GeoHot Donates Leftover Legal Funds to EFF

[SaintWaldo]

GeoHot adds that he won't be anonymously continuing his work on Sony products out of respect for the court system. He still expects others to work on the PS4, NGP, and other future Sony products, because as he says: "If you piss [Sony] off enough for them to pull out the legal team and their million dollar checkbook, worst thing that happens is you have to super swear to never do it again."

There's that whiff of contempt, again. Using the qualifier "super" on the term "swear" seems to me to be sarcastic in nature. Hey, GeoHot, can the snark, at this final point. It was a draw, and if I were you, I would be double careful to keep the braggadocio to a minimum, lest you come up against something far more binding than a EULA.

"Patient like a spider. Zen spiders."

In all honesty, Hotz kinda earned a few bragging rights. He took on a multi-billion dollar corporation and his punishment was to pinky swear to never do it again. I don't really care what the settlement said otherwise, he won.

And then he signed those bragging rights away in a settlement agreement with Sony, instead of "beating them in court [as] just a start" [http://www.techspot.com/news/42569-geohot-on-sony-ps3-hacking-lawsuit-beating-them-in-court-is-just-a-start.html].

So, even if he did "win" a trophy of "bragging rights" in your eyes, he is pretty much enjoined by the conditions of "victory" from ever really displaying that trophy. That's winning like Pyrrhus, IMO.

 

[JDKJ]

It is logical. Prolly about the best means to distribute the money outside of reimbursing all the original donors. It helps promote the cause and future defenses. Decent move.

Still I would rather have seen the money be used and give a big FU to sony and continued the fight, cause really this ordeal didnt solve the problem, it just delayed it to be fought again later.

My question is, what exactly was the settlement? Ive yet to find out the details

Settlement was that Sony drops the case as long as Hotz promises to never again decompile or disassemble another Sony product.

Seriously, that's it. Well, that, and he will be fined $10,000 for each time he is discovered to be tampering with a Sony product. Whoop-dee-doo. One hacker down, thousands to go.

You left out the "$250,000 fine if he distributes a hack" part. I dunno about you, but if I had to cough up $250,000, I'd think that was big whoop-dee-doo. But that's just me.

 

[WanderingFool]

It is logical. Prolly about the best means to distribute the money outside of reimbursing all the original donors. It helps promote the cause and future defenses. Decent move.

Still I would rather have seen the money be used and give a big FU to sony and continued the fight, cause really this ordeal didnt solve the problem, it just delayed it to be fought again later.

My question is, what exactly was the settlement? Ive yet to find out the details

Settlement was that Sony drops the case as long as Hotz promises to never again decompile or disassemble another Sony product.

Seriously, that's it. Well, that, and he will be fined $10,000 for each time he is discovered to be tampering with a Sony product. Whoop-dee-doo. One hacker down, thousands to go.

Ahh, ok, well Then I stand by my original assertation... He should have hung in their and continued to fight, because this accomplished nothing. Just a matter of time before it comes up again.

OT: does anyone else think this picture of him makes it look like hes going to be bald before 30?

Regardless of everything... I still think Geohots looks like a jackass. This picture proves it.

Also, what exactly did this whole clusterfuck accomplish? Just the remains of the Status Quo, and a reminder to jailbreakers not to actually advertise you broke into Sony's stuff?

 

[JDKJ]

GeoHot adds that he won't be anonymously continuing his work on Sony products out of respect for the court system. He still expects others to work on the PS4, NGP, and other future Sony products, because as he says: "If you piss [Sony] off enough for them to pull out the legal team and their million dollar checkbook, worst thing that happens is you have to super swear to never do it again."

There's that whiff of contempt, again. Using the qualifier "super" on the term "swear" seems to me to be sarcastic in nature. Hey, GeoHot, can the snark, at this final point. It was a draw, and if I were you, I would be double careful to keep the braggadocio to a minimum, lest you come up against something far more binding than a EULA.

"Patient like a spider. Zen spiders."

In all honesty, Hotz kinda earned a few bragging rights. He took on a multi-billion dollar corporation and his punishment was to pinky swear to never do it again. I don't really care what the settlement said otherwise, he won.

And then he signed those bragging rights away in a settlement agreement with Sony, instead of "beating them in court [as] just a start" [http://www.techspot.com/news/42569-geohot-on-sony-ps3-hacking-lawsuit-beating-them-in-court-is-just-a-start.html].

So, even if he did "win" a trophy of "bragging rights" in your eyes, he is pretty much enjoined by the conditions of "victory" from ever really displaying that trophy. That's winning like Pyrrhus, IMO.

Bump.

How anyone thinks it's a victory for Hotz is beyond me. But a fanboy once, a fanboy for life, I guess.

And that's without them even knowing the confidential terms.

 

[SaintWaldo]

Actually, if you think the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a misguided piece of legislation, the EFF's not a bad organization to support. They've done a lot to carve out exceptions to the DMCA's prohibitions. I'd rather give them money than that useless Entertainment Consumers Association.

Yeah, it's just like the ACLU. I didn't agree with them on this point, but I agree that they were following their charter and principles consistently. Just like I wish the ACLU had refused to help Rush, even though I totally understand why they sorta had to, on principle.

And double seconds on that ECA sentiment...with gravy.

 

[binvjoh]

I wish someone would punch this guy in his smug face.

 

[JDKJ]

Actually, if you think the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a misguided piece of legislation, the EFF's not a bad organization to support. They've done a lot to carve out exceptions to the DMCA's prohibitions. I'd rather give them money than that useless Entertainment Consumers Association.

Yeah, it's just like the ACLU. I didn't agree with them on this point, but I agree that they were following their charter and principles consistently. Just like I wish the ACLU had refused to help Rush, even though I totally understand why they sorta had to, on principle.

And double seconds on that ECA sentiment...with gravy.

The ACLU has gone to bat for the KKK and the Nazis (no Godwin). Makes sense. Free speech is either free for all or it ain't free speech. Can't pick and choose who gets to speak freely.

 

[Galliam]

It is logical. Prolly about the best means to distribute the money outside of reimbursing all the original donors. It helps promote the cause and future defenses. Decent move.

Still I would rather have seen the money be used and give a big FU to sony and continued the fight, cause really this ordeal didnt solve the problem, it just delayed it to be fought again later.

My question is, what exactly was the settlement? Ive yet to find out the details

Settlement was that Sony drops the case as long as Hotz promises to never again decompile or disassemble another Sony product.

Seriously, that's it. Well, that, and he will be fined $10,000 for each time he is discovered to be tampering with a Sony product. Whoop-dee-doo. One hacker down, thousands to go.

Ahh, ok, well Then I stand by my original assertation... He should have hung in their and continued to fight, because this accomplished nothing. Just a matter of time before it comes up again.

OT: does anyone else think this picture of him makes it look like hes going to be bald before 30?

Regardless of everything... I still think Geohots looks like a jackass. This picture proves it.

Also, what exactly did this whole clusterfuck accomplish? Just the remains of the Status Quo, and a reminder to jailbreakers not to actually advertise you broke into Sony's stuff?

He accomplished nothing. He caved to pressure. He believed in his cause until the enemy started to get real. Now he's making claims "out of respect for the court" that are just cowardice.

In the end, not getting financially destroyed is NOT winning. Its losing less spectacularly.

 

[Actual]

Mostly a stalemate but at least the large corporations now know that they can't continue to diminish personal rights. People will stand up to them. I just wish it had been more resounding, some people (hopefully ignorant) were cheering for Sony, who's abandonment of anything close to a moral stance was disgusting.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

At least for anyone who wants to Jailbreak their PS3, this is better than loosing and geting precedent set that it is against the law.

Me, I don't care either way.

OT: Good that he gave away the money, but I think he said he would do that from the start.

 

[JDKJ]

It is logical. Prolly about the best means to distribute the money outside of reimbursing all the original donors. It helps promote the cause and future defenses. Decent move.

Still I would rather have seen the money be used and give a big FU to sony and continued the fight, cause really this ordeal didnt solve the problem, it just delayed it to be fought again later.

My question is, what exactly was the settlement? Ive yet to find out the details

Settlement was that Sony drops the case as long as Hotz promises to never again decompile or disassemble another Sony product.

Seriously, that's it. Well, that, and he will be fined $10,000 for each time he is discovered to be tampering with a Sony product. Whoop-dee-doo. One hacker down, thousands to go.

Ahh, ok, well Then I stand by my original assertation... He should have hung in their and continued to fight, because this accomplished nothing. Just a matter of time before it comes up again.

OT: does anyone else think this picture of him makes it look like hes going to be bald before 30?

Regardless of everything... I still think Geohots looks like a jackass. This picture proves it.

Also, what exactly did this whole clusterfuck accomplish? Just the remains of the Status Quo, and a reminder to jailbreakers not to actually advertise you broke into Sony's stuff?

He accomplished nothing. He caved to pressure. He believed in his cause until the enemy started to get real. Now he's making claims "out of respect for the court" that are just cowardice.

In the end, not getting financially destroyed is NOT winning. Its losing less spectacularly.

And here's the part that don't make immediate sense: if you had $10,000 with which to continue litigating, why didn't you at least wait the few weeks for the Court to rule on your Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction? Unless you somehow knew that the Court was gonna rule against you, thereby sticking your ass in California where the legal precedents were stacked against you?

Things that make you go, hmmm.

 

[Xannieros]

He said he would when asking for donations. It was an obligation, not something he felt like doing. Does not change my opinion of him.

 

[Something Amyss]

Can you imagine Sony doing that?

Difficult difficult case...BUT...that's a hell of a PR move for GeoHot at the end of it.

In the end, he only did what he initially claimed he would....After dicking around for a while.

That's good PR?

 

[JDKJ]

I'm pretty sure he stated when he got the money that he would donate any leftover funds to the EFF, so no new news here. Just people knee-jerking at his actions.

Honestly, this case has been twisted, manipulated, and skewed so much on both sides that it's come to the point where I don't think anybody even knows what the original lawsuit was about.

Do I turn over the leftovers to the EFF like I said I would or do I face the possibility of a fraud claim? Hmmm. Can't hardly make a decision on that one, it's a tough call.

Please. It's called ""a no-brainer." Even no-brain-Georgie can get that call right.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Can you imagine Sony doing that?

Difficult difficult case...BUT...that's a hell of a PR move for GeoHot at the end of it.

In the end, he only did what he initially claimed he would....After dicking around for a while.

That's good PR?

Damn good PR given how many people claim they'll do something and then continue acting like dicks.

 

[Nurb]

Sony knew they'd lose the PR battle, but they're still assholes for thinking people can't gain knowledge of how their own property works...

that'd be like car companies suing magazines that decrypt car computers so they can be tweaked for performance and tell people how to do it in their articles.

 

[JDKJ]

Actually, if you think the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a misguided piece of legislation, the EFF's not a bad organization to support. They've done a lot to carve out exceptions to the DMCA's prohibitions. I'd rather give them money than that useless Entertainment Consumers Association.

Whether or not the EFF is doing good things is another matter all together. What I am saying is that you can't just throw a bunch of money at something and expect results out of it.

If you think so, then you're not familiar with the Goldman Sachs Theory of Litigation. Those guys haven't ever started a fire that they couldn't extinguish by throwing money on top of it.

 

[The Funslinger]

Hmm, I thought he said we would be pleasantly surprised with what he was going to do with the money? Doing what any decent person would do isn't surprising...pleasant yes but not surprising.

Actually, the really decent thing to do would be to donate to a really worthwhile charity, like cancer research, or some 3rd world water charity. Then again, the internet would have screamed in protest because the money wasn't going towards their cause, so it was the best he could do.

 

[Kapol]

I'd call this a personal win for GeoHot, mainly because he's avoided having to actually get a huge fine for something like this. I'd also call it a bit of a loss for Sony, as I think there's going to be a backlash from the community over this whole situation (though that won't stop them from making a lot of money). But, for 'the cause' it's been a massive loss, making it so it seems like big companies can do whatever they want as long as they have a lot of money to throw into their legal team. But I can't say I personally blame GeoHot for giving up. I would have likely done the same exact thing if this were to happen to me.