geohot and fail0verflow being sued by sony, opinions?

[z1gg33]

A federal judge ordered prolific hacker Geohot to turn over his computers and hard drives and to stop publishing the tools used to root Sony's PlayStation 3 after finding his hack was likely a violation of US copyright law.

The temporary restraining order was issued on Thursday by US District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco. It's a major victory for Sony and a setback for hacker hobbyists who believe they should be permitted to modify hardware they legally own. It comes in a lawsuit Sony filed two weeks ago against New Jersey-based Geohot shortly after he deduced the security key Sony used to lock down the PS3.

[Don Benosee]

The genie's pretty much out of the bottle, so it's hard to see what Sony hopes to gain by sequestering just one bloke's computer.

[kcsoft]

this won't help sony's case



also

[A7]

Sony better go after their #1 salesman in their investigations ROFL.

Things can get to bad to worse this week when Sony’s own Kevin Butler re-tweeted the METLDR root key. Twitter user exiva tweeted to Kevin Butler the PS3 root key disguised as a Battleship challenge, and little to Butler’s knowledge he retweeted the entire code. The tweet has obviously been removed, but you can see the screen shot of it below:



Maybe Sony needs to investigate Kevin Butler as an potential PS3 hacker

What a tool.

[kcsoft]

they'll be wanting kevin's ip too

[A7]

Judge Rejects Sony’s (SCEA) Motion to Shorten Time

Sony Computer Entertainment America’s motion [PDF] asking the judge in the SCEA v. Hotz case to set an earlier date to hear oral argument on its motion to do expedited discovery has been denied.

But as I’ll explain, I think it may indicate that George Hotz’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction/improper venue will likely be denied as well and that they’ll continue this case in California.

“Expedited discovery” in this context means the avalanche of subpoenas SCEA is asking permission to serve on various entities to try to find the Fail0verflow guys, who SCEA hopes to tie to Hotz. The purpose of all that is to demonstrate that the case should stay in California. The hearing had been set for March 11, and they’d asked if it could be speeded up to February 9, and the judge just said no. So, March 11 it is.

Here are the filings:

02/07/2011 – Set/Reset Deadlines as to March 11, 2011 (tfS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/7/2011) (Entered: 02/07/2011)

02/07/2011 – Set/Reset Deadlines as to 62 MOTION to Expedite MOTION FOR EXPEDITED DISCOVERY. Motion Hearing set for 3/11/2011 09:00 AM before Hon. Susan Illston. (ys, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/7/2011) (Entered: 02/08/2011)

02/08/2011 - 65 – ORDER denying 61 Motion to Shorten Time (tf, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/8/2011) (Entered: 02/08/2011)

March 11′s the date SCEA wanted changed to today, February 9, to give SCEA time to prepare for Hotz’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, which will also be heard on March 11. The parties stipulated [PDF] to that date. You have to admit that SCEA’s motion kind of makes sense, to the extent that it wants to amplify its factual basis for tying Hotz to California:

Under the usual time table for noticed motions, SCEA’s motion cannot be set for hearing until March 11, 2011. However, this date is not early enough for SCEA’s motion to be heard since Hotz’s motion to dismiss is currently scheduled to be heard that same day. Therefore, absent an order shortening time, SCEA will be unable to complete discovery in time to fully oppose Hotz’s motion to dismiss by February 18, 2011, when its opposition is currently due. Accordingly, SCEA requests an Order Shortening Time so that its motion can be heard on February 9, 2011.

All they wanted was an opportunity to prepare, in other words. So why would the judge say no?

No reason is given, so all we can do is guess. So this is just me thinking out loud as to possibilities. There are several, ranging from the unlikely to the most logical. Maybe the judge saw there just wasn’t time before February 9th would be here. Maybe she was booked already that day with other cases and didn’t have an opening. Or maybe she wasn’t convinced that there is such a screaming emergency as SCEA portrayed it. Maybe she’s had a sufficiency of SCEA’s aggression. Maybe she’s wondering if there would be enough time for everyone potentially being subpoenaed to prepare to either comply with the subpoena or fight it. But I suspect it’s something else entirely.

“SCEA will be severely prejudiced,” it argued, ” – and at risk of substantial harm – if its motion for expedited discovery is not heard on a shortened basis.” This request is what the judge has denied. Now, why would she do that? Severe prejudice to a party is exactly what a judge isn’t supposed to let happen.

The most obvious possibility then, I think, is that she feels SCEA doesn’t need the expedited discovery, because she’s inclined to rule for them without it. If you recall, SCEA stated it thought it had enough substance to win the jurisdictional issue already, and she may agree. After all, if she thought she was now inclining toward denying Hotz’s motion anyhow and make him stay in California, why bother with expedited discovery? If she thought it possible she’d decide the other way, though, that the case *doesn’t* belong in her court after all, if that was really up in the air, I think she’d be more inclined to grant SCEA’s motion.

One final possibility is that Hotz’s filings have so convinced her that she made an error that she figures there is never going to be a need for any kind of discovery in California, since she’s going to dismiss for reasons none of the subpoenas can alter. I think that is the least likely.

Again, though, this is all just guesswork on my part, and you can always be wrong when you are guessing. This makes logical sense to me. People aren’t always logical, though, as you may have observed, and so we’ll have to wait and see what happens at the hearing.

As you may have noticed, we have set up a Timeline page for this case now. I can’t believe how long it is already.

Source: Groklaw

I wish him well. This stops Sony coming down on others for now.

[kcsoft]

the bullies always lose. i'm suprised sony haven't resorted to having mr hotz and the fail0verflow team 'bumped' off so to speak.

childish really. i won't be buying sony's next console. i hate microsoft but i may buy the next xbox (already have a wii) or building a high end pc as someone already suggested

[A7]

PlayStation 3 jailbreaker George Hotz must allow console-maker Sony to comb through his computer’s hard drive and retrieve information “that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation,” a federal judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s ruled from the bench in Sony’s ongoing legal action against the New Jersey hacker, who goes by GeoHot. The lawsuit is in connection to the 21-year-old being the first to fully hack the 4-year-old console, a jailbreak allowing it to play pirated and home-brewed games.

Hotz posted the code on his website last month, and put a how-to video on YouTube. That landed him in court here on Digital Millennium Copyright Act civil allegations. Among other things, Sony accuses him of trafficking in devices that circumvent controls meant to protect copyrighted works.

In the Thursday hearing, Hotz’ attorney, Stewart Kellar, objected to the judge’s bench order, saying Sony would be able to “observe” the contents of all his client’s files.

“That’s the breaks,” Illston said.

Hotz has already removed the YouTube video and the code from his website to comport with the judge’s earlier orders.

The judge had originally ruled weeks ago that Hotz must surrender all of his computer gear to Sony. But Kellar asked for reconsideration, and a hearing was hastily called Thursday

Illston informed Kellar that it was routine for the entire contents of computers to be searched in a bid to isolate what is being sought, as in child pornography prosecutions.

“Your honor, we’re certainly not dealing with child pornography in this issue,” Kellar replied.

Moments later, the judge responded:

“Here, I find probable cause that your client has got these things on his computer,” she said. “It’s a problem when more than one thing is kept on the computer. I’ll make sure the order is and will be that Sony is only entitled to isolate … the information on the computer that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation.”

The DMCA makes it either a civil or criminal offense to traffic in wares meant to circumvent devices protecting copyrighted works. Performing a similar hack on a mobile phone is lawful.

Sony’s attorney, James Gilliland, was quick to point out to Illston that the mobile phone is not at issue here. “The conduct Mr. Hotz has engaged in is still covered by the DMCA,” he said.

The judge also backed off on an order that Hotz “retrieve” the code from anybody who he may have forwarded it to.

“It’s information. It can’t be retrieved. It’s just not practical,” Illston said. “What would they do, Xerox it and mail it back? ”

Illston said she changed her mind because she was not clearly aware of the details in her earlier order.

“This kind of got away from me and I apologize for that,” she said from the bench.

The judge ordered Sony and Kellar to confer with each other on the parameters of where and when Hotz would allow Sony to sift through his computer. She also ordered him not to delete or modify any files connected to the jailbreak.

Meanwhile, Sony is threatening to sue anybody posting the code, even though Sony accidentally tweeted it earlier this week.

Sony’s attorney, Gilliland, said the Japanese console maker has been sending out an undisclosed number of DMCA “takedown” notices to websites demanding the code’s removal.

Sony is also asking Judge Illston to order Google to surrender the IP addresses and other identifying information of those who have viewed or commented about the jailbreak video on Hotz’ private YouTube page. The game maker is also demanding that Twitter provide the identities of a host of hackers who first unveiled a limited version of the hack in December.

A hearing on that is scheduled next month. Sony is seeking unspecified damages.

Questionable, but whatever, let's see just how far this 'judge' will go.

[z1gg33]

[Frostilicus]

He didn't flee anywhere.

[z1gg33]

ok...

[z1gg33]

Sony Corp. has reached a settlement with a young computer hacker that unlocked its PlayStation 3 console, putting an end to a legal conflict that had triggered a debate on the Internet.

[JasonC]

have you got the whole story the link doesn't provide it without you subscribing

nevermind, seems Sony and GeoHot have settled - no punitive damages except GeoHot has agreed he will pay $10 000 any time he hacks the PS3 and releases it!

excerpt

FINAL JUDGMENT UPON CONSENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
CASE NO.11-cv~000167 SI - 2-
5. For purposes of the Order below CIRCUMVENTION DEVICE shall mean any
circumvention technology, product, service, method, softare, tool, device, or any
components or parts thereof that circumvents any of the TPMs or security in any SONY
PRODUCT.
6. For purposes of the Order below, TRAFFICKING shall mean any means of
distributing or sharing, including but not limited to offering to the public, posting online or
on or in any media accessible by anyone, marketing, advertising, promoting, installing,
distributing or otherwise providing to anyone. TRAFFICKING shall also include knowingly
providing links from any website to any other webpage, specific location or listing that Hotz
knows or reasonably should know is selling, offering for sale, marketing, directly
advertising or promoting, installing, importing, exporting, offering to the public, distributing,
posting or otherwise providing any CIRCUMVENTION DEVICE or to any website that Hotz
knows or reasonably should know is predominantly focused on sellng, offering for sale,
marketing, directly advertising or promoting, installing, importing, exporting, offering to the
public, distributing, posting or otherwise providing any CIRCUMVENTION DEVICE.
II. ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED by consent of the Parties that Hotz,
whether as an individual or as a principal, officer, director or employee of any business
entity, and his agents, servants, employees, distributors, suppliers, representatives and all
other persons or entities acting in concert or participation with Hotz who receive notice of
this Judgment, shall be and hereby are permanently enjoined and restrained from:
A. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the
law;
B. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the
terms of any SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES' license agreement or terms of use
applicable to that SONY PRODUCT, whether or not Hotz has accepted such
agreement or terms of use, including without limitation:
(i) reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the
FINAL JUDGMENT UPON CONSENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
CASE NO. 11-cv-000167 SI - 3-
Sony Product;
(ii) using any tools to bypass, disable, or circumvent any encryption,
security, or authentication mechanism in the Sony Product;
(iii) using any hardware or softare to cause the Sony Product to accept
or use unauthorized, illegal or pirated softare or hardware; and
(iv) exploiting any Sony Product to design, develop, update or distribute
unauthorized softare or hardware for use with the Sony Product.
If any term of such SCEA or SCEA Affilates' license agreement or terms of
use applicable to that Sony Product shall be determined by Congress or by a
court of law in a final non-appealable decision in an action to which SCEA or
an SCEA Affiliate is a party to be illegal and unenforceable, then such term
shall not be binding on Hotz.
C. CIRCUMVENTING any of the TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT;
D. TRAFFICKING in any technology, product, service, device, component, or
part thereof that, at the time of Hotz's trafficking, circumvents any of the
TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT, including but not limited to the
Ellptical Curve Signature Algorithm ("ECDSA") Keys, encryption andlor
decryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter program, Signing Tools, 3.55
Firmware Jailbreak, andlor any other technologies that enable unauthorized
access to andlor copying of the PS3 System andlor enable compatibility of
unauthorized copies of other copyrighted works with the PS3 System.
E. Distributing or posting any SCEA or SCEA Affiliates' confidential or
proprietary information relating to any SONY PRODUCT;
F. Knowingly assisting or inducing others to engage in any of the conduct set
forth in A-E above solely directed at any SONY PRODUCT or that otherwise
constitutes contributory liabilty under the law.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that any violation of this Injunction
and Order by Hotz shall result in his payment of stipulated liquidated damages in the
FINAL JUDGMENT UPON CONSENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
CASE NO. 11-cv-000167 SI .,4 -
amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation at the election of SCEA or SCEA's
Affiliates. In the event that the violation involves distribution or TRAFFICKING by Hotz of
softare, hardware, or any CIRCUMVENTION DEVICE, or knowingly assisting the same,
each distribution of said softare (including downloads via the Internet), hardware, or
CIRCUMVENTION DEVICE shall.constitute an independent violation, up to a cap of two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($250,000). Such liquidated damages shall be an
optional alternative to demonstrating actual or, if relevant, statutory damages.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that any action or proceeding (other
than a declaratory judgment action) that may be brought by SCEA or SCEA Affilates
against Hotz arising out of, in connection with or by reason of the Parties' Settlement
Agreement or this Judgment or to enforce the terms and conditions of the Parties'
Settlement Agreement or this Judgment, shall be brought in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of California. The Parties further agree that any action or
proceeding (other than a declaratory judgment action) that may be brought by Hotz against
SCEA arising out of, in connection with or by reason of the Parties' Settlement Agreement
or this Judgment or to enforce the terms and conditions of the Parties' Settlement
Agreement or this Judgment, shall be brought in the United States District Court for the
District of New Jersey or the state in the United States of Hotz's current permanent
residence. The Parties agree to waive any venue or jurisdictional challenges consistent
with this paragraph. The Parties further agree that the laws of the state of California shall
govern to the exclusion of the law of any other forum in any action or proceeding brought
by any party arising out of, in connection with or by reason of the Parties' Settlement
Agreement or this Judgment or to enforce the terms and conditions of the Parties'
Settlement Agreement or this Judgment.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that entry of this Judgment shall
conclude this action to the prejudice of any and all claims or cross-claims deemed merged
and barred in accordance with the law.
The undersigned hereby stipulate to the above facts and conclusions and consent
FINAL JUDGMENT UPON CONSENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
CASE NO. 11-cv-000167 SI - 5-
04/09/2011 01: 06 FAX 650 655 8042 Legal I4 00 i

[z1gg33]

not sure what happened there. I had just quoted the top bit, but upon return, the body of the article is not showing up.....effing wall st journal... my bad.

[CyDetrakD]

I didn't mind the hacking for pirating for but it was annoying seeing all the cheat stuff available once the hack was done.