Sony Gains Access to PS3 Hacker's PayPal Account

[PeregrineFalcon]

Well I guess they gotta have concrete evidence if he made any money from his hacking. I believe the guy when he says he didn't though, usually stuff like that doesn't happen and if it is, it wouldn't have been hard to prove because the people selling that stuff would want people to know they were selling the stuff in the first place.

He didn't put out a call for donations until after getting sued. Would be hard to imply that he was soliciting money for the keys. Especially since he was, y'know, posting them for free.

It's a hard call for me though. I think Sony's in the right on this one where releasing that code was a bad move and is going to help pirates jailbreak their console more than anything. But the dude's not gonna have millions of dollars for Sony to sue. I hope they don't take the low ground and ruin the dude's life forever over it.

[Crappy analogy]
A kitchen knife be used to cut vegetables, or to Lorena Bobbitt some poor sap. Regulate/ban/license the distribution of knives?
[/CA]

And if he decides to move, he's welcome in Canada. Circumvention devices are still legal here. (For now.)

edit: apparently bbcode for quotes is case sensitive here.

 

[PeregrineFalcon]

I think Sony's in the right on this one where releasing that code was a bad move and is going to help pirates jailbreak their console more than anything.

I think that you are right. They'll try to focus on the distribution of the code and what he hoped to gain from it etc.

The features he and many other users lost with FW3.21?

That, or "lulz"

 

[Fayathon]

The amount of shit that Sony is getting away with in this case is genuinely terrifying, both because they're trying for this insanity and that they've got a judge that is happy to assist.

because they have a 3rd party, neutral faction that is allowing them to get the information they wish to build their case? You're making it sound like they have the judge in their pocket.

Granting the IP addresses and PayPal records of people that (may) have completely legitimate reasons for supporting this guy doesn't seem very neutral to me. I know that Sony wants to build a case, but their methodology is questionable at best, and I don't think anyone other than a big corporation could get away with these kinds of shenanigans.

I'm taking my tinfoil hat off now, but still, I'd like to see Sony come up with something that isn't so broad in terms of gathering it's evidence against this guy.

 

[Baneat]

I think Sony's in the right on this one where releasing that code was a bad move and is going to help pirates jailbreak their console more than anything.

I think that you are right. They'll try to focus on the distribution of the code and what he hoped to gain from it etc.

Yeah but the guy's deontological, he did it on principle, regardless of the consequence. Perfectly valid standpoint, if it eliminated piracy by disallowing a certain ethnic minority to buy or play any games, even if it increased sales and profits, it's still wrong.

 

[LeonLethality]

"Sony Gains Access to PS3 Hacker's PayPal Account"

Misleading title is misleading.

Titles are meant to draw people in, it's part of making a good article. Admit it, it drew you in. Sadly some people never read past the title...

 

[Twilight_guy]

Can we get a better picture of this guy? All I can think of when I see that picture is "I'M A DOUCHE! DDDDOOOOOUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEEEEE!!"

Sony is going to have quiet the little battle on their hands but the outcome will likely change the face of gaming so it's a a fight both sides must fight. I don't see how looking at the paypal account does anything though. It's not like he sold the damn key he posted it as an act of defiance against Sony.

 

[LeonLethality]

"Sony Gains Access to PS3 Hacker's PayPal Account"

Misleading title is misleading.

Titles are meant to draw people in, it's part of making a good article. Admit it, it drew you in. Sadly some people never read past the title...

I wouldn't be posting if it didn't draw me in. But I think it is only fair to ask that the title accurately represent the article BEFORE you read it, not after.

It vaguely represents it and that's all that really matters with the righter, once they have hooked your attention then they can get the facts out.

 

[the-kitchen-slayer]

Ahhh... Another sign of the times.

The four horsemen in game form... Captcha's on the Escapist... Spambots attempting to add me on MSN... And Sony getting access to someone's paypal records for rooting too far into a PS3.

Anywho, on topic now:

I honestly stand with Sony on this one. If they can prove he was making money off people via donations and whatnot for the hacking of the product they released (that they keep ripping stuff out of because people keep digging too deep into it and screwing things up for the rest of us), then I say Sony has every right to hammer this guy with the law for digging too deep. Besides, if he's getting support for his defense against Sony, then I'm pretty sure in the end he'll be able to pay for whatever he's charged with should he be proven guilty. How? More donations.

 

[PeregrineFalcon]

Can we get a better picture of this guy? All I can think of when I see that picture is "I'M A DOUCHE! DDDDOOOOOUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEEEEE!!"

I think of one of two image macros: "Haters gonna hate" or "Come at me bro"

However, the haters are hating, and they have come at him.

As an aside, I'm sure you're not too pleased with Stephanie Meyer for sullying the connotations of your username.

 

[Maxman3002]

People seem to be split between
1. "This is crazy, why are sony looking for so much information"
and 2. "Sony is just following the legal requirements and geoholt shouldnt have done what he did"

What I dont get is why is it so wrong to modify your playstation? And why are sony allowed to remove options and change things from a product after they've sold it?
If I brought a dvd player because it was multi-region and later they stopped it being able to play multi-region it wouldnt be acceptable.
What if it turned out there was a backdoor to hack the playstation through its ability to play blue-ray DVDs. Then they chose to take away the option for people to play blue-ray films on it. Would that be ok as well?

Also as has already been raised, why california?

 

[Imper1um]

This is a violation of some many things. Come on, Paypal accounts, Sony?

Sony is grasping at straws here. Paypal will look at the court order and raise their eyebrow, then turn to the Defendant and say "Do you want access to your account records to be given to Sony?" He'll say "No" and PayPal will just turn around and smile, "Let's just take this to the US Supreme Court."

There is no way in hell that PayPal will authorize this without trying as hard as hell to reverse this. It's such PR, people will be thinking "Well, I shouldn't use PayPal, because then the government will just be able to read what transactions I do online."

Sony Legal team, I award you the Legal Failure of the Month award.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Does anyone else want to smack this guy based on that picture? He looks like a total idiot wanna-be gangster, yo!

Can we get a better picture of this guy? All I can think of when I see that picture is "I'M A DOUCHE! DDDDOOOOOUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHEEEEEEE!!"

Why, I see I am not alone.

 

[GeorgW]

The DMCA seems to be a "get someone into jail for free" card for corporations...

QFT!
And what happens later? Will they "confiscate" anything he got between that period? Why can't Sony just accept thet they were being assholes and give us back the functionalities we were promised?

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

The amount of shit that Sony is getting away with in this case is genuinely terrifying, both because they're trying for this insanity and that they've got a judge that is happy to assist.

because they have a 3rd party, neutral faction that is allowing them to get the information they wish to build their case? You're making it sound like they have the judge in their pocket.

Granting the IP addresses and PayPal records of people that (may) have completely legitimate reasons for supporting this guy doesn't seem very neutral to me. I know that Sony wants to build a case, but their methodology is questionable at best, and I don't think anyone other than a big corporation could get away with these kinds of shenanigans.

I'm taking my tinfoil hat off now, but still, I'd like to see Sony come up with something that isn't so broad in terms of gathering it's evidence against this guy.

Yeah, but an individual usually won't think of gathering information like this. It's different, and it's a corporation doing it, so it's just an evil corporation trying to get access to information.

EXAMPLE TIME!

say I make a concept for SONY and I feel they misused my idea, but they only applied that idea in another state. Say I wanted to use my local jurisdiction against them, I could ask for the very same thing SONY is to see "Who bought this item that SONY got from me and mis-used, and are enough of them living in my area to apply jurisdiction?"

SONY would probably have records of purchases, so I might not need to look directly into their financial information. However, I highly doubt this sniveling little hacking teeny keep receipts and invoices, so it's the only method SONY has of actually verifying transactions. If they could get receipts they probably would. This is also a way to ensure they see ALL transactions, not just the ones handed to them

EDIT: I really wanna say right now I'm not taking sides on the debate, I just found it ridiculous that someone made it sound like a judge was bought. As evidenced by the post after me...

 

[James Raynor]

I wonder how much cash sony is passing under the table to the judge.

 

[Maxman3002]

This guy just lost the case then. I mean now sony is going to treat it like any money he received was for the hacking of the console. Which means any money he gotten since the PS3 came out is likely to be called in as payment for the service.
Sony beaten this guy right off the bat.

Can they make that assumpsion though? Just because he did something related to their console and at the same time as recieved money from people doesnt make it that he has made money off their product does it? Just because 2 things happen at the same time doesnt mean they are related.

It doesnt work in medicine and id like to think its not how the legal system works

Besides, ive never visited his site, but from what I understand hes never charged for anything has he? If im wrong then fine, sony has a good case here. But if anything hes ever done has been released free of charge then how does his paypal accounts prove anything?

The only thing I thought sony were proving is the number of people who have hacked and stolen games through the hack, in which case, shouldnt they be getting torrent site records for those that have downloaded pirate PS3 games?

I genuinly dont understand this legal case due to being English and having no legal experiance

 

[Wintermoot]

wait what? since when do companies have the same rights as the law enforcement? this is just stupid this is invasion of the guys privacy