Sony Halts Sales of PS3 Jailbreak Dongle

An anonymous reader tips news that "Online Australian retailer Quantronics has been ordered by the Federal Court of Australia, Victoria District Registry on the 26 August 2010 to halt PS JailBreak PS3 modchip sales and distribution." The court order (.DOC) indicates this injunction will hold until a hearing on August 31. Another reader points out related news that a German website claims to have reverse engineered the hack, finding it to be a newly-developed exploit rather than a clone of Sony's JIG module (original in German). Sony has already been banning users of the modchip when detected.

Comments

Sorry Sony ...

[WrongSizeGlass]

Sorry Sony, but you can't stop it now. Next stop: "Jail Break City, where people who bought your crap can enjoy it how they want".

Re:Sorry Sony ...

[MozeeToby]

Jail Break City, where people who bought your crap can enjoy it how they want

Unless of course if 'they want' to log into the PSN or play on Sony's servers. Just saying, there's plenty that Sony can do, especially since this is the only hack available and it can apparently be detected server side.

Re:Sorry Sony ...

[slinches]

Uh, you need to sign into PSN to use Netflix

That's not true. Netflix streaming works without logging into PSN. I have a fat PS3 that I haven't updated (so that I can keep the Other OS option) and I stream movies regularly. Although, I am a bit concerned that they may disable the disks when they release the software version in October. If that requires a firmware update, I may need to jailbreak just to keep Netflix.

Fuck you, Sony

[Pojut]

I still buy your consoles and games beause I enjoy them...I can't escape that. However, I will NEVER forgive you for what you did to Lik Sang. You will forever be bastards because of that.

Oh, and guess what? I buy all your games USED.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[Monkeedude1212]

You mean his sig? His sig that plugs his site? No one else's sig plugs their site? His sig that you can turn off if you don't want to see it? You mean him plugging Kotaku, like kotaku needs plugging? I'm not sure I see your angle.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[WankersRevenge]

It's a sad state of affairs when buying a used game is considered a subversive activity. Every time one of these idiot developers starts talking about how consumers are basically stealing from them for buying a used game I want to hit them in the mouth with a two by four. Here's a thought ... price your games cheaper. When an entertainment product is well over the bar of an impulse buy, then the used market isn't your real problem.

The funny thing ... I left PC gaming because I hated being on the upgrade treadmill. These days, I find myself playing PC games more often because I get more from money. Who would have thought that consumers reward companies that produce a good value?

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[jank1887]

'fuck you sony' seems quite appropriate here. turn off sigs and be quiet. I haven't had them on in... well... forever.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[FauxPasIII]

When all the costs of bringing your product to market are front-loaded, and all the revenue then comes from enforcing artificial scarcity of reproducing the finished product, you're in a very different world from selling manufactured goods. Same thing comes up with pharmaceuticals. I'm not sure what the solution is, but it's certainly an interesting problem.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[Fallingcow]

They got their portion of the used sale already; the ability to sell it a game secondhand is valuable, and priced in to the original sale price.

If developers (or distributors) think the ability re-sale is worth more than they're getting for it now, they should raise their prices and see whether consumers agree.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Think about it. $50 spent on a Nintendo game in 1985 (and there were often costlier games) would cost $98.37 today. Looking at a more recent period of time, a $50 PS1 game would in '95 cost 69.71 today. And yet the uproar over the bump up to $60 for current generation games was immense.

Physical costs have also plummeted. And the industry has moved to disc-based games. Development platforms cost less (adjusted for inflation.)

The problem is with games' exponentially rising budgets the industry can't sustain itself.

Which comes from people trying to one-up each other. It's a bubble, just like the housing market. The industry is doing this to itself.

As you say, Nintendo saw the writing on the wall and sidestepped the competition. They were agile and continue to make good money. That Sony and Microsoft can't do this isn't really the consumer's fault--yet game devs treat consumers like shit if they even think about buying a game used.

Here's a tip: the secondhand market actually helps stimulate the primary market. The fact that a gamer (or driver, or reader) knows that they can resell their item makes them more likely to buy it at full price. All the while, the producers are building up cred with the people who can't afford to buy things at full price. One day, they will be able to--they won't have to wait for and fight over used games--and then they will become the new primary customers.

But more to the point, this is just more buggy-whip shenanigans. The big production studios don't want to change their ways--they want to continue growing and growing and making bigger and bigger games--and they want to force consumers to change their behavior to suit the old business model. It's pretty much bullshit.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[Pojut]

It's actually a great example of the Streisand effect...we've gotten over 500 visitors in a single day for only the fifth time since we started the site, and that number is steadily rising. Thanks, random AC who hates the fact that we contribute our time and money to nerd culture!

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[canajin56]

Yeah, that's basically why I have a permenant boycott of Bioware going on. See, the extra weapons and levels for Mass Effect 2 if you buy it new, that's obnoxious. But, they put a used game salesman character onto the Citadel, who chuckles about what a killing he makes, while the starving developers go out of business. They're not content with always on DRM locking out features if you try to install your game on a second 360, they have to kick us in the balls and spit in our faces, too.

It's not just devs, either. Apparently the folks at Penny Arcade believe that buying a used game is actually worse than pirating, because with piracy you are at least not giving money to anybody, but with a used game you are both stealing AND giving money to a leech.

I asked them why selling a used game should be a crime, but lending a friend a game or a book, which they often portray in their comics, is acceptable. No answer. In publishing "both sides" they only publish comments in agreement, or comments "backing up" used games as evil, but a necessary evil for those on a budget. I also pointed them in the direction of a huge piracy mill that's stealing millions of copies of their precious anthologies. No idea their take on that, but I bet they are contacting their lawyers! Their other blazing hypocracy is that their child's play charity donates games and systems to children's wards across the country. Each child doesn't need to pay for their own copy, the developer only gets paid ONCE (a condition they decry as black market theft) and yet, more than one child gets to play. Outrageous.

Re:Fuck you, Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently the folks at Penny Arcade believe that buying a used game is actually worse than pirating, because with piracy you are at least not giving money to anybody, but with a used game you are both stealing AND giving money to a leech.

I don't quite know where you got that from.

Oh wait, I get it. I see http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/8/25/ what you mean. However, I feel you're not reading it with an open mind.

Tycho states the following.

If I am purchasing games in order to reward their creators, and to ensure that more of these ingenious contraptions are produced, I honestly can't figure out how buying a used game was any better than piracy. From the perspective of a developer, they are almost certainly synonymous.

I can see why you'd construe that to mean "PENNY ARCADE HAET PIRATE AND U R PIRATE." (Yes, yes, I know mocking his position by portraying him as a braying idiot is infantile. I do it anyhow.) However, if you pay attention to his words he states that "If" you purchase games to reward their creators, then it's synonymous to piracy, *especially* to the developers. He hasn't actually stated that it is or isn't his opinion. He appears to understand, however, that by buying games used you are hurting the developers. This is absolute fact. Or is it? I go over my confusion on this far below. Anyhow.

In his post on the following day (today), he clarifies his position for those who took issue.

People who buy used games are not pirates, by definition. Used games (used everything, really) are and will continue to be a legal and protected form of commerce. Other industries have done what they can to co-opt, destroy, or harvest those markets, but their existence is settled law. What I have said is that the end result of that purchase from a developer perspective must be indistinguishable. Isn't it? That is the question I couldn't answer. I still can't answer it. And because I couldn't, I had to change the way I invested my leisure dollar.

He understands it isn't piracy. He clarifies this for the people who couldn't pick that up from his original post. He understands that, y'know, the market of used games (primarily GameStop) is a powerful machine, voraciously feasting on the blood and leavings of the developers and gamers alike. He knows that it's legal, but he hammers in his assertion that, despite its legality, *this isn't a good thing for the industry* .

selling a used game should be a crime, but lending a friend a game or a book, which they often portray in their comics, is acceptable

He...really, must you take such a polarized view? Tycho didn't say it must be a crime. He's just saying that it negatively impacts the industry. He's saying it's not a good thing. This isn't the same as saying it should be illegal. As for the disparity between the used game market and the lending of books or libraries, I don't know. I'm sure Tycho struggles to codify his beliefs for the masses, but he, and you, must agree on this absolute fact.

Used Games don't give the industry money. (again, I examine this below)

No idea their take on that, but I bet they are contacting their lawyers!

I don't believe working yourself up into a froth over something you have "no idea" about is a good thing.

Their other blazing hypocracy is that their child's play charity donates games and systems to children's wards across the country. Each child doesn't need to pay for their own copy, the developer only gets paid ONCE (a condition they decry as black market theft) and yet, more than one child gets to play. Outrageous.

Gott in himmel, you're calling their charity a hypocrisy? I just... I can't...

It would be very easy to just fall back on ad hominem and wildly polarized attacks, but I'll try to keep this civil.

France

[Hatta]

They should relocate to France. French courts have already ruled circumvention devices legal when there is no other way to run your own software on your machine.

Re:France

[Monkeedude1212]

Yeah but then you have to learn French, and you're also stuck living in France.

Some things just aren't worth it, mate.

Re:France

[debile]

Universal health care, cure French girls, good restaurants, great culture (ok ok immigration problems but hey, habla espagnol?)

France is not as bad as depicted, especially when you compare CURRENT standards of living in the US, not the ones that were true 5-10 years ago

Re:France

[IndustrialComplex]

Universal health care, cure French girls,

Why? Are they sick?

Re:France

[Giometrix]

Universal health care, cure French girls, good restaurants, great culture (ok ok immigration problems but hey, habla espagnol?)

France is not as bad as depicted, especially when you compare CURRENT standards of living in the US, not the ones that were true 5-10 years ago

Except that based on other comments he's made, I don't think he's American, so it's irrelevant what American standards are...

Re:France

[Monkeedude1212]

Oh I know, I just like to hate on the French because I am Canadian, thus forced to try and learn the language for half a dozen years of my life despite whether I want to or not (and they're forced to try English whether they want to or not, so its a mutual dislike for each other). I wouldn't normally hold a grudge but the drivers in Quebec (mostly Montreal though) are quite possibly the worst drivers on the planet. The stop sign is just a suggestion over there.

None of that really has anything to do with France, in fact, I think the French don't like Quebec either, for butchering their language, but its all tomato tomahto in a general sense so all french get tossed in together. Is that fair? meh, C'est la vie.

WTF?

[Ironhandx]

Right, so Sony had almost exactly what they wanted in regards to control over their system. Then they decided that "almost" wasn't good enough and now they're knee deep in the shit storm they started and trying to litigate their way out of it. Its costing them in company rep and in their pocket books with legal fees.

I hope the industry learns something from this, but sadly it probably won't.

Re:WTF?

[Surt]

I'm 100% sure they'll learn the lesson: you can successfully stop widespread distribution of hacks that jailbreak your system, and laugh all the way to the bank when no one cares and buys your system at christmas anyway.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

You sir are a clueless cretin if you actually believe this dongle wouldn't be on sales had it not been for Sony removing OtherOS.

This dongle is for piracy, nothing else....

Simple as that, it does not allow you to boot Linux, and has no legitimate purpose. The backup excuse does not wash either, as Blu-Ray disks are not scratchable like DVD is.

Re:WTF?

[Swarley]

Blu-ray discs are TOTALLY scratchable. Worse than DVDs actually. Netflix released their data on it and found that Blu-ray discs are damaged far more often than DVDs suffering the same treatment in their envelopes and by their customers. Other than that, I mostly agree with you. Backups is code for piracy for 99.5% of the people claiming it as fair use. Especially considering Sony has been pretty progressive lately about releasing formerly disc only games as pure download and install versions. It's not much, but it's progress...

Re:WTF?

[X.25]

You sir are a clueless cretin if you actually believe this dongle wouldn't be on sales had it not been for Sony removing OtherOS.

This dongle is for piracy, nothing else....

Simple as that, it does not allow you to boot Linux, and has no legitimate purpose. The backup excuse does not wash either, as Blu-Ray disks are not scratchable like DVD is.

You can eat a dick. You don't tell me what the fuck I do with my console, that I paid with my own money. If I want to fucking burn it, I will. If I want to insert a PSJailbreak in it, I will.

And you go and fuck yourself, along with your "I know what's best for you" logic.

iTunes and Palm Pre

[gnasher719]

This reminds me of the situation with iTunes and the Palm Pre. Basically, the Palm Pre had a USB interface that claimed there was an Apple iPod, so that iTunes would transfer music to the device. Then Apple added code to iTunes to detect devices that _claimed_ to be Apple iPods, but were not actually Apple iPods, so this Palm Pre feature broke, and after another round of changing the Palm Pre interface and Apple again detecting it, Palm gave up.

Now this article proves that a USB device under control of an attacker is a possible attack vector. Which means that Apple was quite right, for security reasons, to refuse connection to dodgy devices. Of course this attack is slightly different; seems they first attacked the USB system software itself by plugging in intentionally broken USB devices, but it is quite conceivable that iTunes could be attacked by a USB device pretending to be an iPod (presumably anything that doesn't pretend to be an iPod, like the broken USB devices in this attack, would never make it to the iTunes software).

Re:iTunes and Palm Pre

[Animaether]

the Palm Pre had a USB interface that claimed there was an Apple iPod, so that iTunes would transfer music to the device. Then Apple added code to iTunes to detect devices that _claimed_ to be Apple iPods, but were not actually Apple iPods, so this Palm Pre feature broke, and after another round of changing the Palm Pre interface and Apple again detecting it, Palm gave up.

Palm 'gave up' because the USB peeps told them to quit using Apple's IDs, which is against regulations - in response to Palm saying Apple were abusing the USB conformation specs by using portions of it as an access rights mechanism. There's no technical reason Palm couldn't have added whatever Apple ended up checking next to their device and had seamless sync continuing with iTunes; the game of cat & mouse would have left ever-fewer options with ultimately Palm as the winner. But that win would come at the cost of being kicked out of the USB club and then they'd have bigger problems to worry about.

As for the rest of your post.. yes - that's why Company X is quite right to only accept Company X keyboards, mice and webcams, and Microsoft-approved external drives, printers, scanners, etc. to connect to their computers and/or interface with their software. You know.. for security reasons.

Too late, Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

The device has already been reverse engineered. Expect clones very soon from countries whose courts won't kneel before you.

Re:Good for the new so apple can't do this shit!

[Anonymous Coward]

Good for the new so apple can't do this shit!

What does this mean in English?

over reacting (DRM in general)?

[AnAdventurer]

Why is it that I can own a M4 carbine upper with an 11 inch barrel and do not need a NFA short barrel tax stamp as long as it is not installed on a M4 lower, but it's 10 kinds of law violation to sell a dongle that can jailbreak some specific computer platform? This planet make no sense what's so ever. I am going back to my veal fattening pen and watch some sitcoms.

Re:over reacting (DRM in general)?

[couchslug]

You know the answer to that, it's called the "National Rifle Association".

Many geeks rant about freedom, but NRA members VOTE and won't hesitate to hammer the shit out of politicians who oppose them. THAT has worked for the NRA for more than one hundred years, and why I'm a life member.

Re:Cute, but that's it

[Schadrach]

Seriously? It always looks like this to me:

There are two groups of people, those who want to pirate, and those who want to develop/homebrew/tinker. There is some overlap between the two, but most of the technical skill is in the latter and most of the money willing to buy something from you is in the former, so long as you are cheaper than the total number of games they wish to pirate.

If the homebrew guys can do their thing uninterrupted, there's less development put towards making a modchip, but once one is made it has to be presented in a way that makes piracy clear in order to sell enough that the developer recoups his time/effort circumventing protections that are too restrictive to let him do his thing.

Really, what's needed is a restricted version of the dev kit aimed at homebrewers -- say one that explicitly disables any access to the optical drive or anything else that might be used for piracy, and is signed under a different key to enforce that. Keeps the homebrewers happy, and reduces the talent pool for the "bad" kinds of exploits. All at the cost of letting homebrewers do their thing.