UPDATE: PS3 Hacker GeoHot Claims He's on Vacation

[gphjr14]

lol at the people who donated money to this guy. Hope your contribution helped him fly first class.

 

[Lillowh]

I really don't know how anyone supported him in the first place. He is a hacker, and a pirate. He himself may not have pirated games, but that still doesn't exclude the fact that he is an enabler, putting the resources online that allows people to pirate games, which is just as bad as being a pirate. That's like me putting up a DVD image on the web and included a cracked executable with it and saying oh it's for people who want to learn the coding behind certain files and act like I'm in the wrong when I get sued for copyright infringement. He posed the goddamn root key for god's sake. Anyone with sense could tell from the start he wasn't a knight of consumer rights, he was a common crook hacker who should be punished to the maximum extent.It's just as much Sony's right to sue you for breaking a legal document.

Also (and I might be wrong here because I don't have a PS3), to all those people saying he might not have had a PSN account, think about it for 10 seconds. He had to have had a PSN account. Why? because if he did not, he would not get the system updates. If he did not have the system updates, he wouldn't have been able to create a workaround of the updates,further proven by the fact he updated his product flashdrives of illegal software every time Sony updated. He's slime. I'm all for consumer rights but hackers breaking the law are not freedom fighters, they are crooks. Unless his profession is Ethical hacking (which I HIGHLY doubt it is), he still wouldn't be in the right because he would have no reason to and didn't have Sony's permission. Plus, he had the nerve to ask for a job from Sony after he posted the root key? What an idiot.

 

[Logic 0]

The only way for him to escape sony's wrath is to go to anarctica because they will not stop until he is sued.

 

[Project_Xii]

Hahahah. Oh man, I pity the people naive enough to send that douche money. Now he's cut and run, living in the "tropical locales" on your money. Hope you's weren't planning on going on a holiday yourself any time soon.

I hope they catch up to him somehow. Would like to see the final results.

 

[Verkula]

Again, as some people already said, you can do whatever you want with your PS3 and Sony wont give a shit.

But when you release every information, on how to hack the damn thing, making free access to everything, hacks, piracy, name it, i dont see how can you be innocent in any way. Or how can you get any idiot to give you support after a stunt like that.

 

[TheSkaAssassin]

I thought the Escapist would support the rights of gamers.
Yeah he fled, but that's not the point. Sony is still in the wrong.

"Sony has proof that Hotz created a PlayStation Network account and therefore agreed to the PSN User Agreement"
So what? The PSN UA is BS!

Well, then you shouldn't agree to it, shouldn't you? Maybe you find the IRS pricks too, but that doesn't give you the right to break into their building and break their shit.

Being an anarchist, I happen to disagree with the IRS. However, I'd like to point out that there's a bit of a difference between me going into the IRS office and burning it to the ground, and GeoHot buying a PS3 and hacking it.

 

[Sarge034]

It was the one armed man. He did it.

No it was the one armed, one legged, one eyed man. GOSH!
Best spoof ever.

OT- So let me get this straight..... He was a hacker that alot of people supported when Sony said they were suing him for hacking the PS3. People sent said hacker money for legal fees. Hacker took donated legal fee money, destroyed evidence, disobeyed a court order, and fled the country.

Does anyone still support him? What has the world come to when you can't trust a criminal with tons of free getaway money?

 

[Sarge034]

I thought the Escapist would support the rights of gamers.
Yeah he fled, but that's not the point. Sony is still in the wrong.

"Sony has proof that Hotz created a PlayStation Network account and therefore agreed to the PSN User Agreement"
So what? The PSN UA is BS!

Well, then you shouldn't agree to it, shouldn't you? Maybe you find the IRS pricks too, but that doesn't give you the right to break into their building and break their shit.

Being an anarchist, I happen to disagree with the IRS. However, I'd like to point out that there's a bit of a difference between me going into the IRS office and burning it to the ground, and GeoHot buying a PS3 and hacking it.

You are compleatly right good sir. It is not the same to go into their building and burn it down. This is more like falsifying your taxes, because you don't like the IRS, for ten years and then getting mad when they take you to jail and collect back taxes.

How dare they hold me to the standards, I don't even LIKE them!

 

[Kagim]

I think it's retarded that a person can't do whatever the hell he wants with a piece of equipment he has payed for! Let him hack that shit! If it poses a security risk, that's Sony's problem and their own god damn fault, as long as he doesn't actually hack someone else or otherwise hurt them. It's a dick move to go after the little guy, even if he is a douchebag.

He was posting security information online, which is the crime. Not the fact he hacked his system. Sony didn't give a shit about him till he started posting security information.

Someone else already made a fine example. What if i started posting your security information online? Would you be pissed? What if i got away with it by saying "Well i had no idea what people would use it for?"

Sony doesn't give a shit what you do to your system unless you either a) log on to the PSN or b) distribute security information. Until then...

Edit: what you basically said is "If someone breaks into your house it's your own god damn fault you didn't put iron bars on all your windows and wire your door handles to explode"

However, if this is "sony's god damn fault" well then this is Sony's response.

So a victim is at fault for not having enough security... Yet adding more security makes you an asshole... Wait...

Those EULA's are a bunch of bullshit too, not much similar to what the mob might do to you, just more "legal". So big woop, the law gives them the right to legally fuck someone's life up, that doesn't make it right and anyone to disagree is gullible. Saying you don't have to agree to them is like saying that you don't have to pay taxes. You're not left with a choice, you're left with an ULTIMATUM, which is very different.

No agreeing to the eula meant two things.

1. No PSN

2. No Sony updates.

That is all you lost. If you disagreed to the eula your PS3 wouldn't brick. You just couldn't get sony updates or use sony's servers. Your hardware, which is yours, is still free for you to dick with.

I didn't have to agree to anything until i tried to go online. If you stay offline, what you do is your business. A fact everyone keeps conveniently missing.

Sony shouldn't have to support or allow access to their servers to people screwing with there systems that can end maliciously.

 

[gundamrx101]

Aaaaaaand once again people miss the point of why he got sued by Sony. He broke the firmware, software that none of us purchased. We bought the hardware to run it, Sony supplied us with the software and as long as we update, we have to abide to the rule of not breaking the software by accepting the User Agreement. Not only did he break it, but he gloated, he announced and distributed something that's not his to distribute. This wasn't simple modding, this was him stealing something that wasn't his to begin with and then covering his ass by claimin g '4 TEH FURDIM!', The system is ours, the software isn't. Don't like it? Don't update or don't buy the console.

OT: Now this proves he's a total hack. Not only did he bring modding the PS3 to Sony's attention and ruin it for some people, but now he stole money. Looks like I was right when I called him a s*** disturber.

 

[Stevepinto3]

So what? The PSN UA is BS!

It's legally binding BS.

 

[RollForInitiative]

So...does this mean he raised money for legal funds and then ran off with it? Sure makes the donating folks look stupid, doesn't it?

 

[Veldel]

It was the one armed man. He did it.

This isnt Kappa Micky however its spelled anyways On topic this guy is FUCKED

 

[Ashryd]

Not enough people in this thread against hacking stuff like this in general. Piracy is pretty bad people. Personally I like to support game companies that make stuff I like.

 

[Jubbert]

I hope he starts up an underground rap game in South America.

 

[TheSkaAssassin]

I thought the Escapist would support the rights of gamers.
Yeah he fled, but that's not the point. Sony is still in the wrong.

"Sony has proof that Hotz created a PlayStation Network account and therefore agreed to the PSN User Agreement"
So what? The PSN UA is BS!

Well, then you shouldn't agree to it, shouldn't you? Maybe you find the IRS pricks too, but that doesn't give you the right to break into their building and break their shit.

Being an anarchist, I happen to disagree with the IRS. However, I'd like to point out that there's a bit of a difference between me going into the IRS office and burning it to the ground, and GeoHot buying a PS3 and hacking it.

You are compleatly right good sir. It is not the same to go into their building and burn it down. This is more like falsifying your taxes, because you don't like the IRS, for ten years and then getting mad when they take you to jail and collect back taxes.

How dare they hold me to the standards, I don't even LIKE them!

Again, you're equating apples to oranges. Not even apples to oranges really, more like apples to chicken sandwiches.

He paid for his PS3, he has every right to do what ever he wanted with it, regardless of what the EULA or the PSN UA says. It's HIS property.

A good example would be [INSERT CAR MAKER OF YOUR CHOICE HERE] suing you into oblivion because you put a new stereo in your car. You paid for that car, you have every right to do whatever you want to it.

Do I even need to mention that the same act, jailbreaking, is legal on a mobile phone. Where's the difference?

"Oh, but he made it possible to use pirated software on the PS3. That's why he's in the wrong."
WHAT ARBITRARY SILLINESS!
The wireless adapter in my laptop allows me to download torrents of movies, guess hollywood should sue Dell.

His property, his choice.

 

[trooperpaul]

South America? Don't we have rules about this sort of thing?
If he was smart, he would have gone to Switzerland, so the US can't follow him.

 

[thePyro_13]

Hahaha, told you he would just flame the HD and run. Yes you can recover data from an HD, but if you no how, you can completely destroy any data on one, beyond recovery. Just that the average computer user doesn't know.

Anyway, dumb move. Ah well.

The technical algorithm for accomplishing this data destruction is very complicated(see below).

Take drill.
Activate drill.
Insert drill into unfortunate hard-drive.

Not enough people in this thread against hacking stuff like this in general. Piracy is pretty bad people. Personally I like to support game companies that make stuff I like.

This kind of stuff isn't always used for piracy. I used to use my R4 to turn my DSi into an MP3 player(which is all I really used it(my DSi) for once I beat Dragon quest and got bored of the games I got from DSiware).

Nintendo updated their DSi, and my R4 no longer works, now I need to get a new MP3 player.

You don't get in trouble for uninstalling/replacing or modifying Windows on your PC, I see no reason why a game console should be different.

 

[EvolutionKills]

So my suspicions were right, and the guy is, in fact, a giant douche.

$5 says he used that "donation money" to fund this little trip. Which, by the way, is another felony.

Freaking dumbass. I was hoping that this case would lead to EULA's getting altered to be more consumer friendly. Now I doubt that'll happen.

Again, dude's a dumbass, and a dick.

Seriously. I supported the guy, in principal. I thought he was in the right, and I wanted to see this go all the way and be resolved in a court of law. Now he pulls this shit, which only makes everyone else in the homebrew community guilty by association. Thanks jackass, you probably just set a precedent that puts all of your friends back about 5 years. Sony now just looks all the more justified, and we the consumers are going to be bearing the aftermath of the corporate backlash.

Way to be a chump...