraesr]

You're right in that they're going about this the wrong way. However, I think the closed nature of the console is exactly what causes these cracks and hacks to appear. What Sony should do is open up a sandbox environment in the PS3 in which homebrew developers can run their own software without problems. I don't see why piracy and homebrew are always treated as one by these console developers. I do understand that it's probably harder to combat piracy if homebrew is allowed, but if this is taken into account when designing the system, the problem is probably much smaller. At least you take away the incentive of the homebrew communities to crack your system. That just leaves the pirates and you can continue fighting them while supporting the homebrew community.

What did they expect?

[lemnik]

When Sony removed the "Other OS" option from the PS3 they locked people out of a legitimate and relatively safe homebrew environment. Somewhere that people could play with the device without voiding their warranty. It was an option that really "sold" the device to many people who now own one.

While someone would have eventually jail-broken the device, I doubt it would be as widely used as these dongles are; if Sony had (a) left the "Other OS" option in, and (b) possibly added said-option to the "slim" PS3 consoles. The way to combat people jail-braking a device is to give them a safe way to homebrew without the possibility of bricking their consoles or voiding the warranty.

Re:Other OS was shut down

[Lumpy]

Yes.

Why has everyone IGNORED the glaring fact in the room.

None of this crap was going on with any strength until sony became idiots and shut down the OtherOS function.

It's their fault. They caused it, and they will lose.

Re:Well, I'm not buying one

[richwillal]

I've been avoiding products from Sony for years. It started with the whole CD rootkit debacle, but Sony continually makes short-sighted decisions related to how it treats its customers (in some cases, breaking the law to do so). If people stand for this kind of treatment, companies will continue it.

Re:People still buy shit from Sony?

[Lumpy]

Why do I buy SONY?

Because nobody makes a better Professional HD camcorder.
Because nobody makes a better Windows Video editing platform outside of AVID. (No Adobe's products are not pro level)
Because nobody makes a LIVE video production suite that is as capable...
Because nobody makes a digital Video recording format that is as good as AVCHD or XDCAM.
Because nobody makes a better digital video stream processor like Sony's.
Because nobody makes a pocked field editing system like the PDWHR1.. I can have only 2 guys in the field to shoot and edit a small event and upload the thing before they pack up the car and leave, the thing will DIRECT SFTP the files to the server as they drive down the road.

That's why. SONY OWNS the commercial production video market hands down. Because the other choices are mediocre or half assed with bad work-flows. Panasonic and JVC utterly suck in workflow.

Re:Is Litigation all Sony Has?

[andydread]

I am a former Sony reseller and former Sony fanboy. Lived the Sony Style life etc. We have installed and recommended tens of millions of dollars worth of Sony equipment (pro and consumer) over the decades from the 80s-late90s. Sony at one time used to be an electronics company and therefor was more on the side of the electronics consumer rather than the content creators who want control over all electronics. They fought a battle with the MPAA/RIAA back in the 80s for the right of the consumer to record video with the VCR. They battled all the way to the supreme court and won. It all went south when Sony became a content company. When that happened, Sony's Draconian side reared its ugly head. They became major members of the US lobby groups RIAA/MPAA and their attitude towards the consumer changed from pro-consumer to anti-consumer. I got off the Sony bandwagon around this time and we eventually moved away from recommending their products. Then came the rootkit fiasco and the constant lobbying and lying to congress and the constant corruption. Their relentless pursuit to proprietize the electronics industry and control the media format industry has never changed. From the early days of the Betamax to the Minidisc arguably better formats at the time? to the memory stick and other failed ventures. Sony has now become one of the most Draconian companies on the planet and I cannot consider giving them one more penny or recommending Sony to anyone ever again.

Re:I want a dongle, but no PS3

[drinkypoo]

So stop watching TV as well, as that supports Sony. (a different division that has nothing to do with the others, but it's still "Sony")

There is no such thing as a different division that has nothing to do with the others. They're all Sony. Criticising all of Sony for the actions of any of its portions is as rational as criticising a person for the actions of any of their limbs. People who don't have control over one or more limbs have a responsibility to keep them under control by any means necessary... straps, chains, whatever.

Re:Other OS was shut down

[CronoCloud]

Actually, Geohot caused it, Sony was just being paranoid and overestimated his abilities.

Re:Well, I'm not buying one

[vadim_t]

Don't reward those assholes by paying for one of their products.

If you really want to annoy them, do something to publicise the existence, and improve the distribution of things like PSBreak. Having something like it fully documented so that anybody can assemble it from components and then posted everywhere would annoy Sony quite a bit more than a couple of photos on a website.

Re:I bought a psjailbreak device to repair my ps3

[Vanderhoth]

Word of mouth is advertising. If a Sony said the PS3 had the capability to run another OS in a TV commercial, an interview, a magazine article or otherwise. That's advertising the feature.

I bought my PS3 partly because I could run Linux on it. However, it doesn't matter anymore, I kept my Other OS and I'm not buying anything else from Sony.

Re:And what if they refuse?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure Sony are quaking in their boots.

Re:And what if they refuse?

[mcgrew]

What is it with this company? Just how far up their own arses can they go?

As far as they want; XCP showed them that. Root and vandalise people's computers (including mine) and have no repercussions whatever -- nobody went to prison, even jail, they not only didn't go bankrupt it didn't affect sales at all. I can't for the life of me figure out why ANYBODY, especially nerds, would buy computer equipment from a company with a history of rooting their own paying customers' computers.

If there is anybody who still buys stuff from Sony, please tell me how you can trust them any farther than you can throw a car?

Re:Well, I'm not buying one

[mcgrew]

I won't buy anything from Sony, and principles have nothing to do with it. They rooted and vandalized my computer, I would be insane to trust them again. It's not a boycott, it's a matter of wanting to own what I pay for. It's a matter of not letting thieves and vandals in my house.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Re:Allow me to Explain.

[bornagainpenguin]

"Hell, one lady I was dating said I didn't act like a boyfriend, I guess I should have slapped her around some, but I don't need that kind of relationship."

Allow me to interpret. What she really was saying was, "You're bad at sex, and not attentive enough to my moods to make me forgive you for it." Mystery solved.

Nice bit of shaming language you did there, unfortunately we're wise to that kind of thing now....

The Catalogue of Anti-Male Shaming Tactics:

Charge of Unattractiveness (Code Tan) – The Ugly Tan Charge

Discussion: The target is accused of having no romantic potential as far as women are concerned. Examples:

* “I bet you are fat and ugly.”

* “You can’t get laid!”

* “Creep!”

* “Loser!”

* “Have you thought about the problem being you?”

Response: This is another example of “circumstantial ad hominem.” The target’s romantic potential ultimately does not reflect on the merit of his arguments.

No the "lady" in question wasn't talking about the guy, she was admitting she's a typical bitch in search of another "bad boy" who is willing to slap her around. Most real men aren't desperate enough to do that sort of thing and find it repulsive. They walk away.

The same thing that seems to be happening with Sony come to think of it...

Re:And what if they refuse?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what the people who bought the rootkit-containing CDs probably thought. Hell, it's probably what the people who bought a PS3 for OtherOS thought, before Sony remotely removed it after they'd not only taken their money, but I'd guess in most cases were also outside any kind of warranty period. I wouldn't go so far as to say avoid their products (although I do personally), just tread very carefully lest you get burned too. After all, if having already bought what you thought was a good piece of hardware only to have it messed about with post sale isn't beyond them, what is?