PlayStation Network Coming Back Online Post Hack... But Not In Japan

from the not-safe-for-home dept

There have been a bunch of stories about how Sony is finally bringing its PlayStation Network back online (though, the funniest headline I've seen is the BBC's which claims that Sony is "relaunching" the PSN, as if it's a marketing thing...). However, it appears that the gradual comeback is not coming to Japan just yet, as the government is not yet comfortable that Sony can really protect its users:

"We met with Sony on May 6 and 13, and basically we want two things from them," Kazushige Nobutani, director of the Media and Content Industry department at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told Dow Jones Newswires.

He listed two areas where it requires further explanation before approval will be given following the incidents regarding its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment videogame services.

"The first is preventative measures. As of May 13, Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the May 1 press conference," he said, adding that he could not provide details on the outstanding issues for security reasons.

The second was in how Sony hoped to regain consumer confidence over personal data such as credit card information.

"There were similar cases in the past that were caused by other firms, and we are asking Sony whether their measures are good enough when compared to countermeasures taken in the past," he said.

Filed Under: hack, japan, ps3, psn
Companies: sony

Sony Told To Pay Finnish Man 100 Euros For Removing OtherOS

from the time-for-others-to-ask dept

As you may recall, Sony decided to delete its OtherOS feature on PlayStation 3 devices, despite it being a key selling point for many. It was a rude reminder that thanks to today's laws, sometimes you don't really own what you think you own. Of course this has also resulted in a class action lawsuit against Sony (and, less directly to Sony's legal attack on Geohot for restoring the feature). However, Slashdot points us to the news that the Finnish Consumer Complaints Board has said that Sony should pay 100 euros to a guy who complained about the deleted feature:

The CCB said that the removal of OtherOS crippled console features that were present at the time of purchase, and agreed that consumers should be compensated. It recommended that the manufacturer and seller of the console pay €100 jointly to compensate the man.

Unfortunately, it appears that the Consumer Complaints Board has no enforcement ability... but that its rulings are frequently used by courts in dealing with disputes. Thus, it seems that Finnish PS3 owners might want to see if they can start some sort of legal action to get their €100 back from Sony for taking away a key feature that was used in marketing the PS3.

Filed Under: finland, otheros, ps3
Companies: sony

Geohot Gives Remaining Legal Funds To EFF

from the not-gone-to-waste dept

When George Hotz (Geohot) settled the lawsuit Sony had filed against him for jailbreaking the PS3 in order to restore a feature that Sony had taken away (despite advertising it), many were upset. Part of the reason people were upset was that he had asked for donations, and insisted that he would fight Sony until the end. Those people wanted to know what would happen to the money they donated. Geohot has now said he's donating the remaining cash to the EFF, which hopefully will satisfy those who were upset over that aspect. As I said earlier, unless you've been subject to a lawsuit from a giant company, it's tough to sit there and criticize a guy for settling, rather than fighting to the end. The legal system is set up such that it's a stacked deck against the little guy, so as disappointing as it may be not to get a full ruling out of this, it's hard to fault Geohot.

Filed Under: geohot, george hotz, hacking, money, ps3
Companies: eff, sony

Geohot Supporters Angry He Settled With Sony

from the don't-complain-until-you're-in-his-shoes... dept

Via Slashdot, comes the news that a bunch of George Hotz' (geohot) supporters are angry he decided to settle with Sony, as we recently discussed. Part of this is due to some of Geohot's own bluster during the lawsuit, including this statement:

"What if SCEA tries to settle? Let's just say, I want the settlement terms to include OtherOS on all PS3s and an apology on the PlayStation blog for ever removing it. It'd be good PR for Sony too, lord knows they could use it. I'm also willing to accept a trade, a legit path to homebrew for knowledge of how to stop new firmwares from being decrypted."

So, you can see why some may be upset that he didn't back that up. Others were more upset about the fact that they contributed money to his defense fund in the belief that he would fight the lawsuit. I can understand why some are angry, but I think it's tough for people who haven't faced a lawsuit to recognize the stress that being sued puts on a person. Even if I hope someone will often "fight the good fight" on a particular legal issue, it's usually difficult to fault an individual for settling if a reasonable opportunity presents itself. Yes, this will often prolong certain problems, but it's unfair to expect a single individual to take on a larger issue sometimes.

Filed Under: geohot, george hotz, hacking, ps3
Companies: sony

Sony Settles PS3 Jailbreaking Lawsuit Against Geohot

from the perhaps-it-was-getting-too-hot dept

Sony has been getting widely slammed across the gaming and tech press for its bizarre and self-destructive lawsuit against George Hotz (Geohot), for jailbreaking the PS3 in order to re-enable a feature that Sony had long-advertised, but then deleted off of people's existing PS3s. The entire lawsuit made little sense, and Sony's quixotic attempt to continue to pursue it just got more and more bizarre, with the company even seeking and gaining access to the IP addresses of people visiting his website or watching the YouTube video he put up. However, it appears that the two sides have now settled their lawsuit, with Geohot agreeing to an injunction of some sort that apparently bars him from helping make PS3s more valuable in the future. Congrats, Sony, you've made your gaming devices less valuable. Quite a legal "victory" there...

Filed Under: geohot, george hotz, hacking, ps3
Companies: sony

Geohot Goes On Vacation; Sony Accuses Him Of Fleeing Legal Action

from the no-rest-for-the-weary dept

Sony continues its crazy, pointless and damaging attack on George Hotz (Geohot), the guy who jailbroke the PS3 to add back in functionality that Sony itself used to offer, but disabled. The latest move is to accuse him of skipping the country to South America, implying he took money raised in donations to flee. Geohot has responded by noting that it's Spring break and he's on a vacation that he planned months ago. Sony also freaked out about the computer equipment that Hotz recently was forced to hand over, saying that it had been sabotaged by Hotz. The company claimed that Hotz had "removed integral components." However, Geohot's lawyer pointed out that Sony was completely overreacting, noting that the hard drives just didn't have the controller cards attached, which is hardly sabotaging the drives.

Filed Under: geohot, george hotz, hacking, ps3, south america
Companies: sony

Top Hacker Rejects Job Offer From Sony Over PS3 Jailbreak Legal Strategy

from the when-you-treat-hackers-badly... dept

It looks like Sony's quixotic strategy of suing George Hotz (Geohot) for jailbreaking the PS3 is starting to cost the company in additional ways as well. Todd McDermid points us to the news of how another hacker, Koushik Dutta, who has quite a strong reputation in various circles, has rejected overtures from Sony PlayStation division for a job specifically because of Sony's attack on Geohot: It seems likely that the lawyers and execs at Sony who thought this whole legal strategy was a good idea didn't think through some of the consequences of their actions in terms of attracting new talent.

Filed Under: geohot, hacking, jobs, koushik dutta, ps3
Companies: sony

Judge Lets Sony Go After PS3 Jailbreaker's PayPal Account

from the seriously? dept

Sony's ridiculous and over-aggressive lawsuit against George Hotz (Geohot) for jailbreaking the PS3 keeps reaching new absurd levels. The latest is that the magistrate judge, who seems to be rubber stamping most of Sony's requests, is allowing the company to subpoena Paypal for Geohot's account records. We've already discussed how she's allowing subpoenas for visitors to Geohot's website, as well as for whoever watched the YouTube video he put up about the jailbreak. Sony claims it needs access to his Paypal records to prove that people in California may have donated. They want that so that they can establish California as the proper jurisdiction for hearing the case. Frankly, this is ridiculous. First, who donated to Geohot should not be even remotely meaningful in determining the proper jurisdiction for the case. Where Hotz is located should outweigh any donor locations. Second, shouldn't the judge be somewhat concerned with the privacy aspects here? In giving up Geohot's Paypal info, isn't this exposing the info of anyone who might have donated, without them having the ability to stop it?

Filed Under: jailbreak, privacy, ps3
Companies: paypal, sony

Live By IP, Die By IP: Sony PS3s Seized By EU Customs For Violating Patents

from the karma dept

We've been talking about how ridiculously aggressive Sony has been lately in enforcing its intellectual property rights concerning PS3s, so it seems like there might be a bit of karmic retribution in the fact that a shipment of PS3s has been seized in Europe as part of an ongoing legal fight with LG over patents covering parts of the PS3. I'm always amazed at how frequently companies who push for stronger and stronger enforcement of IP laws never seem to consider the consequences when those laws are directed at their own activities. While a court has just lifted the injunction, the issue is far from over. Back here in the US, the ITC is starting its own investigation into LG's claims and could issue an injunction against importing PS3s as well.

Filed Under: europe, injunctions, patents, ps3
Companies: lg, sony

Hackers Claim They Can Unban Banned PS3s While Banning Unmodded PS3s

from the don't-mess-with-the-hackers dept

We recently noted that Sony had announced plans to ban any jailbroken PS3 from the PlayStation Network, because Sony apparently wants to punish people who want to put back features that Sony advertised and then removed. It appears that move may end up backfiring as well. Jay was the first of a few of you to point to a report that some hackers claim they've figured out how to unban banned PS3s and at the same time to issue bans on unmodded PS3s. There are some questions as to how accurate the report is, but if true, it would suggest another failed strategy by Sony. Will it ever realize that trying to clamp down on its own users is a bad idea?

Filed Under: bans, hacks, ps3
Companies: sony