I'm going to be forthcoming with this; I am not 100% clear on all of the details regarding this issue. I am using this forum to state my opinion and to possibly gain greater insight into this delicate issue. I know that here, at the Escapist Forums, there is the possibility of people being on both sides of this issue, and while it is a sensitive topic for many I don't want this to devolve into a flame war between the two sides. That being said; here's what I want to say.
There has been a lot of debate about the PS3 crackers recently and with good reason. They broke the code for the PS3 and posted online how to go about installing pirated software and being able to hack and mod the PS3. Sony, upset by this news, has gone and sued the people responsible for posting this code online.
My title comes from this article: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6286809.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop%3Btitle%3B12
The EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, seems to have gotten behind the hackers and thinks that Sony suing them is a terrible thing, and is basically going after Sony for fearing "that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could be abused to try to make alleged contract violations into crimes."
So far I have been trying to provide neutral information, by the way, so if anything is wrong, incorrect, or needs clarification feel free to reply and let me know so I can edit for future viewers of this post. I am about to get into my opinion of the matter, so from here on out don't expect neutrality.
After reading this article, I couldn't help but think what a ridiculous hock the EFF was trying to pull. I honestly don't think that Sony is just suing to enforce their contract upon its customers, although by buying a PS3 you SHOULD do that anyways. And I am sympathetic to the fact that people got mad when Sony took away the option to install other operating systems on the PS3. It was a dick move. But that does not give people the right to do things like these guys did because now, instead of the nature of the PS3 being changed for a small few, we now see that how we play PS3 is now going to change for nearly all of us.
We've already seen the rampant hacking that goes on in Modern Warfare 2, and while it might not be significantly higher than usual, it is still higher, and it is certain that the codebreaking has affected it. We now see companies like Valve, seen here:http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107199-Valve-Unfazed-by-PS3-Hacks, feeling that they need to warn us that the hacks will not affect their game. But this is due to a specialized system that Valve has in place. What about smaller developers who don't have that, who relied on Sony's security or minor ones of their own in order to keep hackers out of their games.
What about smaller developers that might just abandon the PS3 as a platform all together, or worse, major developers that don't want to or don't have the time/effort/resources to find ways to make the game work on the PS3 now. It might be that in the coming months we see that fewer games are released for the PS3, or with features left out. Of course, this is speculation for the time being, but it is not all that far fetched in my opinion.
All this being said, I have now realized that these codebreakers have now affected how I can play the PS3 and the future stability of my investment. Through their selfish actions there is a good chance that they ruined the console that I went out and paid money for, thinking that it was secure and believing that I could play online without dealing with hackers at every turn. In essence, they have taken away some of the fun of owning a PS3, and have taken away value from each and every PS3 console.
It is for that reason that I believe that should Sony's lawsuit fail, and even if it doesn't, that PS3 owners look into the option of a class action lawsuit against the code breakers of the PS3. As far as I know they are just a few people, so obviously getting boatloads of money is NOT the goal, but rather because I would like to see them punished for what they did, no matter what that punishment is. They took something from all of us that own a PS3 with their selfish actions and have made our investments cheaper because of it. If this ultimately affects the game line ups for the system, the quality of multiplayer, and the stability of the Sony brand as a gaming company in general, then I want to see them either pay out the ass or get locked up for what they did.
tl;dr: I want to sue the codebreakers for the damage they did to the PS3, both online and with regards to future gaming possibilities, and I'm trying to guage consensus of the issue here.
There has been a lot of debate about the PS3 crackers recently and with good reason. They broke the code for the PS3 and posted online how to go about installing pirated software and being able to hack and mod the PS3. Sony, upset by this news, has gone and sued the people responsible for posting this code online.
My title comes from this article: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6286809.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop%3Btitle%3B12
The EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, seems to have gotten behind the hackers and thinks that Sony suing them is a terrible thing, and is basically going after Sony for fearing "that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could be abused to try to make alleged contract violations into crimes."
So far I have been trying to provide neutral information, by the way, so if anything is wrong, incorrect, or needs clarification feel free to reply and let me know so I can edit for future viewers of this post. I am about to get into my opinion of the matter, so from here on out don't expect neutrality.
After reading this article, I couldn't help but think what a ridiculous hock the EFF was trying to pull. I honestly don't think that Sony is just suing to enforce their contract upon its customers, although by buying a PS3 you SHOULD do that anyways. And I am sympathetic to the fact that people got mad when Sony took away the option to install other operating systems on the PS3. It was a dick move. But that does not give people the right to do things like these guys did because now, instead of the nature of the PS3 being changed for a small few, we now see that how we play PS3 is now going to change for nearly all of us.
We've already seen the rampant hacking that goes on in Modern Warfare 2, and while it might not be significantly higher than usual, it is still higher, and it is certain that the codebreaking has affected it. We now see companies like Valve, seen here:http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107199-Valve-Unfazed-by-PS3-Hacks, feeling that they need to warn us that the hacks will not affect their game. But this is due to a specialized system that Valve has in place. What about smaller developers who don't have that, who relied on Sony's security or minor ones of their own in order to keep hackers out of their games.
What about smaller developers that might just abandon the PS3 as a platform all together, or worse, major developers that don't want to or don't have the time/effort/resources to find ways to make the game work on the PS3 now. It might be that in the coming months we see that fewer games are released for the PS3, or with features left out. Of course, this is speculation for the time being, but it is not all that far fetched in my opinion.
All this being said, I have now realized that these codebreakers have now affected how I can play the PS3 and the future stability of my investment. Through their selfish actions there is a good chance that they ruined the console that I went out and paid money for, thinking that it was secure and believing that I could play online without dealing with hackers at every turn. In essence, they have taken away some of the fun of owning a PS3, and have taken away value from each and every PS3 console.
It is for that reason that I believe that should Sony's lawsuit fail, and even if it doesn't, that PS3 owners look into the option of a class action lawsuit against the code breakers of the PS3. As far as I know they are just a few people, so obviously getting boatloads of money is NOT the goal, but rather because I would like to see them punished for what they did, no matter what that punishment is. They took something from all of us that own a PS3 with their selfish actions and have made our investments cheaper because of it. If this ultimately affects the game line ups for the system, the quality of multiplayer, and the stability of the Sony brand as a gaming company in general, then I want to see them either pay out the ass or get locked up for what they did.
tl;dr: I want to sue the codebreakers for the damage they did to the PS3, both online and with regards to future gaming possibilities, and I'm trying to guage consensus of the issue here.
