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PS3 Jailbreak Now Legal In Spain
deek writes "Spanish gamer site NicaGamerz.com have reported that it's now legal to sell the PS3 Jailbreak modchip in Spain (Google translation of Spanish original). According to the article, one reason for the legal ruling is because Sony removed the ability to run GNU/Linux on the console. One can only wonder if Sony will soon rush out a firmware update that will re-enable the OtherOS feature, and appeal the court decision. Oh the irony of that thought. The legal ruling was made on the 13th December (Google translation). There are only 5 days to appeal, starting from that date."
That it was ever illegal in the first place. That the supposedly democratically elected government would ever support the notion of a company retaining control of and restricting a device that they don't own anymore.
Would this mean that sony can no-longer lock out users of modded PS3s from things like the Store , etc? As , that was a feature that was also removed if the user continues to make use of the OtherOS function ?
N..
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Great news for Europe as a whole, due to our common market importing these from Spain means they wont face customs checks.
Sounds like Spain will make a good distribution base for them.
I would like to see them try to it, the European court almost always takes both the consumer and the pro free movement of goods side, so Sony would be screwed in that scenario.
OtherOS has not yet been reenabled, but linux is running (over a network, not from the internal HDD) in GameOS mode, which allows access to all the Cell's SPUs and the RSX. It also runs on both the old style 'fat' PS3 and the new slim PS3.
Does the Jailbreak even bring back the linux OtherOS option yet though?
Isn't it kind of interesting how this whole thing was supposedly about re-enabling the OtherOS feature. And yet the hackers still haven't managed that, but they have managed to get pirated games running. Meanwhile, we still have people here saying that it's all about getting OtherOS back. Funny how that works...
Re-enabling the "other os" feature should be low on this list.
Personally I think it's the only thing that should be on the list, otherwise it just legitimises Sony's claims that they did it to stop piracy. I don't want people pirating games, and I really don't want to be playing against cheaters. I did however like that I could run Linux on my PS3 if I wanted. I tried it when it first came out and it sucked, and when I started hearing that it was much improved in the latest versions, that's around the time they removed the feature. I wasn't impressed. I already have Linux on my netbook though, so overall it doesn't matter to me too much.
which is totally what she said
Interesting. I was about to ask the same, why does software reside in a realm of its own? When I usually buy something, I get to use it, modify it to fit my needs (funny enough, the copyright of my country explicitly grants me this right, to "modify software to enable interoperability") and most of all, I also get the right to resell it when I do not need it anymore or consider the money more interesting than the right to use the item.
It's oddly different with software, ya know...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
GeoHot. And then he gave up with actually enabling it again, with a total net result of.. losing Other OS. What a douche.
which is totally what she said
I agree about copy protection on game saves. I own assassins creed 2 the save games are copy protected and I have to ask why?
With call of duty if you move a save from one account to another you lose the ability to earn trophies. Since game companies can invoke measures like this to stop people skipping things why do we need copy protection on save games?
Last year myself and my Dad both got Uncharted 2 for Christmas, we took it in turns playing the game on one machine. When we finished I took my save home and replayed the game. This year both of us want Assassins Creed 2 : Brotherhood. I won't play it until I get home because there is no point playing for all that time and then having to go back to the beginning.
I don't want pirated games, I care nothing for the "Other OS" feature. Giving me the ability to move all my saves onto a USB stick should be top priority. That an firing the Sony Executive who thought copy protecting game saves was a good idea.
Does the Jailbreak even bring back the linux OtherOS option yet though?
Yes, it does. There are two ways so far.
AsbestOS - needs to store the data on a network drive (for now) but has full access to the hardware including the RSX GPU
Downgrade - If you have a PS3 that originally had Other OS, you can downgrade to version 3.15 which was the last to have the Other OS option.
Knowledge Brings Fear
It wouldn't be illegal to jailbreak anyway. Spanish constitution grants you the right to do whatever you want in your place has long has you keep it to yourself.
For instance, you can plant cannabis, as long has you don't sell it to anyone, keep it inside all the time and don't use it with other people there.
It's a great principle in my opinion. If what you are doing it's just for you, it can't harm anyone and if you are an adult you should be able to do whatever you want in your privacy.
Save games that will only run on the console they were created on is likely to mitigate the issue that occurred on the original XBox. That is, a specially corrupted save file would cause a buffer overflow and bypass the protection measures of the console. If you can't pass around a pre-corrupted save, then exploits like this can't spread (as easily).
An interesting theory, but most likely incorrect. The reason? Not all save games are copy protected; the developers can choose for themselves whether or not the saves are copy protected. If Sony were afraid that buffer overflows in save games could be used for exploits, they would most probably have enforced copy protection on all save games.
I would be nice if you could buy an unsubsidized version - one that could legitimately have all those abilities because it wouldn't rely on post-purchase sales of software/media to pay for the console. Sure it would be considerably more costly but it would be nice to have the option.