Sony Demanding Identity Of Anyone Who Saw PS3 Jailbreak Video On YouTube

from the give-it-up-guys dept

Tue, Feb 8th 2011 8:22am — Mike Masnick

Sony continues to massively overreact to the news that a hacker figured out how to "jailbreak" the PS3 in order to re-enable the functionality that Sony had deleted from PS3s. Beyond getting a far overreaching gag order on George Hotz, who figured out the jailbreak, and playing Whac-a-Mole to try to take down the code anywhere it appears, the company has now asked a judge to order Google to provide the IP addresses and other identifying info of anyone who viewed or commented on the video about the jailbreak that was hosted on a private YouTube page. The company is also promising to sue anyone who posts or distributes the code any further. Did Sony learn nothing from the AACS debacle? How long until we start seeing t-shirts, tattoos and URLs with the code? How long until it starts appearing in songs as well?

Every move that Sony makes to try to hide this code only further promotes that it's out there. And all of this accomplishes what, exactly? Why is Sony so hell bent on punishing everyone for daring to restore functionality that they thought had been included in a box they had bought? And why does Sony (who really should know better) think that this strategy will be effective this time, when every single time a company has reacted this way it has backfired in a big, bad way? It's as if the lawyers at Sony haven't noticed how the internet works.

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Filed Under: jailbreak, overreaction, ps3
Companies: sony

127 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:26am

It's like the war on drugs, only much more difficult to control.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:28am

What exactly does Sony expect to prove against someone who commented (or purportedly *viewed*...wut?!) on the YouTube vid?

That the DMCA covers what goes on...in your head?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:29am

Re:
They have to protect their imaginary rights you know.
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Jay, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:29am

I would post the code here but it's far easier to watch Sony try to go after Digg and watch the hilarity ensue.

It's as if Sony put a gun to their head and is threatening to pull the trigger unless they get what they want. Have fun, Sony!
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:30am

Dear Sony:
I saw it. I'm YOUR MOM.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:32am

46 DC EA D3 17 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2
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John Doe, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:34am

Glad I didn't see the video..
I am glad I didn't see that video or I would have to look over my shoulder and watch for the leg breakers for the rest of my life.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:34am

Sorry, Sony, what exactly are you going to do when you get these IP addresses? Wipe everyone's minds with magic? Get real. You can't delete knowledge. Stop being such a stupid arse!
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Jon Lawrence (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:36am

Obliviate.
Apparently, Sony is making magic wands, and we don't know about them yet.
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Xip Pie (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:40am

ps3lv2,rar
http://pastebin.com/spAd5jpc
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fogbugzd (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:41am

Bad PR
I can't imagine a worse marketing strategy, unless perhaps it involved crash test babies or saying deforestation isn't all bad.

The people they are going after are by definition geeks. Even if they are not going after me personally, we are reading about their ridiculous efforts. We are people who tend to buy high-end electronic devices that Sony sells. Now, a lot of people besides geeks buy high-end electronics, but who do those folks usually ask? Needless to say, I no longer give the generic advice "Sony usually makes good stuff."

This is what happens when you let lawyers run the board room.
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Robert Ring (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:43am

And why does Sony (who really should know better) think that this strategy will be effective this time, when every single time a company has reacted this way it has backfired in a big, bad way?

Because that's how Sony is. They have demonstrated continually throughout their recent history that they are a poorly managed company. They're pretty good at making stuff, but outside of that, they don't know what they're doing.
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Ima Fish (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:43am

It could be worse. Sony could simply sue every current and future PS3 owner to enjoin them from ever jailbreaking their consoles.

Basically, you'd buy a PS3 and get a summons, complaint, and proof of service attached to the bottom of your receipt.
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jilocasin (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:45am

Sony's trying to scare other people from watching it.
I think perhaps people are missing the point.

I doubt that Sony's lawyers are dumb enough to think they can get much usable information from identifying everyone who watched a particular You Tube video, excepting of course a few more bread crumbs on the way to unmasking Fail0verflow.

The real purpose is to bring the fear of Sony's lawyers in an attempt to keep people from reading/learning about this method. It's what's known as a 'chilling effect'.

If you think Sony is going after everyone who even _looks_ at this information, that may be enough to keep you from doing so.

Personally, I think Sony vastly underestimates the people that are capable of utilizing this information, if they think this will work.

It's just Sony trying their part to emulate Oracle or Apple in control freakery.

Most people are perfectly happy to use their PS3's to play store bought games and watch blue-ray discs. The minority who want to tinker used to do so through the 'Other OS' functionality. All Sony managed to do by overreacting is to break the toys of a small, but very motivated group of people.

The sooner Sony 'gets over it', the sooner the tinkers can get back to tinkering and the game players can get back to playing.
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Greevar (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:46am

Re: Re:
Imaginary rights! That's about as on the mark as you could get.
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Bradley, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:46am

Bad Ideas
This absolutely makes Sony look like a moron. It's like a magician trying to explain his trick really is magic, when you've got the stunt double on camera in an interview.

But if Sony truly wanted to stop something like this, they should just release a FLOOD of bad code hacks on the net. Release it to Reddit, Digg, YouTube, 4Chan, FB, etc., and try to keep promoting the new 'hack'. Promise it works. Attempt to make it viral, get people talking about it. Maybe even make it do some 'easter egg' effect on the PS3. SEO the hell out of it. Make it so that searching for "PS3 Hack" returns a few hundred thousand results of mostly bad code.

I mean, sure, it's still a colossal waste of time and money, but since Sony's already decided that wasting those is the appropriate response, at least this way could be humorous and just make them look like a broken-hearted teenager spamming their ex instead of a a company being ran by a team of crackpot lawyers playing king of the hill in some douche-canoes.
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Bradley, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:47am

Bad Ideas
This absolutely makes Sony look like a moron. It's like a magician trying to explain his trick really is magic, when you've got the stunt double on camera in an interview.

But if Sony truly wanted to stop something like this, they should just release a FLOOD of bad code hacks on the net. Release it to Reddit, Digg, YouTube, 4Chan, FB, etc., and try to keep promoting the new 'hack'. Promise it works. Attempt to make it viral, get people talking about it. Maybe even make it do some 'easter egg' effect on the PS3. SEO the hell out of it. Make it so that searching for "PS3 Hack" returns a few hundred thousand results of mostly bad code.

I mean, sure, it's still a colossal waste of time and money, but since Sony's already decided that wasting those is the appropriate response, at least this way could be humorous and just make them look like a broken-hearted teenager spamming their ex instead of a a company being ran by a team of crackpot lawyers playing king of the hill in some douche-canoes.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:48am

Remember when Sony used to be the ones facilitating copyright infringement? Good times...
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Bradley, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:48am

Re: Bad Ideas
Gah. Sorry for the double comment. Feel free to delete if you can, Mike.
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Rob, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:50am

Just watched it ...
Sony,

I just watched several YouTube videos on the hack and even went to the blog ps3-jail-break.blogspot.com and read that. What are you going to do now?
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big al, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:52am

let's see...
hummmm..
1. i buy a ps3...got a bunch of nice advertised goodies.
2. "upgrades" screw up my blueray...hummmmm
3. "upgrades" remove other os....hummmmmm
4. fee's go up for online use...hummmmmm
5. looking a "fix" for my broken ps3 get me sued...hummmmm

"smacks head" i'm an idiot ....sells POS goes elsewhere.
tell everyone sony is a POS. sales drop..

"see we told you so.."says sony. "piracy is killing us"
sound about right????
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vastrightwing, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:54am

Sony, you're not making me want to buy your stuff
Sony, I stopped buying your stuff long ago when you started attacking your customers. This action is simply not doing you any favors. I look at this and shake my head and thank God that Samsung isn't acting this way. Seriously, none of my TVs or audio equipment has Sony markings on it. I won't buy a CD/DVD with Sony music on it (ok, you caught me, I haven't bought CDs in a long time). I have a radical idea for you, how about building electronics that people want to buy and don't make a fuss when people open or mutilate/modify the electronics they own. It belongs to them. Sure, void the warranty once the seal is broken, but don't attack people for hacking their equipment. It's just not good business. Take a cue from Pansat: they encourage people to hack their electronics and it pays off for them.
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Another User, 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:54am

Re:
That is debatable. I am having problems with a Sony laptop right now because even their batteries have protection on them. Bought a third party battery and found out the laptop won't use it because it isn't official. They have a software piece that runs in windows that is easy to delete but in the newer laptops they also put it in the bios. There are ways around it but it is only taking more time then needed just to use a battery. I will not buy Sony anything and I will be advising everyone I know to never buy a Sony laptop because of this.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 8:54am

What are they hiding?
What are they fighting so hard for? What's in the PS3 that they don't want end users to find out about? Is it going to transform and take over the world when Sony presses the button?

Does this hack require the CD drive? Mine broke a few months ago and ever since then, it's just been a shiny hunk of plastic sitting next to my TV. Does it require the latest firmware. Ever since they decided to start disabling functions, I unplugged it from my network and didn't let it upgrade. Strangely, that was just before my drive broke.
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Ima Fish (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:00am

Re:
But then it bought a movie company and a music company, and it's electronics division has sucked ever since. There's a reason why Apple's succeeded in the portable digital electronics realm where Sony failed. Apple didn't have content industries to protect.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:00am

Hey Sony! Easy fix for your jailbreak woes:

Launch Playstation 4.
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Cowardly Anon, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:04am

It seems like Sony is taking the 'drain the ocean with a bucket' approach to dealing with this.

Sony tries to make a weak attempt at justifying this info by saying: "...it wants the information so it can send these people notices to remove the offending material."

Right. I didn't realized that watching a video produced offending material.

What I find downright hilarious is that it seems that Sony thinks this video is only on YouTube.....
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Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:05am

Re:
Sounds like a EULA.

Oh wait...
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:07am

Re:
thats only going to be an easy fix if its actually affordable by people who dont have to sell a kidney to afford it... and sony isnt exactly playing things smart right now are they...
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CommonSense, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:09am

Re: Bad PR
I second that. No more contemplating a PS3 for me, and no more recommending ANYTHING that Sony makes, or is even affiliated with.

Anything from Sony that I am interested in, I will go through 'other' means to get it, such that Sony will see no benefit from me.

Keep it up Sony, and I'll start telling everyone I know to actively AVOID any and all Sony products, like I do with Microsoft products...
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cjstg (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:10am

sony remembered
i remember when a piece of sony equipment was a safe, quality purchase. you bought sony when you had enough money to pay for the extra features and quality. now i wouldn't buy sony equipment if it was the least expensive on the market. when they got into the american media business, their focus went from profits made from hard work and quality products to royalty revenue streams. i think with that comes a certain entitlement mindset.

my question: how long will it be before they figure things out and fire this batch of clueless lawyers? i am looking forward to hearing what the judge has to say during the next few hearings.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:13am

Re: Sony's trying to scare other people from watching it.
The problem that I have isn't that they broke my toy, but that they frickin sold it to me and then thought they have the right to take it away afterwords. It's right up there at the top of my worst betrayals by a company list.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:14am

Re: Bad PR
I have been trying to decide what to buy. Sony just lost its place on the spreadsheet. Dealbreaker behavior.
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Anthony Biedenkapp, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:15am

Re: Sony's trying to scare other people from watching it.
Streisand effect. They are only exacerbating the issue. It's a gross abuse of the legal system and they are clearly overstepping any bounds.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:16am

Re: Obliviate.
Thats what that MOVE thing is. It's a wand!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:18am

Re:
Thought police?
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:20am

Re: Re: Bad PR
If you are debating on a gaming console.. I don't envy you it's a painful process full of discovering abhorable things that each product / company does. Never was I able to find any actual plusses (other than the obvious: I would be able to play games, which applies to all of them), and chalking up all the negatives for each is depressing.
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jfgilbert (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:22am

It is a mindset
There are some executives who continuously ask "how can we make our products better?" Then, there are executives who prefer to ask "how can we make these idiots buy more of our crap?" The former don't work at Sony anymore, or they have been relegated to a seat by the window. The latter have taken over.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:33am

Re: Sony's trying to scare other people from watching it.
I thought it smacked of scare tactics also, but most thinking people see how ridiculous it is on its face, I'd wager.

Much like the judge will if there's a brain in his/her head. I've seen this news in a few other places and in every comment section someone's posting the keys (?) or whatever it is that's at issue. I wasn't looking for it and wouldn't know the first thing about how to use it nor do I own anything made by Sony but I saw it all the same. And at all but this site I didn't post, I was just reading...how will they find me?! Should I go off the grid?! Where can I hide?! Halp!

Silly.

In addition to the scary sue monster effect, Sony's just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
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mike allen (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:33am

i wish i had seen it then id tell em where to stick it.
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:34am

Re:
Does this mean we are all going to get arrested?

Damn you AC!
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Marcus Carab (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:36am

Re:
Why? So they can include new locks & DRM and then launch more lawsuits when those get broken?

I don't see how a brand new console would be any kind of "fix" unless it comes with a brand new corporate philosophy at Sony...
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pixelpusher220 (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:38am

Re:
if only this could have been displayed during the SuperBowl.

Now *that* would be funny to watch them try and sue a hundred million people :)
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btrussell (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:49am

Re:
Now that I've seen this...
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:49am

Re: Re: Re: Bad PR
I second that.

I also think that you get to a point when every company has let you down so you'll have nowhere left to shop if you boycott them all. I personally think this is a boneheaded move but it is not going to stop me from enjoying my PS3. I don't hold Sony as a whole to fault, its a big company with lots of parts. Plus people rely on it, such as game developers & gamers that enjoy free online gameplay, e.g. Me.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:51am

Re: What are they hiding?
The problem is the hack lets users do what they advertise it to do: everything. Anything you run on the PS3 with this code gets signed as official software; anything and everything. Hacking has become rampant as the hacks can be run like any other official game would, and the only way Sony has to fix it is this campaign of madness...or change the code and replace every single disc that's been released to date.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:53am

Re: Re:
Well they could pretend the PS4 is great and DRM free, sell a bunch of units and then reveal that they were lying again, inside is just a PS3 with a 4 drawn on it and not accept returns. I'm sure people will keep believing them each time.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:55am

I'm a xbox360 guy and all this buzz with Sony and the PS3 motivates me to go out and buy a PS3 and "jailbreak" it. just to do it, heck ill get a bluray player out of it.
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:00am

Re: Re:
And that's were you went wrong. While Sony's products are top of the line they are very proprietary. So if you a planning on modifying your computer Sony is definitely not a good choice. However, if you are the average Joe Schmoe then they should do just fine.

But again, expect high quality products with equally high proprietary components, e.g. the PS3. I have never had an issue with mine but then again I have never tried to modify it in any way.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:02am

Re:
I think you mean reddit or 4chan. Digg actually capitulated when HDDVD code was released. In fact, Reddit's traffic increased tremendously from that point on as users defected (including myself.)
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Spaceman Spiff (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:03am

Sony?
Sorry, but I have been boycotting Sony for so long, that I have to ask "Who is Sony?"... These idiots are going to destroy what was once the preeminent technology company. Unfortunately, IMHO, Apple will be soon to follow them from inventors of the coolest stuff, to join them in butt-head oblivion... :-(
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:05am

I'm still fascinated that people still use Sony. Known malware on their media. Do people forget that quickly? This is a company that actually damaged your computer if you used its media. I don't know, my computer and data is kind've important to me. If a company burns me, it's on a permanent blacklist. There's too much competition to worry about using products in which I don't trust the producer.

I will never trust Sony, and that includes giving a dime to any of their properties, including film or television.
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Montezuma (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:09am

Re:
Gun to a person's own head...hmmm...where have I seen that? Oh yeah, Blazing Saddles. Wait, that actually worked...in the movie, at least.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:12am

Re:
So viewing
46 DC EA D3 17
FE 45 D8 09 23
EB 97 E4 95 64
10 D4 CD B2 C2

Will get you trouble now
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:13am

Re: Sony, you're not making me want to buy your stuff
"I look at this and shake my head and thank God that Samsung isn't acting this way."

To be fair, Samsung doesn't have a game console and that's what is at issue here, not their other products.
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stderr, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:16am

Why buy Sony?
I bought a sony camcorder once. It had nice features, but was kind of expensive. I then shelled out $95 for a firewire cable that was, at the time, billed as proprietary. It wasn't anything special, just a piece of wire with connectors on the ends. I found it odd that they would supply a disc with software for downloading images and videos out of the camera, but not include a cable. I felt a little ripped off, frankly.

I then travelled on business, made a couple of videos, took a few digital pictures (a new capability at that time) and tried to process them to e-mail home to the family. I had forgotten the software for reading the video & pictures off the camera. No problem, I thought, I'll go to the Sony website and download whatever I need. One frustrating hour later, after failing to prove the camera was mine, they wanted a pretty big buck for the same software that came with the camera. When I returned home, I shelved the expensive camera, and decided I really don't like how Sony treats its customers.

I haven't bought a Sony product since, nor will I. They can make as much fuss about their IP as they like. Who cares? Stories like these serve only to remind me that I'm not in Sony's customer demographic. Does anybody remember the root-kit fiasco? I'm not such a pussy that I'll just acquiesce to their ridiculous policies, but instead vote with my wallet. You can deline the licensing agreement and choose not to use the product you know. Why does anybody patronize Sony? If you want a kinder gentler Sony, STOP BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS and see how long it takes them to stop bullying their customers.

Just for fun, I've been thinking about the purchases I've made in which they had a competing product, but didn't get the sale: big-screen TV, video camera, still camera(s), PS[123], notebook(s), DVD movies (I won't put a DVD from Sony in anything I own), DVD Player(s)...the list is long, and they didn't get a dime. If you all want to genuflect at the Sony alter, expect the same treatment you've always got.
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Another User, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:18am

Re: Re: Re:
Actually I advised against buying it in the first place but what can you do when it is ignored but still have to support it.
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The Baker, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:18am

Soon you wont be able to modify or fix anythig you "own"
Ford Motor Company announced today that the technology in their automobiles has always been protected by the US IP system. Any repairs or modification to any Ford product by anyone other than authorized Ford service centers is not allowed. Any changes to the performance or operation of any Ford product is deemed to be circumventing Ford's copy protection and will dealt with firmly by Ford Motor Company using all legal means and Ford Motor Company will begin aggressively enforcing their RIGHTS.

Producing or disseminating information on how to modify in any way the performance, configuration or operation of any Ford Motor Company product or how to repair any Ford Motor Company product is not authorized or allowed. Anyone found to be producing this information will be dealt with aggressively by Ford Motor Company using all legal means.
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:21am

Re: sony remembered
I'll be crossing my fingers. But most likely it won't happen. These kind of things don't just change overnight.

No, it will most likely take another decade before they smarten up. Maybe just in time for the PS5, who knows?!
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Alejandro, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:27am

Learn from TI
Remember TI calculators? When everyone started hacking them and finding ways to put asm programs on them rather than using the TIBasic that came stock, TI realized that people were buying them simply BECAUSE they could put some awesome games on them; their next calculator version, they found the best way to prevent people from unauthorized hacking...

cause if you simply ENABLE the feature from the get-go, and tell people where it is, nobody's going to hack your shit.

it was poorly implemented because I think they were half way through their development cycle already when they implemented it...I assume...but the next version, they did it properly.
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:28am

Re:
Yea, paying them $300 dollars is really sticking it to them. JK. But seriously, you should.

You should blog about the whole process while you're at it. Heck, have a web cam streaming it live to the world. That would REALLY piss them off. Imagine them trying to sue the world. Now that would be HAlarious!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:28am

Re: let's see...
fee's for online? blu ray screwed up? not on mine...PSN+ is COMPLETELY optional, XBOX Live is not and THEY just upped their prices by $10 a year.

but I am pissed I lost my Linux that they advertised when I got my PS3.

but I have to ask what did they kill with Blu ray? some feature I missed?
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:31am

Re: Sony?
Haha, you said butt-head...

As for Sony, she is a sex box, duh.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:38am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Bad PR
I don't go all the way to boycott, I just avoid them whenever I can. They are definately a lousy company and I hate to support them ever, but sometimes I still do if my choices are really limited. They win out less and less often as they get worse and worse though.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:41am

Re: Re: Re:
"While Sony's products are top of the line they are very proprietary"

This is completely contradictory.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:46am

Re: Learn from TI
The questions is, why do you want people not to hack your shit? Those are your biggest supporters. They not only buy your product, they invest time into making it better and promoting it.
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Michial Thompson, 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:47am

Better hope they don't get the IPs
I could care less for the most part about jail breaking a PS3, but I don't think Sony should be able to corner the apps that run on it. Anyone should be able to write code burn it to a disk and insert and run it....

One thing that they are looking for is the IP Addresses of those that viewed the docs. The combine that list with the logs from their online service and they have every one of them identified... If not to a person at least to the PS3's MAC...

Now with that information they can watch for activity that could INDICATE a pirated product and so on....

I do think that people should be held accountable for pirating products, I don't think people should be investigated for APPEARING to pirate.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:49am

Re: Re: let's see...
I didn't even realize you *could* pay for online access.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 10:56am

Re: Sony?
Soon follow? Apple is the head of the snake. They are not only DRM based, but successful enough at it that companies see them and want to emulate them.
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:03am

Re: Re: What are they hiding?
Big whoop. So people get to use the PS3 as advertised.
Mod chips hardly killed them with the PS1 and this hack wouldn't either. Newsflash: People would still buy your stuff anyway if you weren't a bunch of douchbags.
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:06am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yea, the only things I buy that are Sony are consoles and headphones. I usually buy Samsung products when I can and as soon as they come out with a console, Sony is pretty much done for me.

Just imagine Samsung and Android caming out with a game console. Now that would truly be Legen... wait for it... Dary!

Unfortunately, I don't think that is in the cards, because they stick to what they do best, electronics. Instead of Sony's model of selling media for the electronics they sell. Like that somehow give them an edge... boneheads.
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pixelpusher220 (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:19am

Re: Re: Re:
How much you want to bet that someone posting "GET YOUR PS3 HACK HERE" along with code that doesn't actually do anything, would still get sued?
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:34am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Ah yes, I see your point. My Bad. Or wait, is it Sony's bad for being so proprietary? Hmmm.. I must ponder this for a moment. *rubs goatee with a quizzical expression on his face
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Berenerd (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:44am

So what you are REALLY saying is...
I shouldn't have used my jailbroken PS3 to view Youtube on how to jailbreak my PS3? WTF???
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tikkiggodd (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:54am

Re: Re:
Technically, it could be "sticking it to them." Many console manufacturers lose money on a console, and make it back in licensing for the games on the console (that's why most stores don't put a console on sale, they just bundle other stuff with it to make it more enticing). So, I guess it would be kind of sticking it to Sony if you bought a PS3 and never bought a game for it /shrug.

However, I do understand the OP's desire to jailbreak one just to do it...
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Epic, 8 Feb 2011 @ 11:55am

Re: Re: Re: let's see...
The pay version really only unlocks exclusive perks and content, and most of the content still has a price tag. The access itself is free so I really don't see the benefit in paying, but i suppose others may disagree.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:05pm

Re:
Yeah and no one gets high.
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Revelati, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:08pm

In this corner, Sony! A big electronics corporation!

And in the other corner, the internet! A revolution in human communication that defines our generation, has 5 billion users, and is a repository of the entirety of human knowledge and experience.

FIGHT!!!

It might be cliche, but Sony, resistance if futile...
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MeFine, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:08pm

Sony's Fool
I gots me a copy of the jailbreak ... I've been posting it via Rapidshare, Megaupload, torrent sites, PSP ... everywhere I can.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:19pm

Re: Re: Re: What are they hiding?
My snowflake will probably be different, but I'm the guy you're replying to. Really!

Anyway, I'm not defending Sony in any way. I'm just explaining what is probably the biggest reason that Sony is going so insane with this. Their security was literally based on a "random" number generated by a single set digit. Blah blah blah bunch of coding stuff I don't quite understand, and you end up having the core code needed to sign everything as official. It's already ruined the Modern Warfare 2 experience for PS3, and Activision-Blizzard has said they're looking into flat out removing all of their servers for the PS3 service.

And the PS1 didn't really have wide-spread online play. The PS3 does. They're worlds apart. J-tagged 360s can already screw up the 360 experience quite a bit, but they're luckily not very widespread and hard to mess with. This PS3 hack can be used by any kid with an internet connection.
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Jose_X, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:22pm

Re:
>> 46 DC EA D3 17 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2

Careful with that key. We all know that Constitutionally protected speech in this nation is only actually protected if you are a large corporation like the New York Times. When the Constitution says freedom of speech is protected for people, it actually means, "for people-corporations with lots of cash and not for people-humans lacking cash."

And where the Constitution justifies exclusivities to inventors and authors for limited times in order to promote the progress, it actually means, monopolies to wealthy corporations even when these stifle progress and abridge free speech and property rights of humans.

Reading the Constitution is rather tricky and should not be attempted by anyone except high-priced lawyers. You have been warned!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:22pm

Re: Learn from TI
The funny thing about that is in my area, no one used the newer TI graphing calculators, and the schools all suggested you stick with the TI-83s, despite also frowning on playing games. They were affordable and moddable.

As far as I care, the TI-83 is the only graphing calculator on the market.
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Gwiz (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:32pm

Future News Report
he company has now asked a judge to order Google to provide the IP addresses and other identifying info of anyone who viewed or commented on the video about the jailbreak that was hosted on a private YouTube page.

A news report from the not to distant future:

"Judge orders 10,000 YouTube viewers to submit to frontal lobotomies in wake of ruling in favor of Sony Corp."
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Jason, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:43pm

Re: Re:
Oh wait...there's supposed to be no such thing in re hardware? Exactly.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:47pm

Re: Re:
So posting
46 DC EA D3 17 FE 45 D8 09 23 EB 97 E4 95 64 10 D4 CD B2 C2
would be bad, but can one post the Mirror of It, or is the Mirror also protected?

2C 2B DC 4D 01 46 59 4E 79 BE 32 90 8D 54 EF 71 3D AE CD 64
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 12:57pm

We've established that what Sony is doing is getting them nowhere. The real question is, what should they do to protect the PS3 instead? Sony can't do nothing like people seem to expect. Look at what happened to the PSP, Sony can't afford to have the same thing happen with the PS3.

So again, what better options are there for Sony right now? No one ever seems to have a reasonable answer to that question.
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Gwiz (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:09pm

Re:
Look at what happened to the PSP, Sony can't afford to have the same thing happen with the PS3.

I have seen you (or some other AC) say this before. What is this thing you say happened to the PSP? A quick look up in Google seems to show that there are plenty of PSP's and PSP games for sale.
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JMT, 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:17pm

Re: Re: Obliviate.
It's an early version of that mind wiping gadget from Men In Black. They're still working on the miniaturisation.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:24pm

Re: Re:
Do a google search for "developers adandon PSP".
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Morely Dotes, 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:36pm

Re: posting
I'd be obliged if someone could post keywords to find the codes using Google. I don't own a PS3, but I do so much want to bring up Sony's distribution of rootkit viruses on consumer audio CDs in a Federal court...
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Jason, 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:36pm

Re: Learn from TI
Yeah, we switched to HPs. So much more power.
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Gwiz (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:45pm

Re: Re: Re:
OK Did that.

And what I got was a few developers saying that were dropping the PSP to focus on the Smartphone market.

A few that said they were dropping PSP to focus on the PS3 because of better libraries.

A few articles saying that the PSP just didn't really catch on mainstream.

And finally, one developer saying they might stop porting to the PSP because of pirating - but they weren't sure and were going to wait until they had better sales figures.

So.. still not catching your drift here...
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Jason, 8 Feb 2011 @ 1:45pm

Re: Re: Re:
If I posted something like, "I actually did try it and it really did work, and this is not just a hypothetical," - I wonder, would it be considered contributory?
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Gwiz (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 2:18pm

Re: Re: Re:
I my searching I came across a site which labels the PSP as the worst pirated platform ever.

http://oxcgn.com/2010/03/23/the-state-of-game-piracy-which-platform-is-hardest-hit-and-how/

One thing I did find interesting in all that doom & gloom in there was this little nugget:

In the past the games Lumines, GTA: Liberty City Stores and Gripshift had exploits used with new firmware versions to crack security, and on the release of these cracks sales of the game across the internet went up often past 4000%.

Is that saying that sales increased dramatically because of cracked firmware? Perhaps people just want to use their electronic devices in ways they see fit.
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PaulT (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 2:39pm

Re:
"Look at what happened to the PSP"

What, people decided to buy the DS instead? People got pissed off because Sony kept screwing with peoples' abilities to run homebrew games? UMD and other features turned out to be pointless and alienating white elephants, in Sony's usual quest to attempt control of everything with proprietary formats? There's a lot of explanations that have everything to do with what Sony did to "control" their product rather than what they didn't do.

"Sony can't afford to have the same thing happen with the PS3"

Then, perhaps they can start by not pissing off their best customers and removing features that many based their PS3 purchases upon. If nothing else, that would at least remove some of the incentive to jailbreak in the first place.
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WB3, 8 Feb 2011 @ 3:45pm

Re: Re: Bad Ideas
What if some one used a Sony VCR to record the YouTube Video?
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Nick Coghlan (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 5:05pm

Re: Re: posting
"PS3 root key" should do the trick.

Will Sony go after Google for making it so easy to find this information? Or github for hosting the PS3 dev tools?
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Nick Coghlan (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 5:10pm

Re: Re: Bad PR
We can only hope that the parent company will tell the US division to pull its head in. Seems unlikely, though :P
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crade (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 5:10pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: What are they hiding?
Detecting cheating is a completely separate issue, although if they suck at that too, I would hardly be surprised. Common though, they can do it just fine on PC's that span multiple O.S.es and can run any code under the sun. it's just a lame excuse they use to gather support.
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Justin Olbrantz (Quantam), 8 Feb 2011 @ 5:21pm

Re:
That's the thing: the average person is absolutely clueless about any of that, as well as DRM or even piracy in general. The average person will simply file any problems encountered under "electronics is unreliable", without ever thinking whether there's a common root cause of the problem, and wouldn't even understand the cause(s) if you tried to explain it to them.

In my experience in that industry, the more technically-knowledgeable people are (especially those that engineer software or hardware for a living), the less they worry about piracy and the more they dislike DRM (of course, I'm referring to what they say in private, not at their job where their boss is listening). In fact, I can only think of a single software engineer I know that says in private that he believes piracy is causing substantial harm and that it must be punished (other views vary, e.g. there's nothing wrong with piracy, piracy isn't worth the effort/cost to fight, etc.).
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Now I have watched and do not own anything Sony, 8 Feb 2011 @ 5:42pm

Own nothing made by Sony, but had to watch trainwreck
Own nothing made by Sony, but had to watch this trainwreck.

I do not own a PS3 or any other Sony products.
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Any Mouse (profile), 8 Feb 2011 @ 6:16pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I don't understand how 'top of the line' and 'proprietary' are contradictory. They could be a leader in hardware, but be completely proprietary. Apple comes to mind, at least a few years ago. These days I'm even less inclined to purchase either.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Feb 2011 @ 7:25pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Huh? How is it contradictory?
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Anonymous, 8 Feb 2011 @ 9:59pm

Don't forget this is the same company that put a root kit on your computer to make sure you were not copying there cd's.
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PPNSteve, 9 Feb 2011 @ 2:21am

Sony
BOYCOTT SONY!

Oh, BTW.. If I purchase something from you (or ANYONE) and later decide to tear into it, mod, or hack it, who the F#&K are you to say what I can do or can't do with MY equipment that I OWN?

So bottom line: Sony, GO POUND SAND!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Feb 2011 @ 3:22am

Looks like the Sony are gonna have to go after their own PR guy http://www.gamersmint.com/kevin-butler-tricked-into-tweeting-ps3s-security-key/
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btrussell (profile), 9 Feb 2011 @ 3:35am

Re:
Probably why so many started downloading.

They didn't want sony to feel obligated to give away that expensive software for free.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 9 Feb 2011 @ 3:50am

Sony is Style Without Substance
I remember when Sony produced quality products and had good service about forty years ago. Even fresher is my experience when I bought three Sony laptops over an 18 month time frame and all three failed in less than a year. Sony weaseled on repairing two of them. This was a $10,000 mistake.

Since then whenever I see the name Sony on a product or in an ad I quickly move on.

When I buy a product I expect to be able to get service manuals and to repair it or modify it myself if I so chose.

And when I pay top dollar as was the case for the Sony notebook computers I expect to get a top quality product and top quality service. I got nether, the computer suffered from inexcusable hardware and software problems and Sony's service was atrocious. Sony service was actually worse than both HP and Dell.

When a company interferes with my ownership rights I do not but product from that company.

Sony has become an arrogant piece of crap and the only solution for that problem is to shun Sony.

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 9 Feb 2011 @ 4:01am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Sony's products are top of the line"

There is a difference between being top of he line and Sony's public relations hype claiming to be top of the line.

Sony is just another stagnant company in decline who is coasting on very old glory.

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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Justin, 9 Feb 2011 @ 5:48am

Legal basis
Actually I'm very surprised, that within 106 comments on this topic nobody seems to be worried about whether there is a legal basis for Sony requesting IP addresses from youtube. In my opinion such a request is is quite an invasion of privacy.
Even if Sony can't do something useful with the IP addresses it might acquire the mere possibility of companies or governments being able to arbitrarily request such information is troubling me. While going after people who upload infringing information is more than disputable, going after people who consume such info on perfectly legal sites is absolute intolerable.
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 9 Feb 2011 @ 6:21am

Sony Intolerable
I agree completely and the point I was making is that there is a broad pattern of poor conduct on Sony's part and the only way you will change them is by convincing people not to buy their products. When I am shopping and I see someone considering Sony products I tell them that the company has really declined and that they should buy another brand. It does work.

Today, Sony is costing on an outdated reputation for quality. his is no longer the case and people need to hear about it.

Ronald J. Riley,

President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org

Other Affiliations:
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.
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Just me, 9 Feb 2011 @ 7:18am

I don't even have a PS3
I don't even have a PS3, but now I want to see the video and know how to jail break it! And if there is any software involved, I want a copy!
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Alex W, 9 Feb 2011 @ 10:21am

Scare tactics
They're trying to create a legal precedence for the future hacks. All they will accomplish of course is public outrage, increased sales for xBox, and assurance that all future hacks will be posted anonymously.
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Billy Wenge-Murphy, 9 Feb 2011 @ 5:34pm

IANAL, so can anyone who does ANAL tell me on what grounds they could go after someone for watching - not distributing - a video? Does the private key contain secret CP or something?

By the way, I watched the video (at least the last few minutes where everyone was laughing at Sony for their terrible use of random numbers). I'm the only one in the world with my name. Come find me and lick my taint.
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Billy Wenge-Murphy, 9 Feb 2011 @ 5:43pm

Re:
Actually, I might not have seen "the video". I saw "a video" that was forcibly removed, the half-hour recording of their public presentation of their findings. Can someone describe what "the video" contains, and, if I've seen it, will I receive a court-ordered lobotomy to remove the information from my head?
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Billy Wenge-Murphy, 9 Feb 2011 @ 5:50pm

Re: Re:
They didn't, though. They tried to capitulate, but when the users retaliated by posting it more, they gave in and allowed it. You should take just the opposite lesson from that debacle: Nothing will ever happen, they will never follow through and find grounds to sue or jail you for posting a magic number. Even so, we must fight for our right to distribute mere information. There should never be criminal penalties attached to a short hexadecimal string.

Also note that the DMCA takedown notices they were receiving were of dubious legality. Takedowns are for copyrighted works. Just because the DMCA also contains the anti-circumvention provisions that plunged us into this horrible police state doesn't mean you can conflate the two. I've never seen it affirmed that you in fact can use a DMCA takedown notice against alleged infringement of trademark, trade dress, or patent. But again, IANAL, so throw some precedent my way.
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Billy Wenge-Murphy, 9 Feb 2011 @ 5:52pm

Re: Re: Re: posting
Sony IS sending a flood of DMCA takedown notices to Github repos. Github is collecting these notices in a special new repo:

https://github.com/github/dmca

Unfortunately, most of these users haven't counter-claimed.
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Annonomous, 10 Feb 2011 @ 3:06am

Response to: Anonymous Coward on Feb 8th, 2011 @ 8:32am
Where do I put the code?
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Joe, 10 Feb 2011 @ 4:36pm

I know the REAL CODE
Wait wait here's the REAL code:

4 8 15 16 23 42

You have to input them each 108 minutes, or your jailbroken PS3 will explode!
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So, basically I agree with everybody, 26 Feb 2011 @ 10:54pm

Best String Ever!!
You folks are right. Every last one of you. I'll dance the day Sony burns!!
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JJ, 12 Mar 2011 @ 3:43pm

IF SONY ONLY HAD A BRAIN
Wise up Sony!!! if they want to prevent the code from people using it to mod their PS3's then they should gather a few employees and have them spam all those sites that have this troublesome code / app. They should flood the sites by posting a bunch of different negative comments and they should use dozens of different screen names . The theme would be ," This Jailbreak destroyed my PS3."...I would post on every site that my PS3 no longer works since i used Jailbreak and i would also post that sony refused to fix the console because they seen the Jailbreak data on the PS3 hdd...

now doesnt that discourage people more then making threats. they have no idea how to manipulate people and they are running the PS3 into the ground by their lack of business skills.
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lil joker, 5 Dec 2011 @ 1:59pm

?
fuck sony corporation they should let people do what they want with there ps3 so burn in hell sony
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Jirikiha, 13 Jan 2012 @ 8:03am

Re: Sony's trying to scare other people from watching it.
What Sony doesn't get is that this type of overbearing litigation makes people like me want to watch the video. I would not have heard of it had they not made such a fuss.
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deebee, 13 Jan 2012 @ 1:33pm

WTF
What the fuck is going on out here !! ?? Its like one of these movies where big corporations have (truly ) taken over the world and we are all now at their mercy .
FFS, if you let this lot loose with PIPA / SOPA then we aint seen nothing yet !
Jeeez these guys will go to war on us all, this is scary shit we are heading into.
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Programmer201, 2 May 2012 @ 4:23am

PS3
Sony, you are a good company, with good quality and reliable products in which I buy. But there was no reason to do this. Dont get your gunmen and go to war with us and kill us all. Btw I bought AC: revelations.
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hacker, 28 Mar 2014 @ 10:36am

to sony
dear sony fuck you get me if you can i watched that video i live in singapore house16 at capital city
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iven, 15 Oct 2016 @ 5:03am

Sony’s Other OS Settlement Is Live, Claim Your Money
for more update see below link:
http://www.technoblink.com/mobile/sonys-other-os-settlement-is-live-claim-your-money/
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