I dont Understand [Ps3 Shenanigans]

[Zeema]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107899-PS3-Hacker-Raised-All-the-Legal-Funds-Needed-to-Beat-Sony-in-a-Weekend

After Reading this i wondered.

What does this mean too me? what does it mean to other PSN users? Will this affect my overall gaming experience?

Can anyone fill me in

Also is the Hacker a good guy or a bad guy?

 

[Korten12]

As most will say: He is a freedom fighter! Sony Sucks! This won't cause more piracy.

I for one, disagree. I believe in a sense, he is the bad guy.

 

[Valagetti]

As a PS3 owner, I'll admit sony comes across to me as somewhat evil, but the PS3 is a good console.

 

[Corkydog]

I'm getting tired of hackers proclaiming themselves as Robin Hoods. The dude knew what he was doing, that much was obvious. Should the PS3 have kept the OS feature? Probably, but I would never have used it. I don't give a shit about that feature. But this guy did, apparently. He got that functionality back. Good job, you know more about electronics than I do. But then the dude gave out instructions, knowing, of course, that some people out there would use the information to hack their consoles and pirate games and hack online servers. That last bit affects me personally, and I paid for my right to use my PS3, which includes online, which entails a bit of integrity for it to function. So fuck you, GeoHot. You helped open the doors for cheaters to ruin my online experience. Hope these people donating have deep pockets.

 

[Pielikey]

What does this mean too me?

Absolutely nothing

what does it mean to other PSN users?

It will do absolutely nothing to the Playstation Network or the users thereof

Will this affect my overall gaming experience?

No it absolutely will not

Also is the Hacker a good guy or a bad guy?

This depends on what you think of the Playstation EULA

Here's what the scoop:

1.) The PS3 was at one point used like a home computer, people who owned a PS3 could install an OS for a computer, like Windows 7 or Windows XP onto their Playstations which meant you could have a relatively powerful computer at a relatively cheap price.

2.) Sony decided they didn't want people to do that and removed that functionality with a firmware upgrade. People obviously got mad.

3.) This guy (Geohot) and his group (fail0verflow) found a vital piece of information which restored this functionality and posted it online.

4.) Even though this technically isn't breaking any laws (He bought the PS3, he should be able to do whatever he wants with it) Sony is still pissed off and threatening legal actions.

This is what the article says:
5.) Geohot says that other hackers have lost court battles not because they did wrong but because they didn't have the legal funds.

6.) Geohot got A SHITLOAD of money from various donators with which he could use to battle Sony in court.


This is from the article:
"I believe that Geohot has a strong case, and if he actually defeats Sony it will have repercussions that will be felt throughout the industry. Console manufacturers have long tried to control the actions that consumers can perform with their hardware, but Geohot's case may demolish any such controls. For my part, like all of the hacks derived from the Kinect, I think that open systems foster development of new ideas and Sony's attempts to curtail such creativity is averse to the 21st century idea of innovation. So yeah, go Geohot!"


tl;dr
Geohot tried to make his PS3 into a computer, Sony didn't like that (despite it being perfectly legal) and threatened to sue, so Geohot asked for donations so that he could survive legal battle. He got the donations he needed, and if he wins this case it will change the Console industry hugely