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Sony Gets Nasty With PSBreak Buyers
YokimaSun writes "The war between hackers and Sony over the PlayStation 3 has now taken an even more sinister turn, with Sony going after not just shops but actual buyers of the PSBreak dongle, threatening them with fines of many thousands of Euros and forcing them to sign cease-and-desist letters. It seems Sony will use any means necessary to thwart both homebrew and piracy on the PS3."
"Sony is now requesting every buyer to transfer the rights to request the package back from customs over to Sony Computer Entertainment and to agree on the destruction of the device." Only happening in Germany, and likely has to do with lenient laws there that would allow it.
I am scientifically inaccurate.
A PS3, I mean.
It's not really a principled stand, but it could become one.
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
I'm selling - cheap - kits for creative ways to eliminate lawyers (and best selling kit so far is all chainsaw + jason mask)
It's only me who have the impression that lawyers are going crazy? What most lack happen, someone wanting to sue humanity to breathe without a contract for this?
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
Are Sony seriously going to sue people for not handing over their legal property to Sony?
What is it with this company? Just how far up their own arses can they go?
How do they expect this to work?
Sure you can sue if they use trademarked names like "Sony" or "PS3", but a dongle with a name like "Freedom" and containing no code or hardware copyrighted by Sony cannot be stopped.
Yes, it is a device to circumvent copy protection but far from all European countries have laws banning such devices, and once they're in a European country the device can be moved freely to other countries.
I would buy such a device, mostly just to spite Sony and their megalomania.
"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
This rash of crazy lawyer stories leads me to believe we are in a law suit Bubble. Eventually garbage law suits, Cease and Desists, threats, extra will come to an end bursting the bubble lawyers have grown so accustom to.
If Sony didn't plan for this in the beginning, then I understand why they have resorted to this as a last gasp. That means there was a major hole in their business plan.
Sony once held the mindshare Apple has now. For me, so many Sony items have had problems, that they are off my radar.
The world moves on and a major player must move ahead of it, or at least with it or it dies. I just don't get the concept of a company suing the retail consumers of its hardware.
Why oh why is it so difficult for companies to allow the end user to use their devices to the fullest extent possible?
So that they can squeeze more money out of developers. If homebrew were easy, or even as easy as it is on iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad, major labels would develop and sell their games through the homebrew path to market to cut overhead.
HOW ABOUT THIS: why not allow for home brew, but prevent media copying?
Allowing homebrew will inevitably result in media copying. This could be through cloning of patented games (such as Dance Dance Revolution), through cloning of games on whose rules the developer makes a flimsy copyright claim (such as Tetris), or through infringing ROM images that run on homebrew emulators.
Sure you can sue if they use trademarked names like "Sony" or "PS3", but a dongle with a name like "Freedom"
And in countries with sane trademark law, nominative use to specify compatible products made by other companies is not an infringement: "FREEDOM service tool by TropeCo, for use with PLAYSTATION 3 console by Sony".
and containing no code or hardware copyrighted by Sony
Sony can claim non-literal copying. But even in the U.S., whose Digital Millennium Copyright Act is widely thought on Slashdot to be stricter than its European counterparts, copying small pieces of code solely for interoperability has been shown not to infringe. Sega v. Accolade; Lexmark v. Static Control Components.
What Sony should do is open up a sandbox environment in the PS3 in which homebrew developers can run their own software without problems.
It did, until the slim PS3 came out and Sony left out the Other OS drivers to cut cost. Then the first hints of cracks came out with the stated goal of reenabling Other OS on the slim PS3, and Sony pushed out PS3 system software 3.21 to shut them down on the original PS3. Then the cat and mouse game started in earnest.
I don't see why piracy and homebrew are always treated as one by these console developers.
I explained the rationale against homebrew in another comment.
Really? After so many years of producing shit that they can't even sell TV's (something Sony used to be famous for making the best) under their own name anymore, why do people still buy ANYTHING Sony?
The premise of threatening OWNERS of a piece of hardware for doing with that hardware whatever they please, which they have the absolute right to do (including burning it or running over it with the car) is ridiculous. And if someone is finally going to be stupid enough to sue a customer over violating a shrinkwrap, unilateral, "we reserve the right to change anything at any time at our SOLE discretion" EULA, please, PLEASE for the love of God let it be a company as stupid, corrupt and intellectually bankrupt as Sony.
Threatening end users who make modifications to the console that they PURCHASED is as ridiculous as Ford suing me for buying one of their cars then changing the rims so I can put a different size of tire on them...
Corporatism != Free Market
When Sony removed the "Other OS" option from the PS3 they locked people out of a legitimate and relatively safe homebrew environment. Somewhere that people could play with the device without voiding their warranty. It was an option that really "sold" the device to many people who now own one.
While someone would have eventually jail-broken the device, I doubt it would be as widely used as these dongles are; if Sony had (a) left the "Other OS" option in, and (b) possibly added said-option to the "slim" PS3 consoles. The way to combat people jail-braking a device is to give them a safe way to homebrew without the possibility of bricking their consoles or voiding the warranty.
I bought a PS3 to run linux and play around with cell programming...
Sony broke my ps3 by updating the firmware to 3.30, so i bought a dongle which i intend to use to repair the otherwise broken system:
http://www.ps3hax.net/2010/10/asbestos-running-linux-as-gameos/
All i'm doing, is fixing advertised functionality which was present in the ps3 when i bought it.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Do you watch TV? then you support sony as almost ALL tv shows are produced with either a Sony editing system (Sony OWNS the live TV editing market... Daily Show and Colbert Report are on Sony gear for live editing and switching...) shot on Sony cameras or are on cameras that use the Sony AVCHD format. Most of Discovery Channel now shoots on AVCHD cameras as digital delivery to cheap sd cards is better than the tape alternative.
So stop watching TV as well, as that supports Sony. (a different division that has nothing to do with the others, but it's still "Sony")
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
So?
You asked why are people still buying from Sony and he gave you a few reasons. They make popular movies, music and games. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant.
Mada mada dane.
So stop watching TV as well, as that supports Sony. (a different division that has nothing to do with the others, but it's still "Sony")
There is no such thing as a different division that has nothing to do with the others. They're all Sony. Criticising all of Sony for the actions of any of its portions is as rational as criticising a person for the actions of any of their limbs. People who don't have control over one or more limbs have a responsibility to keep them under control by any means necessary... straps, chains, whatever.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Use to think that Microsoft was the evil company and I'd never buy a 360. Glad I didn't buy either the 360 or the PS3. Though if I was a hardcore gamer, I'd have to say that this makes the 360 look a heck of a lot more enticing than the PS3. Congratulations Sony, you managed to find a way to kill off the PS3 faster than any would-be hacker
Will sony sue the air force over there use of ps3 for non gameing / PS3 media use?
Will sony try to say you are braking the EULA by not installing the update that removers other os?
Nice bit of shaming language you did there, unfortunately we're wise to that kind of thing now....
The Catalogue of Anti-Male Shaming Tactics:
Charge of Unattractiveness (Code Tan) – The Ugly Tan Charge
Discussion: The target is accused of having no romantic potential as far as women are concerned. Examples:
* “I bet you are fat and ugly.”
* “You can’t get laid!”
* “Creep!”
* “Loser!”
* “Have you thought about the problem being you?”
Response: This is another example of “circumstantial ad hominem.” The target’s romantic potential ultimately does not reflect on the merit of his arguments.
No the "lady" in question wasn't talking about the guy, she was admitting she's a typical bitch in search of another "bad boy" who is willing to slap her around. Most real men aren't desperate enough to do that sort of thing and find it repulsive. They walk away.
The same thing that seems to be happening with Sony come to think of it...
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