Sony PS3 Hacker Gagged

from the how-dare-you-reinstate-what-sony-took-away dept

A few weeks ago, we talked about Sony's attempt to get an injunction against a guy who figured out how to hack the Sony PS3 to "jailbreak" it and reinstate the "Other OS' feature allowing people to install alternative operating systems, such as Linux, on their PS3s, which Sony unilaterally deleted. While jailbreaking smartphones for similar purposes has been declared legal, for whatever reason, if you're dealing with a gaming console, it suddenly becomes criminal and you can face jailtime. No, it doesn't make any sense.

However, the judge is buying it, so far, and has issued Sony's requested temporary restraining order and told the guy behind the hack, George Hotz (Geohot) that he cannot do anything relating to circumventing the PS3s digital locks. He's not even allowed to link to other people talking about it. Seems a bit aggressive, but isn't all that surprising. Unfortunately, too many people still believe that simply jailbreaking a device is some horrible crime.

Filed Under: hacking, jailbreaking, ps3s
Companies: sony