Sony's Official Statement Regarding PS3 Hacking 312
tekgoblin writes "Sony has stepped up its stance on anyone circumventing protection of any kind on the PlayStation 3 and released a statement addressing it. Most recently Sony had barred George Hotz (Geohot) from releasing any more information about the console whatsoever. Now, Sony has their eyes set on other users that may be trying to use pirated software or modded PlayStation consoles on their network. The statement reads: 'Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the "System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System" and the "Terms of Services and User Agreement" for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.'"
They are serious, guys. (Score:4, Funny)
I just got a letter from Sony's lawyers regarding a particularly insidious piece of software I wrote for my PS3 entitled "Hello World". My Dad says that I have been very bad and will have to go to military school.
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You should at least ask to be signed up for cyberwarfare division. With such skilled hackers in its ranks, China will be brought down to its knees in no time at all! ~
"Stepping up stance" (Score:4, Interesting)
In the cases where that thing was wrong, all that 'doubling up' accomplishes is to show the stubbornness and bastardry of the one doubling up the stance.
basically its doing wrong, and then insisting on being indignant.
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Something that is wrong, stays wrong, something that was right, stays still right.
Worst thing to read above the court of appeals door when a person walks in...
"Unauthorised" software (Score:2, Insightful)
Firstly, just to state the obvious: I know that most people using these hacks will be running pirated games, and only the tiniest number will be using homebrew software.
But having said that...
Sony's statement refers to both pirated software AND "unauthorised" software. In that context, unauthorised must = homebrew. Software that you've written yourself, or the author intends you to use. Yet if you use it, Sony will cut you off from PlayStation Network, greatly reducing what you can do with the official game
Re:"Unauthorised" software (Score:5, Insightful)
If Sony didn't ban cracked PS3's from PSN, and my gaming experience was affected by active exploits, you can bet I'd be screaming for George Hotz's head on a platter, your homebrew be damned.
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Yeah, fuck your rights. I want my bread and circuses!
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Yeah, fuck your rights. I want my bread and circuses!
Your rights end where Sony's begin.
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> If Sony didn't ban cracked PS3's from PSN, and my gaming experience was affected by active exploits...
So here's a radical thought -- how about instead of curtailing the home-brew experience because of the fear of exploits and piracy, Sony actually allow modified consoles on the network, and not actually punish anyone until there's actual evidence of an exploit or piracy? This way they can respect people's rights and keep the network safe.
Or is respecting their customers just too much work?
Re:"Unauthorised" software (Score:4, Insightful)
This is rather like a couple of kids playing. Your friend Sony has invited you over to play at his house and invited you to bring over your toy robot for a robot fight. However, when he sees the flame thrower that you grafted onto the arm of said robot, he declines to allow you to bring it into his house.
Although flame-throwing robot toys
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Yes, it would be wonderful to be able to create home-brew software and what-not for your device. But that is not a /right/.
It was when I bought my PS3.
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Yes, you own your PS3. No, you don't own PSN.
But Sony did sell us a PS3 with advertised features of both (1) access to PSN and (2) the ability to install other OSes and, on those OSes, run whatever software we want. They then forced us to choose at most one of those after they had already collected their money. Their EULA witchcraft will be tested in court to see if they had a legal right to do this, but nothing can make it fair.
Sony locks down PSN access because it keeps PSN secure from exploitation, which would degrade the experience of those who do not exploit on PSN. If Sony didn't ban cracked PS3's from PSN, and my gaming experience was affected by active exploits, you can bet I'd be screaming for George Hotz's head on a platter, your homebrew be damned.
Perhaps a more noble rationale than "OMG teh p1rates!", but it still doesn't excuse sabotaging bought-and-paid-for functiona
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You're free to use the PS3 anyway you want. All they've said is that they'll cut you off from their network, which, you know, they own, put money into, time, resources etc.
Hack away, just make sure it's offline.....how did Sony put it? Permanently.
I think this is pretty straight forward legal talk and is nothing different than what Xbox360 and Microsoft does.
There WILL be a fork and separate network setup so that you can join on someone elses resources, I'm sure of that.
Yo Grark
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Part of the appeal of something like PSN, or Xbox Live, is that it is a walled garden.
Yes, I know, here on Slashdot we're supposed to hate that stuff.
But it gets pretty annoying to go on-line and play some multiplayer game and get your ass handed to you by some guy running an aimbot or wallhack or whatever.
That's why so many games these days make an attempt to curtail cheating. That's why there's the whole Valve Anti-Cheat thing, and why WoW runs that malware/cheat scan before starting up.
On the console, i
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But now that wall is gone. And, if you've modded your system to allow homebrew, you may very well be running cheats alongside your games. And Sony doesn't want to see that degrade the value of PSN. So they're protecting their walled garden.
I'd say protecting their walled garden is just a side effect of Sony's war on piracy, not a primary goal, while the homebrew folks are just collateral damage.
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I'd say protecting their walled garden is just a side effect of Sony's war on piracy, not a primary goal, while the homebrew folks are just collateral damage.
The homebrew folks were certainly, originally, collateral damage in the war on piracy. That's why they took out the "other OS" thing in the first place. At that point the walled garden was well-protected, and the homebrew folks had their own sandbox to play in.
But now that "other OS" is gone, there isn't a separate sandbox for the homebrew folks. You either mod your system and do your homebrew on the same platform that your games run on, or you don't do homebrew.
And that threatens the walled garden in ad
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say what you want, but the precedent has been set.
MS is known to ban hacked 360s - i don't remember if the console is banned, or the user is (via credit card/gamertag or whatever)
Blizzard is known to ban WoW accounts which farm/cheat - or use software that automates the grinding.
people may have sued, but they haven't won.
"unauthorized software" is a broad (perhaps overbroad) term, but we're not here to talk about legal syntax. let's say, for example, you're running something that gives you some kind of adva
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No. Among other things, they can't deny services by implementing various illegal forms of discrimination.
More importantly, they also can not advertise services as available and refuse to provide them to customers who paid for them. With PS3 being a relatively expensive device, customer's decision to buy it, is based on perceived usefulness. By denying services for a reason user can not reasonably expect (such as running benign software -- from bootloaders and Linux to hello.c), Sony fraudulently obtains use
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F that I want Sony to drop the ban hammer on anyone connecting with a modded PS3 to PSN if only to stop ass hat Cheaters who are far more damaging to PSN and ruin everyone elses game play.
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What about cheaters whom Sony can not detect? Those far outnumber people with custom firmware.
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Sure they can. Just run a P2P app or other bit torrent client on your phone and see how fast your cell phone co drops you. Or tether without paying for a tethering plan.. I'm not saying I agree with it, but they can and will drop you
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Sure they can. Just run a P2P app or other bit torrent client on your phone and see how fast your cell phone co drops you.
I use my T-Mobile "unlimited" plan for some rather massive data transfers, and it is just fine.
Or tether without paying for a tethering plan.
Carriers go out of their way to announce those things to users BEFORE user chooses the plan -- if for no other reason then to make sure that they will not have to deal with millions of users, all using features that are supposed to be a part of a more expensive plan.
What is another problem with Sony -- this whole thing with modding happened because Sony left no way for users to use hardware features that were avai
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Normal consumers -- probably even the hypothetical reasonable person -- would not expect to run bootloaders, Linux or "Hello World" on a device that is sold as an entertainment device. Especially since the jerks ripped out the "Other OS" functionality, it is not marketed as a general-purpose computing device.
This seems like a reasonable trade-off to me (as long as they're not also suing these users): Running home-brew software voids the warranty, and running modified sofware can get you banned from PSN. I
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Normal consumers -- probably even the hypothetical reasonable person -- would not expect to run bootloaders, Linux or "Hello World" on a device that is sold as an entertainment device.
"Reasonable person" does not have to be a typical consumer, he just has to be reasonable. An engineer who buys the only currently commercially available device that contains cell processor, can reasonably expect it to be useful for software development as long as he has capability to use such device. It's also reasonable to expect that being a game console, it can be used for its primary purpose. Certainly "bans-for-life" and libel from Sony (association with pirates, etc.) would not be reasonably expected
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"Normal consumers -- probably even the hypothetical reasonable person -- would not expect to run bootloaders, Linux"
You mean when it says right there on the box?
Clearly totally unreasonable, yes.
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You can't use a contract to "legalize" a crime such as fraud. It's legal to sell a useless product. It's also legal to disclaim responsibility for all kinds of things including a product being in any way useful. It still would be a fraud to rely on user being mislead into buying something while intending to make it useless for the user. For example, if I sold someone a device for making energy out of nothing, I would be charged with fraud because I would rely on selling the device that I know, does not work
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Problem solved (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, that's fixed that one then, hasn't it? With a statement like that, it's clear that piracy on the PS3 is good and dead.
Or maybe not.
Seriously, I don't see what Sony were trying to achieve here. I think anybody who mods their console (hardware or software) to run homebrew or pirated games will do so with the expectation that they will not continue to be able to use PSN features for long. All Sony have probably achieved is a minor Streisand-effect, making sure that even more people know that it's now possible to pirate PS3 games.
That said, I do applaud the policy of banning modded consoles from the PSN (and hence from the online components of PS3 games). The big attraction of console online multiplayer for me (and I suspect for quite a few others) is that playing on a locked-down system does reduce (albeit perhaps not eliminate) the scope for cheats outside of the exploitation of game-specific glitches.
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Seriously, I don't see what Sony were trying to achieve here. I think anybody who mods their console (hardware or software) to run homebrew or pirated games will do so with the expectation that they will not continue to be able to use PSN features for long.
Just read some of the posts above and you'll see that's not the case...
and more thing (Score:2)
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Why is this news? (Score:5, Insightful)
I really have to say something here... I have a hard time understanding why this is such a big deal. Bear with me here...
You are buying a product that works within a closed ecosystem, including Sony's Playstation Network. If you mod your PS3, of course Sony is not going to let you play on their playground because they have no way to determine if your box is cheating or doing other non-good things while being attached to their network. Why is this so hard to understand?
Think about it this way... you are an IT manager for a large company. You manage thousands of desktops and hundreds of servers. What would you do if your employees started taking their laptops home and installing a modified or hacked OS, and then proceeded to bring those laptops to work and connected them to your managed network? Would you like that? Or would you ban those laptops from connecting to your network? This is precisely what Sony is doing and I don't disagree with it.
Note that I'm not against modding and hacking, on the contrary, I am a self-taught hacker with an electronics degree and nearly 30 years of computing experience. But even I understand that if I buy product A that comes with service B, service B may be taken away or unavailable if I modify product A. Sorry, but that's the breaks when you buy into a closed ecosystem. Same thing goes with Apple's walled-garden approach.
Now, if you want to mod your box, fine, just don't expect support or service from Sony. You don't need to use Sony's network if you don't own any games that require it. If I modded my own box, I would expect that I can no longer use any associated services. However, intentionally bricking a device is a whole other topic...
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Not to mention they did this with the PS2. When you signed on with a game such as SOCOM, if a mod chip was detected, it wouldn't let you log in or boot you off the game. You'd have to put the mod chip in sleep/hidden state, and then load the game off of the disc to be able to play. I know this was true for my DSM4 chip with Toxic OS
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The problem is that PSN isn't only used for multiplayer. It is used for the browser and netflix and I imagine any online bluray features
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I've used the browser and online Blu-ray features numerous times without ever being prompted to log in to PSN. I just tested the browser right now to see if anything has changed and it works fine. There is a news ticker at the bottom though that had a link to the circumvention statement as the first item displayed.
I've never used Netflix, so I can't comment on that. It appears that Vudu requires a PSN connection though as I just tried launching that.
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So I am 1 for 2 :)
I assumed the browser wouldn't work since netflix didn't. I guess that means that I need to complain to netflix, then.
Thanks for the test.
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Wait until PS3 games require online activation, which won't work if your PS3 is banned from the PSN. Will you see the big deal then?
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If you can detect pirated games, sure, go ahead and ban people from playing the pirated game.
One snag - it is impossible to differentiate between legal backup and illegal warez. Both would be in the form of an ISO (or other disc image) and are indistinguishable. Now what do you say to the person who has a huge game collection and all his discs backed up legitimately?
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One snag - it is impossible to differentiate between legal backup and illegal warez. Both would be in the form of an ISO (or other disc image) and are indistinguishable. Now what do you say to the person who has a huge game collection and all his discs backed up legitimately?
Yep...that's why I said "if you can detect pirated games". The burden is on Sony to figure out how to do that, without punishing their customers or taking away access to legitimately purchased hardware/software (including the legally allowed backup copy)
Re:Why is this news? (Score:5, Insightful)
I haven't done ANY modding to my PS3, yet it is still a shell of its former self with the aforementioned features now gone. I played by their rules and got screwed anyway. So I have NO sympathy whatsoever for them. DIAF Sony.
And your analogy is a little weak in that when you are issued a COMPANY laptop, you aren't out any money and of course you should only do things related to your job description with it. The paradigm changes once it is hardware that YOU pay for.
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Don't see the problem (Score:2)
I do not see any big problem with what Sony is doing. If your PS3 is modded, of course you should not be allowed onto their network, because that would open the door for all kinds of cheat software, which would destroy the fun for all the legit players trying to enjoy competitive games there. You still can play offline (as long as the game does not use online verification, which newer games very well might do) and you can still use your "homebrew" software. The whole thing would only be problematic if Sony
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OK, I've had enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Everytime an article about hacking on the PS3 turns up on Slashdot, we get a bunch of idiots writing "Fuck you, Sony".
For the report, I don't have a problem with homebrew or hacking. I run Rockbox on my iRiver.
I do however have a problem with piracy and online cheating.
If you're hacking the console just so you can play the latest games without paying for them or so you can cheat online in Sony's PSN, then you deserve to have your console banned.
Re:OK, I've had enough (Score:4, Funny)
Not the only reason. (Score:2)
Wanting to play pirate games is not the only reason to say "Fuck you, Sony".
As a freedom and free software enthusiast, the thing that bothers me to no end about Sony, and all consoles for that matter, is how their games are becoming thiner and thiner in content, expecting more and more content to be "purchased" --which now means something similar to renting-- online.
People every year own less and less what they pay for and more remains in the control of the corporation. It has come to the point where even f
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Do you have some tool that will distinguish between the piracy/cheating and homebrew accurately and automatically? Do you know how to make one? Even assuming you and/or Sony know how to make such a tool, does it make economic sense for them, or is it better to save that engineering effort and use a simpler system?
People running homebrew software on that kind of system will never be a big market, and those users tend to be bad for the hardware vendor because they usually don't buy enough software to make u
How will they know / Scare tactics (Score:2)
The problem is, the master key signs software, so the console things its legit. It uses the same key that is on official products. So, how will Sony know if someone is running a legit game, or one that was homebrewed and then signed? The answer - they can't. So as far as I am concerned, this statement is just scare tactics that Sony can't enforce.
Not that I really care. I use my PS3 for Blu-Rays, Netflix, and the ocassional old PSX or PS2 game I have in my collection. I have my PS3 to be a media console, no
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As I said in another post above, the PS2 did this as well. If you had a DSM3/4 mod chip installed, even if you inserted the Socom disc and then went to play online, the game or something would check the system and if the mod chip was enabled you couldn't sign in, it would just boot you off. You had to put the mod chip in sleep/hidden mode (which basically turned it off) to play the online games.
No reason the system couldn't do a checksum of the game or apps running or some other test to see if it was runnin
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In an update they can provide a the exact signatures of all known official certificates issued with the old key - if the specific signature of the application you are loading is on that list, you are allowed to play. If its not, but it can be verified using the original master signing key, then you have a suspect application - since all official games go through Sony, its not going to be difficult for them to produce this list.
Of course, you can refuse to upgrade your
Dear World, We trusted the client (Score:4, Funny)
We never thought to build shore defences because our Scienticians assured Us that if We stood on the shoreline and shouted "HALT!" loudly enough, the tide would never come in.
Effective immediately, Our new Oceanic Evition policy is to execute any of Our subjects caught with damp feet. We trust that this shall bring an end to this sordid defiance of Our divine authority.
tl;dr; version (Score:2)
Actually, it doesn't even take a word, it just takes a gesture, modeled here [themiddlefinger.com] by William Shatner.
PSN isn't required, but PSN is anti-competitive (Score:3)
If the PSN isn't required for PS3, then they can ban you from it. But, why can't there be a replacement network? Up until recently, it was not technically possible to create unauthorized software (software subject to their licensing & TOS restrictions) however it is now.
Since you "own" your console, you should be able to connect it to any network. I would assert that Sony by way of only allowing only one network (PSN) is given an unfair monopoly and is engaging in anti-competitive business practices. (Same for for XBLN) Even if you agree to the ToS, the ToS is only binding on the first owner of the console (First Sale doctrine) there is no provision for Sony to continue the ToS and License agreements past the shrink-wrap seal.
Clearly, you have the right to network the unit you own and have the right to connect it to networks of your choosing. I call for Sony to publish specifications which would allow alternate, private or open networks to be functionally equivalent to the PSN, as well as the PS Store. If Sony is going to force the issue, we'll make sure the stakes get really high.
This all started when they took Linux away anyway. That in itself has to be bait and switch.
Sony DOES own the PSN (Score:2)
So they DO have the right to ban NON-PSx consoles from the network. And a PSx running NON-SONY software isn't a PSx in their eyes, which I would agree with. HOWEVER, if I want to buy a PSx and put my own software on it for my own use (Hey, maybe I can buy a PSx cheaper than a PC with a BD drive) I should be able to do so. Just so long as I understand I no longer have a PSx system anymore and I'm not welcome on the PSN with it. Now if THAT's ALL that Sony is saying, fine. But the camels nose gets no furt
Refunds? (Score:2)
Like Xbox? (Score:2)
So... is this like most PC developers where they ban your system from online multiplayer or is this like the Xbox where they ban you from the service? Banning from multiplayer is not a big deal, but banning completely from all online activities is an incredibly stupid thing to do -- one that encourages piracy. Millions have banned Xbox 360s simply because they've flashed their drive, and there are a number of Xbox Live Arcade games that they would gladly have purchased. Strangely, Microsoft felt it prudent
I don't see the problem here. (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm 100% in favor of detecting and banning hacked consoles from PSN. It's Sony's network and they have the fundamental right anyway, and secondly, if it keeps cheaters/hacks/aimbots/etc off the PSN, I'm 110% in favor of that.
And I'll just buy another PS3. It will remain unmodified, and I'll use that for playing games online. And my current PS3 will remain as my "hacker's delight" that runs homebrew. If Sony detects that it's modified and bans it from the PSN, that's fine.
As for everyone else, if they want a PS3 to hack I'm sure it won't take long before Sony starts detecting modified PS3s and banning them from PSN, and $100 PS3s start appearing on Kijiji/Craigslist next to the Xbox360's that are banned from XBL.
That being said, I wish Sony was more accepting of the hacker community, perhaps even facilitating it somewhat. I actually thing it'd be awesome if Sony added a feature to the PS3 where you could 100% unlock the console hardware, banning the console from PSN in the process. It'd be a lot better, and probably even cheaper for them in the long run, than continuing their current bullshit of legally shafting people like Geohot. Hey, if people want to figure out how to program your game system, you should be helping them!
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...except they sold their product with this specific use as an advertised feature.
This means that hacking the device after that feature has been removed is much more legitimate than any other sort of jailbreaking, including jailbreaking a phone.
We have altered the terms of our agreement.... (Score:2)
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I get that blocking game servers but they are not just doing that. They are blocking access to PSN which stops me from legitimately purchasing anything online from them. This also blocks access to netflix for no reason I can see. When I try to load netflix, I see it open and load and connect to the netflix servers but I get a pop-up over it obstructing me from selecting anything saying I need to sign in the the PSN network.
I am now blocking my PSN from accessing the internet.
And yes, I mainly use it for
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I yanked the cable from my PS3 months ago. Until such point as I have OtherOS/AsbestOS or something else to run a media center frontend on, it doesn't need a network connection.
I'll probably have to block the thing from going outside my home network via a filter on the router anyways if I ever plug it back in, since at that point the PS3 will be "modded" to run linux. Sigh.
Of course, you wouldn't believe how many of these fucking PS3 games nag, nag, nag about "would you like to connect to PSN? please connec
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Of course, you wouldn't believe how many of these fucking PS3 games nag, nag, nag about "would you like to connect to PSN? please connect to PSN! I can't go online if you don't connect to PSN! You can't use the online features because you're not on PSN! For the love of god I have to be connected to PSN at all times or I'll die!"... it's really fucking ridiculous. I'm loading up a single player game, my PS3 doesn't have a network connection, for the love of god if there isn't an active connection the game should not pop up 5 or 6 fucking nag screens telling me I should "go online" when all I fucking want to do is play the single-player game.
Sounds like you are describing Gran Turismo 5. :P As a bonus, the game loads significantly faster when it isn't trying to talk to PSN every 5 seconds.
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...or Blur. Blur is bad about continuous nag screens.
Demon's Souls also has the nag screens, but only when you load your game.
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Points finger and Sony customers and goes *Ha Ha*
Not really. It's just laying out what should be obvious to everyone. Sony don't want pirates using PSN and if you try signing on from a modded box they will have ways of finding out, e.g. running an arbitrary challenge / response during signon. You could still run modded firmware and play pirate stuff and get away with it but it might be smart to stay well away from the online service. Of course it means no patches, DLC, multiplayer but that is rather the point. Microsoft does similar with XBL too.
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Sony don't want pirates using PSN and if you try signing on from a modded box they will have ways of finding out, e.g. running an arbitrary challenge / response during signon. You could still run modded firmware and play pirate stuff and get away with it but it might be smart to stay well away from the online service. Of course it means no patches, DLC, multiplayer but that is rather the point. Microsoft does similar with XBL too.
Well, only until someone works around the challenge / response. I recall someone's IM software from a decade ago that implemented a challenge / response to prevent third-party clients from connecting. In short order, there was a procedure to install the authorized client's binaries in a subdirectory so the third-party client client could compute checksums on arbitrary sub-ranges of the code. I expect something similar to appear soon for PS3; worst-case you'd need to completely virtualize the system and r
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Maybe he owns a Wii? /me points at AC.... HAHA!
Re:It's your own fault for purchasing Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that Sony, being the control-freaks that they are, will likely take steps that will punish *you*, even though you're completely innocent. Don't have your PS3 connected to the internet? Sorry, all future games require online validation before you can play them--and no refunds. Have limited hard drive space? Sorry, all games now require partial installation to the hard drive. Got an older PS3 model? Sorry, a PS3 Slim model is required to play this title. Haven't updated your system software in a while? Sorry, all games now require the latest PS3 update to run. Wondering why you're suddenly perma-banned for no reason? Sorry, we got a false positive that you were running unauthorized software--tough luck, buddy.
Re:It's your own fault for purchasing Sony (Score:4, Interesting)
Sony could do much better working WITH the community on things like OtherOS. Instead, they've gone down the paranoid conspiracy-theorist route and look what it's gotten them - now the "pirate" scene and the homebrew scene (not always 100% separated anyways) are working on similar projects to open up the box for non-Sony code.
I doubt Sony gives a flying fuck if someone produces their own firmware to run XBMC for example. What they care about is people using modded firmware to play pirate software, cheat in multiplayer games, hack save games, hack trophies, scare off premium developers and generally screw around with something designed as a closed system.
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I you are right, they don't give a damn about one of the features and selling points of their system that was sold to customers. And by not giving a damn about it, they took it away and are now threatening anyone who tries to restore it.
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Oh no, not hacking save games and trophies!!!!!!!!111one
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Re:A posteriori (Score:5, Insightful)
The condenced version of sonys TOS/EULA:
"We guarantee nothing, we promise nothing, we reserve the right to do anything we want or terminate this agreement at any point. You have the right to do absolutely nothing but we may decide not to punish you from doing some things if we feel like it. We also may change this agreement at any time and you shall have agreed to those changes as well automatically by agreeing to this"
it's remarkably similar to the agreement that comes with most antivirus software.
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Therefore, in summary, screw you
Re:As a PS3 owner... (Score:4)
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It's hyperbole like this that is making slashdot look foolish. It comes up any time a managed ecosystem like this comes up (PSN, Xbox Live, App Store, Tivo EPG etc) that the company in question merely "leased" the device to you and that you "don't own your own hardware".
It's nonsense, and it degrades the argument. Buying a PS3, or an Xbox, or an iPhone, or a Tivo is one thing. Having access to the services that those devices have available is entirely another.
If Sony cuts you off from the PSN for violating
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I won a contest and received a PS3. I am 100% positive its mine. (Netherlands)
the fine print (Score:2)
One time leasing fee?? Just goes to show you that you need to read the fine print. If you don't agree with it, then don't buy/lease the unit. Most manufactures don't want you to read the fine print; this is the reason that it is tiny and difficult to read (legalese).
What if you were to come across a unit some other way, such as a garage sale giveaway? In this case you have agreed to nothing. Does the unit say "Not for resale. Property of Sony Corp." on it??
The one-time leasing fee is just a ploy to prevent
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Next month Sony will announce that ownership of a PS3 w/o record of having bought any games, indicates the person is a pirate and will result in banning from PSN. (With possible legal action too.)
and then the us air force will tell sony to back o (Score:2)
and then the us air force will tell sony to back off.
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Their goal is not to sell more units, their goal is to sell software for those units. From what I've heard, most of the profit from console is in the form of license fees from game makers. So Sony has a big interest in preventing anyone not paying those fees from writing any software for the PS3.
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Sony's perspective on whether they do or do not have a right to control their product post-sale is irrelevant -- they can believe that they have that right all they want, but it doesn't make it so. What they do have a right to control is the service they provide; banning devices and/or users from PSN and the like is e
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Don't they have a right to try and control what happens to their product?
No. Fortunately for Sony, this is not about the product, but about infrastructure that they themselves own and operate.
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We need another player here ....
We have one. It's called "the rest of the technology world". Build yourself an HTPC (or other TV-attached computing device) and do anything you want (within the limits of the device). Yeah, you can't (easily) play proprietary games, but otherwise it's yours, and does just about anything that PS3 Linux can.
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Piracy had nothing to do with the Amiga failing - the C64 was even more full of piracy than the Amiga and it's still the best-selling model of home computer EVER. The Amiga failed because Commodore fucked it up, plain and simple. Even the OS devs knew this, and snuck an easter egg into WB/KS 1.2 saying so - Commodore made them remove it for 1.3.
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They only removed Other OS because of (drumroll please) Geohotz found a viable crack in the hypervisor. You can blame its removal on him.
No, I think we can blame the removal on Sony.
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understandable and predictable agreed. And also illegal, unethical and evil.
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(and, again, only because they never released the GECK for the PS3 version, even lazier of them)
The hard drive is there, Bethesda, use it please.
I wonder what would happen if all the frequent buyers of games and downloadables were to have modded their console.
I read on the fallout forums that they are not allowed by the console companies (ms/xbox) to give users the means to modify the game (outside of playing it, of course.)
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So they should work to at least try to get something set up like Rock Band Audition mode, it IS possible, even if there are restrictions along the way.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10NES [wikipedia.org]