UPDATE: PS3 Hacker GeoHot Claims He's on Vacation

[2xDouble]

Remember kids, it doesn't matter if you're an award-winning hacker/software breaker, and have the support of thousands of people on the internet. You still lose if you're a douche. I think that's an important lesson.

Then again, software crackers are a notoriously vengeful bunch. I suspect this issue isn't over yet...

 

[hecticpicnic]

So geohot continues to be a muppet. Did anyone seriously expect him to win this court case before he fled?

We can always hope.

 

[Blazingdragoon04]

Man, it's so hard to be right all the time when it comes to people like this.

This "man", and the hackers like him, aren't Robin Hood and they never were. They are looking out for their own personal enjoyment, and I am so glad that I never gave this douche any of my money.

I do feel bad for all the people who gave him money only to have him use it to flee the country, but honestly if you didn't see it coming then it's your own fault.

I'm glad he's running though, it's gonna be hilarious when they finally catch him and put him up on trial, since he is now evading the courts and doing so in a hilarious manner. Does he honestly think he's safe down there or something, because there is such a thing as extradition. It's amazing how dumb some "smart" people can really be...

 

[danhere]

If he looks like a douchebag and acts like a douchebag, he's a douchebag.

I'm sure the people who donated for his plane ticket to South America are really happy right about now.

 

[locoartero]

Good. Nail his ass... he's just a little black hat cracker. Hope his supporters will now see what an ffing douche he really is.

Hacking his own PS3 = fine (srew the DMCA)
Posting the root security keys publicly just to screw with Sony = crime.

Screwing with Sony = Making the world a better place
Sony And M$oft ceasing to exist = A world actually worth living in (Except for EA and Activision)

 

[LeonLethality]

I guess most people who were zealously supporting Hotz feel really stupid now.

 

[Catalyst6]

Not to worry. Sony's hitmen are going to follow.

CNN, three months from now:

"Although no one has heard from Mr. Hotz in several months, Sony has withdrawn their suit, saying that it is no longer needed to chase after him due to a hole being patched. (aside) Hey, are you sure this is supposed to be patched *A* hole? The flaw would be *THE* ho- no, okay, that's right then. In other news, kittens"!

OT: What exactly is this suburban-dwelling geek going to do in South America? I mean, really, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that is able to pull off a getaway.

 

[SaintWaldo]

So, where's the smug rap about this development, GeoHot?

 

[James Raynor]

I guess most people who were zealously supporting Hotz feel really stupid now.

Sony had no legal standing and would have lost, but geohot let his idiocy get the better of him and decided to tamper with evidence and flee the country.

 

[Kajt]

Run, coward! THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU!

*cough*

Sorry about th- Oh, fuck it. RUN, COWARD!

 

[Danpascooch]

What the fuck man!? If you want to throw away your life that's fine, but you owe it to your supporters, and DEFINITELY to your contributors, to not do something so fucking stupid and selfish, that will probably be used to legitimize consumer rights violations for years!

 

[James Raynor]

What the fuck man!? If you want to throw away your life that's fine, but you owe it to your supporters, and DEFINITELY to your contributors, to not do something so fucking stupid and selfish, that will probably be used to legitimize consumer rights violations for years!

Short-sighted self interest in action.

 

[ShadowKirby]

Can't say I blame him for running. Better to set up shop in some non extradition country and tell Sony and this corrupt legal system to shove it up their collective asses. Why participate in a system that's so fucking corrupt that it comes down, not to who is in the right, but who has the most money.

The only way to not lose in a rigged game is not to play at all. That seems to be the route he's taking. I say good on him. Fuck the courts and more importantly fuck Sony. It was pretty clear they didn't intend on making this a fair trail from the start so now, if they choose they can continue with this sham all on their own.

Oh please. The only thing Sony did was try to see if he made a PSN account so they could prove he agreed to their terms of service. That's not corrupt, and judge doesn't get any more or less money if Sony wins or loses.

And no, not good on him, he took people's money and ran. He stole from everyone.

They, like myself, donated to his legal defense. I'd say moving someplace where Sony and the courts are left to sit and spin is a pretty damn good legal defense. As to their "terms of service", even if he did click on "agree" so what? By that logic if I buy a chair and the seller asks me to sign a paper saying I won't let any Black or Jewish people sit in it do they then have the right to sue me if I do? Fuck no, it's mine I bought it and whatever I legally want to do with it is my business, not theirs. Same thing in this case. Sony has fuck all for rights when it comes to MY PS3 after I buy it.

Well, don't buy that chair.

 

[githnaur]

Hmm. I would have to say that the innocent do run, in the face of insurmountable odds.

Further, the emerging particulars of this 'case' should not detract from the underlying issue - the right to do whatever you want with your own property.

Piracy arguments do not apply, the person commmiting the piracy should be liable. If not, prosecute every automobile, gun and cutlerly manufacturer, as their products are directly used in the vast majority of murders - somewhat a greater crime than whatever sony presents as the infraction this case is about.

Finally, the loss of 'other os' is a pain if you want to both use linux AND the psn network on the black box you bought - all such owners dont have to be supercomputing centres taking the cheap option.

 

[theultimateend]

So color me silly but was there ever a time where you could by something and someone else couldn't uncover every ounce of information about that purchase?

Super creepy.

 

[FogHornG36]

sigh.... *face palm*

Im sorry everyone for my defense of Geo, i suck dicks

 

[viranimus]

Well its looks like this will be another case where the rights of American citizens will take a back seat to the rights of a corporation. With the way that things have been going in the US it seemed like Geohot would in all liklihood have still lost.

It is a sad day indeed. Government bailing out corporations that failed, Government forcably stealing the right to collective bargaining to suit its own end, and now this. I am absolutely ashamed. Not of the government, or the corporations, but of the individuals who allowed it to get this way for making uneducated decisions and ignoring the problems when they had a chance to do something about it.

OT: While Geohot might have made a false statement that he had a PSN account thing of it is, just because he had a PSN account does not mean that the seized PS3 in question had been altered. Which that is logical. In any sort of experiment you need a control group. If you need to work around limitations imposed that should not be there you need a case example of the problematic software and code. If the PSN account enabled PS3 has not been altered, then Sony still doesnt have a leg to stand on. However given that hes on vacation in South America right now and had to ask for donations for legal defense it seems fairly probable that the PS3 in question is in deed altered.


Honestly, we as individual American citizens have all been damaged by this. If sony wins this and it seems likely they will now, It is the first stepping stone of removing ownership rights. Slow advances will be made taking further ownership rights away from individuals. Hell, in 20-50 years we could be looking at a situation where someone buys a new car, and within six months is involved in a traffic accident that they were at fault and then the manufacturer decides to sue the owner for wanton destruction of property. You might think its an overexaggeration, but this IS how such things happen.

 

[Flauros]

I was for Sony the whole time. I found it really weird how pissed people were. I think people thought Sony was mad because they were DOING THINGS to their playstations, like they dont want people touching it the wrong way.

It took this long for Valve and Bungie to make playstation games. You think theyll go out of their way to make a game...just so people can play it on their modded playstations for free? Developers will stay away like playstation has the plague, i believe.


But oh well, were almost in the next generation, right? I got me some Twisted Metal and Portal 2, i should be fine for a while....

 

[Lono Shrugged]

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!

The point of this article is that he's not a gamer he's a cock. I think he's a cock because he took advantage of people like you who believed Sony was wrong and that the case should go to court and be won.

But because of this he won't ever win, people won't listen and things won't change because he acted like a criminal. and that's what people will remember after all this.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

i was starting to believe that sony where just being the stereotypical corporate bad guys, and then he does this? kinda hard not to see him as guilty now, especially after having funds donated to him to help him fight in court