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350°

GeoHot, separating legal fact from fiction

Sarcastic Gamer's resident attorney, Lono, weighs in on the legal facts and the fiction surrounding GeoHot and his self proclaimed rebellion against Sony.

From the article: "Hacking stuff is kinda cool… Right? I mean, we’ve had plenty of movies about them (Wargames, Hackers… etc), and we all love fighting against big mega corporations, so I see how the GeoHot story could have traction. I can see why people would want to support the guy. Unfortunately, there seems to be a ton of confusion as to his lawsuit, what he’s being sued for, what Sony wants out of the case and the “persecution” of GeoHot."

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LGFreedom4840d ago

Very good piece. I now know more than I ever did and I want my money back GeoHot!!!

xAlmostPro4840d ago

Brilliant article!

Maybe/Hopefully people will understand that sony aren't the bad guys here, they want to protect what they have and make sure PSN users for example have a ood experience online rather than having in-game stats reset or information stolen etc.

Geohot is a fool, a glory hunter.

Iroquois_Pliskin4840d ago

Exactly! People think Sony are the bad guys here, but its them who are releasing tons of exclusives this year.

hakis864840d ago

@ LGFreedom
You gave him money..?... LOL

I agree with you however - a good article indeed!

blackmagic4840d ago

I want to know why it's perfectly legal to hack the iphone but an atrocity that the ps3 has been hacked. How is it even remotely different?

Biggest4840d ago

The same way it's legal to "hack" an iPhone and illegal to "hack" bank security. Nothing to do with each other. The ONLY reason the iPhone was treated as it was. . . Provider exclusivity. Had Apple and AT&T not made their deal, the same thing happening to George Hotz now would have happened to him then. No part of hacking the PS3 leads to consumer freedoms or rights. It leads to theft, theft, and theft. What is homebrew for? Stealing games. What is saving full games to hard drive really for? Stealing games. Gaming consoles are not phones.

nveenio4840d ago (Edited 4840d ago )

I agree with you, but I honestly don't think that jailbreaking the iPhone should be legal. I think that the outcome of this case might be leverage for overturning the iPhone ruling. It really is the same thing, if you spend your time thinking about the case from GeoHot's perspective. The problem is that GeoHot isn't being sued for jailbreaking. He's being sued for facilitating computer crimes and the transmission of encrypted and copyrighted data. That's against the law. If Apple had wanted to, they could have sued anyone distributing iOS because that's Apple's property. GeoHot owns the hardware. There's no discussion to be had about that. If he wants to install custom firmware, that's fine. The catch is that the custom firmware can not contain ANY Sony code or patented intellectual property. And that's where GeoHot went awry.

It's the same reason Wine for Linux hasn't become a better product. Without copying MS code, the fellas behind Wine can't emulate the Windows experience.

HolyOrangeCows4840d ago (Edited 4840d ago )

Fact: The distribution of copy-protected code, the tampering and distribution of tampered copy-protected code, and the theft of copy-protected (or in his case, association with the theft of copy-protected code) are all illegal. Intent to extort is also illegal ("ZOMG! Don't sue or I'll release EVERYTING, SONIEZ!!").

Fiction: Sony is a big fat meanie who wants to keep us from using homebrew! Sony "stealing" OtherOS totally justifies the illegal distribution of copy-protected code!

"GeoHot claims (from his own blog)...He hacked his own PS3 and should have the right to do with it as he pleases"
LOL, he's so funny playing this card.
Him copying, tampering, and DISTRIBUTING copy-protected code = him playing with HIS Ps3 only?

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4840d ago
the_best_player4840d ago

I don't want to read if it's by "sarcasticgamer"....

SoSLy4840d ago

It's one of the best articles I have read so far about this hacking fiasco. They actually explained wtf was happening and they cleared some stuff out.

sobekflakmonkey4840d ago

Yeah, to be honest, that was probably the BEST article I have read on here(based on this subject) in a really really really long time.

Ilikegames764840d ago

The website is sarcasticgamer, but the writer is a lawyer and a gamer.

the_best_player4839d ago (Edited 4839d ago )

The site sometimes just tell lies and there's no point reading.

Kushan4839d ago

Considering the guy doesn't know that the team that began all this is called "fail0verflow and not "FAIL0VERTHROW", it would seem this "lawyer" doesn't actually know what he's talking about, or at the very least has only taken a passing glance at the whole ordeal. Let's have a look -

"can GeoHot do whatever he wants with his PS3, that he bought and paid for? The simple answer is no, in the same way that you can’t do whatever you want with your car"

Actually, you CAN do whatever you want with your car. Of course, if you make enough modifications, it wont be road legal, but that's fine, take it to a private track and you're sorted. No different to modding your PS3 and forgoing PSN really, is it?

He also claims that Geohot and fail0verflow "trafficked" in piracy. They did no such thing, it was other people such as Kmeaw and Waninkoko that released modded firmwares to allow Piracy. Geohot simply enabled homebrew and I challenge ANY of you to find a way to pirate games on his CFW (it can't be done).

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ReservoirDog3164840d ago

Finally someone that knows what they're talking about chimes in.

And he's saying what we've been saying all along. Basically.

shoddy4840d ago (Edited 4840d ago )

"Most damaging, is that Sony claims that GeoHot attempted to extort a job from Sony, which was the catalyst for his dissemination when they did not offer him a job. Specifically, they claim that his post on his blog stating, ““if you want your next console to be secure, get in touch with me.” is evidence of said extortion."

Geofrodo can get jail rape for this. Evidence on his own blog.
but Sony have class, they don't wanna ruin a kid think he's god life.

Geofrodo is over reacting.
he might be smart with computer but he have a lot to learn bout life wich is you are not GOD.

get out of your fuken basement!!

Christopher4839d ago

***On the other hand, Sony isn’t looking to bankrupt the guy. Heck, they didn’t even ask for damages, that we know of, yet. They simply want him to stop breaking their stuff and to take possession of the tools that he used to do it with. Sony isn’t going to “make new law” or establish “bad precedent” for gamers, as some have intimated. The DMCA has been litigated over and over. The Precedent is there. I think Sony has the evidence they need to shut him down.***

A remarkable fresh of breath air, IMHO, to see someone understand this.

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jahcure4840d ago

Exactly what i said earlier. He is in no position to win this thing and giving money is only going to benefit his lawyers.

Use your money for games and don't rely on this guy for the hope of "free" downloads or even considering this an "investment."

Pedantic914840d ago (Edited 4840d ago )

A well written article about the legal issues concerning Sony and Geohot.

Burning_Finger4840d ago

Excellent article..but unfortunately most people don't understand this kind of things.

AtomicGerbil4840d ago

Great read, finally someone who knows exactly what they are talking about.

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150°

Sony CEO says although AI "has been used for creation," it's "not a substitute for human creativity"

"AI is not a substitute for human creativity. We position it as a technology that supports creativity. Creativity resides in people. We will continue to contribute to people's creativity through technology," the CEO said.

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1nsomniac2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

...not yet but 100% within the next 10 years!

..Then Sony will use it like the drop of a hat. They're no different to the others.

isarai2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

They used to be 😞 sure it was always a business, and money's always the priority, but they used to have a very strong stance on supporting artists and creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" was a phrase they touted a few times back in the ps1-ps3 era, a philosophy carried over from their music branch PlayStation was created from. It's not COMPLETELY gone, but it's barely there compared to what it was back then, i just want them to return to that.

Eonjay1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

I am highly encouraged by their statement about human creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" is exactly what they are saying. But at the same time, I don't think people understand that Sony is a corporation. If they don't realize growth, they don't get to exist. When you say 'Sony', you are talking about a bunch of investors. To speak about them any other way is a illogical and incorrect. They haven't changed. They have been a group of investors since they became a public business.

isarai1d 23h ago

Ugh, i really wish people would stop gambling people's livelihoods by turning a project/game into their political soapbox. Im all for statements and having your own opinion, but there's more people working on this than just druckman, ham fisting your political beliefs onto just seems inconsiderate for everyone elses job security when it can result in a failure due to people avoiding it for that reason.

I play games for escape, im so tired of nearly every AAA game blatantly dragging real world issues to shove in my face when I'm trying to take a break from it all. They don't even bother to be subtle about it, quite the opposite, it's blasted and force fed to you and it's just getting exhausting

Einhander19721d 14h ago

People are taking a whole interview and cutting it down to clips that make him look bad and take what he actually was saying out of context. For example he also said things like this AI has "ethical issues we need to address"

-Foxtrot1d 13h ago

@Einhander

Why defend him at this point?

It’s not taking things out of context, he said what he said.

Old ND would never talk about soulless AI taking over so many creative things they are well known for. The whole “ethical issues” is just a good PR spin people who push this crap fall back on to make their statements not seem as bad. So many AI lovers do this.

AI has no place is so many creative based things.

Einhander19721d 14h ago

Well yeah, because everyone else is using it so they need to stay competitive. It's the same as paid online, they didn't want to go that route but their competition was making so much money they needed to add paid online just to keep up.

RaiderNation1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

AI will never replace humans in game development in terms of conceptualizing new games. Humans still need to come up with the ideas and what they want to implement. However much of the day to day menial coding could be AI driven to reduce production time and team size. I could also see AI being used for bug testing/optimization that could lead to better quality games at launch. I'm actually very optimistic about how AI can positively impact game development.

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XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Good statement but hopefully this holds up

NotoriousWhiz1d 13h ago

People that aren't software developers just don't understand the benefits of AI. People who's only exposure to A.I is the Terminator movie and other related sci fi films won't understand the benefits it provides.

It's not about replacing human labor. It's about making human labor easier.

Many years ago, I had laser eye surgery done. It was performed by a robot. The doctor took my measurements and calibrated the machine to make sure it would do what needed be done. And then the robot corrected my vision in 10 seconds.

15 years later and I still have 20/20 vision.

Eonjay1d 12h ago

AI in and of itself is not a 'bad'. Money is bad. Money is evil, and corporations will do whatever they can to get more of it. They will find ways to implement AI to replace as may jobs as possible. This isn't even up for debate. It is the charge of the corporation to maximize returns for the investors. They have no choice. I'm a developer and I know that my job will absolutely be replaced. Therefore, I have decided to become an AI dev. AI has a lot of potential to help us solve problem on a scale most can't even imagine. The issue, as ever is that our monetary system only ever allows us to focus on greed and fiscal growth.

But I am a pragmatist. Perhaps an AI model can be built to help protect us from our most dangerous instincts and habits. And perhaps Congress can pass laws to protect us from people who would use AI to manipulate and control us (spoiler: they wont).

RaiderNation23h ago(Edited 23h ago)

Progress is inevitable. Nobody driving cars today is complaining that the horse and buggy is no longer around. Yes, some jobs will be lost but guess what? With innovation comes new job opportunities. It's how the cycle of the job market works.

150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

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Profchaos30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers30d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken30d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g30d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing30d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H930d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola30d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66930d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle30d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

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jznrpg31d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos31d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion31d ago (Edited 31d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola30d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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