'Anonymous' Plans Sony Boycott On April 16

Here's an excerpt from PCMag: "Say you're a hacker trying to cripple a major electronics company for suing its own users: how do you launch a cyberattack without harming the people you're trying to protect? In the case of hactivist group 'Anonymous,' which has spent the week targeting Sony to retaliate against Sony's ongoing lawsuits against PlayStation 3 modifiers, you take it offline. Anonymous is staging a 24-hour, in-store boycott at Sony stores around the world on Saturday, April 16. So far over 1,000 people have RSVP'd through Facebook."

Comments

If they're going to hit the employees

[countertrolling]

They'd better start at the top, with the decision maker (the guy you always see petting his white pussy.... cat), and the lawyers who execute his orders. Mid level people are as expendable and meaningless and 'innocent' as the consumers are.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[rtfa-troll]

Having large number of consumers turn up at stores and block sales is going to target the top guy. I hope they make sure that they know how to identify Sony sponsored trouble makers. Most interesting would be if they manage to get some real customers confused with the protesters and violently kicked out by security. Now that would make a story :-)

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[rtfa-troll]

And you're going to 'block sales' without trespassing or obstructing traffic how exactly?

'cmon. Has everybody forgotten how to protest. If the protesters want to get away with it there are so many ways this can be done. Wait until other customers start to arrive in the store. Go into the store (together with more friends than there are assistants). Pretend to be a customer. Demand attention then ask long and annoying but plausible questions about something expensive best of all if it's something you really do want to buy somewhere else. Act unsure; keep all the assistants busy. Then give up. Walk to a different part of the store. Repeat. Alternatively stand outside and be loud. Most customers won't come. Alternatively come in the same colour as the shop assistants. If asked give misleading advice, especially to go to the store round the corner.

Anyway you probably don't care too much about being charged with trespassing. That's the whole point of civil disobedience.

You know, I hope you people who do these things don't object when right wing wackos boycott Ford for 'promoting' homosexuality or anything..

Of course I object; to the homophobia. I don't care about the fact of the boycott if it wasn't for such a bad reason.

P.S. The best way to boycott Sony is not buying their stuff. Buy a Wii instead. That's what I do. I won't be turning up in a Sony store tomorrow because I haven't cared about Sony for years.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[MrQuacker]

They are just living up to the regressive republican ideology: Do as I say, not as I do.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[WillDraven]

Alternatively come in the same colour as the shop assistants. If asked give misleading advice, especially to go to the store round the corner.

Even better, give them brutally honest advice and history lessons. Tell them about the rootkits, the disabling of features on customers devices, the lawsuits, and anything else screwed up that Sony has done to their customers. It would be nice to have some pamphlets made up with all the sordid details (or at least an overview and a URL to find the details) to hand out.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[Anonymous Coward]

Just as folks have done with Microsoft, right? "Embrace, extend and extinguish"

Surely it's time for a worldwide boycott?

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[rolfwind]

This may have been more effective before the holidays. And actively talk people out of stuff. "Oh, that's a nice TV you're looking at. Did you know Vizio sells that size for half the price and better specs?"

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[belgianguy]

Disclaimer: IANAL

How about switching products from one shelve to the other? Adding flyers describing Sony's practices to product boxes? Inserting DVD/CD's with a prerecorded message/video into any device/box that will take it? Playing the aforementioned DVD/CD on the store televisions? Broadcast over FM/AM so their radios play your message? Buying Sony stuff, only to return it some hours later, entangling their support service? Calling their helpdesk for help with installing Linux? Parody the "You don't steal a car,..., you don't copy music" with a "You can jailbreak an iPhone, ..., so why should you not be able to jailbreak a PS3" ? Apply for the position of jailer/executioner?

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[countertrolling]

If you want to have fun pranking them, and getting some face time on the news, be my guest. But don't expect me to take any of this seriously. It's just a bunch of noise.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[X0563511]

Stores haven't used AM/FM in, oh, forever. They use satellite, streaming, or a static system (eg, a Muzak box hidden away somewhere).

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[Anonymous Coward]

Buy stuff at the sony store. Open it, find a defect. If you were to return such a thing, they cannot sell this opened item as new but as refurbished. It all costs money.

Check out their return policies first.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[leamanc]

I won't be turning up in a Sony store tomorrow because I haven't cared about Sony for years.

Indeed, until two months ago, I hadn't been a Sony customer for years either. In fact, the last thing I bought from Sony was a real, brand-name Walkman in 1984. It held up admirably well, until at least 1991 or 1992. Since then, it was a long time before I was impressed enough to buy a Sony anything at their asking price. By that, I mean they had some nice stuff over the years, but I didn't feel it was worth the extra cost in comparison to competitors' products. I recently got a Sony USB turntable for a good price from buy.com. Not sure I would have paid retail for it, but I digress...

The point is, the most effective boycott is to not buy their products. With Sony, this is easy, because their products are priced way high and don't offer the value to back up that high price. I suppose a PS3 might be something I would consider, if it weren't for the fact I've been buying Nintendo products since Ronald Reagan was president.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[Dan541]

Just throw out the people wearing masks. If it's Anonymous they will probably be wearing them.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[DrXym]

P.S. The best way to boycott Sony is not buying their stuff. Buy a Wii instead. That's what I do. I won't be turning up in a Sony store tomorrow because I haven't cared about Sony for years.

Because Nintendo and Microsoft are so inclusive and accepting of crackers and users breaking their copy protection aren't they? Oh wait, no they're not different at all. Just 3 examples of many. I am not sure at all why Sony gets singled out for the hate.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[kdemetter]

Just 3 examples of many. I am not sure at all why Sony gets singled out for the hate.

Because it's smarter to pick them off one by one , than to attack them all at once.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[DrXym]

So you pick them off by going to a competitor? Genius thinking. More likely is people have some irrational hatred for Sony, conveniently ignoring that nothing they are doing is out of the ordinary or even slightly unexpected for a console maker.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[tqk]

Just 3 examples of many. I am not sure at all why Sony gets singled out for the hate.

Because it's smarter to pick them off one by one , than to attack them all at once.

Nah, it's because Sony's presently persecuting George Hotz, so Sony's the target du jour.

As one guy who's not a gamer (and who owns nothing branded by any of them) looking on from the sidelines at all this BS, I wonder why the fsck you people buy this !@#$. They sell their hardware at a loss to suck you into paying exhorbitant prices for the software (games) that you'd use on it, then they sue you for using it in a way THEY didn't intend for it to be used.

WTF?!? Is it that much like crack cocaine? You HAVE to buy it, because ...

Shit, man, learn FLOSS/Linux. It's a far more interesting game than pointing at monsters on a game console, FFS.

However, to each their own. For me, I have as little respect for gamers as I have for MS & Apple slaves. WTF's wrong with you? I like the idea that you can build a supercomputer from PS3s, but if the vendor is that rabidly stupid wrt its customers, why the !@#$ do you continue to support that a-hole vendor?!? They sue you for wanting to do something other than they want you to do with something you bought and own?

You're fools for putting up with crap like this.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[Labcoat Samurai]

They sell their hardware at a loss to suck you into paying exhorbitant prices for the software (games) that you'd use on it, then they sue you for using it in a way THEY didn't intend for it to be used.

I'll decide for myself what I think is exorbitant. And as for the latter point, since I have no particular desire to use it in a way they didn't intend, the only reason for me to boycott this is to show solidarity with the persecuted (also prosecuted) few who do.

You're fools for putting up with crap like this.

Putting up with crap like what? I haven't been sued. I have no interest in modding my consoles. Apart from the removal of the Other OS functionality, which I dicked around with but never really used, I've not been personally affected in any way.

Re:If they're going to hit the employees

[Labcoat Samurai]

So Microsoft bans users with modded consoles. They don't sue them. And honestly, I'm glad they ban those people. I'm sure they think it's hilarious and fun to cheat up their gamerscore or to cheat in multiplayer games, but it diminishes the experience of players who want to do it honestly. It's intellectually dishonest to say this is the same thing.

I didn't look at your Nintendo links because.... I kinda don't care about Nintendo. So you may or may not have a point there for all I know.

Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

I really need to get out more..

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

27 in the US. Mostly along the coasts. I live probably a good 1500 miles from the nearest one.

Re:Sony has stores?

[ub3r n3u7r4l1st]

usually near the big cities with 1mil+ populations.

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's one in the nearest mall. I feel lucky.

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are even in Puerto Rico.

Re:Sony has stores?

[AliasMarlowe]

27 in the US. Mostly along the coasts. I live probably a good 1500 miles from the nearest one.

And a lot more than that in Europe. Finland alone has nine of them, six in or near Helsinki (metro pop. 1,300,000), and one each in Tampere (region pop. 300,000), outside Turku (region pop. 250,000), and in Kuopio (region pop.100,000).

Re:Sony has stores?

[Dogtanian]

The Sony Centres in Europe- or at least the UK- are independently-owned franchisees that focus on selling Sony products. Sony themselves don't operate the stores directly.

Re:Sony has stores?

[MachDelta]

Seriously? There are like, 70+ in Canada. I think there are four in my metro area alone (~1mil pop).

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple stores are modeled after Sony stores -- today forgotten fact.

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares.

Re:Sony has stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously that's why it's a forgotten fact--because no one gives a shit.

Re:Sony has stores?

[zippthorne]

Yes, but nobody actually buys anything there: The sony stores all charge MSRP for sony devices. They're just there to show off their televisions, overpriced surround-sound systems and plastic Macbook knockoffs, so that other retailers can sell things under MSRP and look like they're giving you a deal....

Re:Sony has stores?

[ranulf]

No, Sony doesn't have stores per se. At least in the UK, these stores are all franchises that pay Sony for the right to use their name. They're not owned by Sony and are pretty much next to useless if you ask them anything that you'd expect Sony to be able to handle, e.g. warranties.

This might put pressure on Sony indirectly via the store owners complaining, but this is definitely a case of annoying people who have nothing to do with what they're protesting about.

i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think a single day is going to do anything, they need to practice this religiously like every weekend or something.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[SilverHatHacker]

They've got 1000 people for a worldwide boycott. I agree, this protest will be like a dust mite crawling across Sony's monocle.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Man On Pink Corner]

Doesn't sound like much, but that will be enough to quadruple the in-store crowds around here.

I can't walk by the Sony Store in the local mall without comparing it to the Apple store a few steps away and guffawing at how far Sony has fallen from relevance. If it weren't for their gaming division, they'd be no different from Generic South Korean Electronics Co., Ltd.

And if gamers would just stop giving them money the company might actually be forced to take stock of its own behavior.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[John Saffran]

Sony (and other japanese electronics companies) still have a captive market in japan, but globally the "Generic South Korean Companies", I assume you mean Samsung or LG, are individually worth more than than the sum of all the japanese electronic consumer companies and are clearly outcompeting both japanese and chinese companies at present in most key sectors.

People who witnessed them in their heyday in the 80's and 90's might still base their comments on past reputation, but anybody keeping up with the times knows better.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's my point, it is enough to "quadruple" the in-store crowds but that's just for one day and for one store. I'm certain that a single sony store gets about 200-300 customers per day at the most, and the fact that there are dozens of stores worldwide, 1000 people here and there won't do too much especially not for one day. What they need is 10x that amount of people who are willing to participate every weekend. However, Sony can kick people out of their stores and people aren't allowed to protest inside malls so this might end up in complete failure.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure this will be modded down, but as a gamer and PS3 owner, I disagree. I don't have any complaints with Sony other than I wish that they would introduce more features to PSN. My main reason for buying the PS3 was to play games and watch blu-ray films and for this it has been great. IMHO, it's a good piece of gear (quite open for what it is) and has some really good games - and slowly, they have been introducing new features (3D, Move, etc). That's all I'm really looking for in a gaming console - not Linux, homebrew or anything else - and to that degree Sony has delivered. YMMV.

Personally, I can't wait for Uncharted 3.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[countertrolling]

The consumer divisions of all these heavy industries are like ticks on a rhinoceros. Or even more cynically, they are fronts for organized criminal counterfeiters and smugglers.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[noobermin]

And that will happen because you complain in comments on mainstream (more than it is not) website for "nerds". At least someone, or some people, are doing something.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[improfane]

You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.

3D? seriously? 'Sony has delivered'?

Do you work for NMS?

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I see, I'm a shill because I happen to disagree - is that how it works? What was meant by open is that it offers USB connections, replaceable HDs, Bluetooth peripherals - more than other consoles offer. I don't care about OtherOS - I already have a Linux box - and from what I understand from talking with friends, Yellow Dog wasn't that great to begin with. As previously mentioned, I bought the PS3 mainly for gaming and blu-rays - and it is great for that. Sorry! :-)

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[93 Escort Wagon]

They've got 1000 people for a worldwide boycott. I agree, this protest will be like a dust mite crawling across Sony's monocle.

And you're assuming all those people will actually show up and participate. On the other hand I'm betting - worldwide - the number of actual participants will be less than 20. There might be a few dozen more that show up at the store but don't really do anything an objective observer would consider "participating".

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[matt_gaia]

No, actually you're a shill for showing a bit of common sense, which doesn't work very well for the discussion. Bringing up actual facts, such as Sony just kicks people off PSN if they detect CFW, or that the actual lawsuit is about a DMCA violation tends to anger the 4chan converts here on /. You'd be better off convincing a birther that Obama is from Hawaii than convincing people that GeoHot is in court due to his own actions.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[ZombieBraintrust]

I have been really happy with Sony as well. I may spend a few bucks on the 16th to show my support for Sony. Not sure what I would spend my money on. Nothing I want at the moment.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[malkavian]

Would this, by any chance, be the same DMCA that's been decried from the very start as a Corporate lobbied removal of existing liberties?
My, I think it just might.
GeoHot happened to disagree that a corporation has the right to dictate what you can or can't do with an item you've purchased, so he worked out how to do whathe wanted on his own machine.
Now, he distributes that knowledge to a variety of people who are interested in doing the same. Personally, I'd love the ability to have the 'Other OS' functionality back on my PS3. I put my money where my mouth was in supporting the idea that it should be there (I hadn't really been much interested in purchasing a console, but I liked that a corporation would open up a console for the home brew/enthusiast crowd; the very same ideals I had when I was a kid/teenager in the 70s and 80s), and thought 'hell, I can play a game or two on it to justify the spend, and it'll be good to reward a company for even attempting to do something slightly enlightened in this age of trying to lock everything down and out. More than anything, I think I was disappointed in Sony execs. It was a dishonourable thing to do (strike a deal, then renege on it). Western companies, sure I can see them doing just that, but acting with dishonour in the Japanese culture?
Wow.
Still, I find your argument that we should all cheer on Sony because they choose to charge someone under an unethical law for attempting to regain his side of a deal that was struck at the point of payment to be a little naive.
I bought the console simply because it gave me options to do A and B.
After I buy, the company decide that now they only want me to do B. I can do A if I want, but they'll prevent me doing B for as long as I choose to do A.
Should I ever choose to do B, then I can never do A.
Someone works out a way to do A and B again, and the company immediately drag them to court.
Personally, I'd cheer anyone on who attempts to get me my original deal back again. GeoHot did that. So I applaud him for it. Yes, he's in court for his own actions, but that doesn't mean I'm on Sony's side in this; I find their dealings with me to be dishonourable. I consider the DMCA to be unethical.
Really, the USA has fallen a long way, and I somewhat suspect the idealists who started the American war of Independence would be spinning in their graves.
There was an unfair levy placed, and a stripping of liberty on the country, so they threw a whole load of tea into a harbour, and were remembered for centuries as heroes who started a rebellion. I'm a Brit, and I'm pretty much an "establishment" person. I'm still behind the guys who did this all the way.
I wasn't behind the DDOS and compromising of companies. I am behind the peaceful civil unrest of people turning round and saying "this is unjust", and spreading the message. I'm pondering taking part myself, and calmly explaining to people that anything they buy on features could suffer exactly the same fate, and that the company now has an established track record for dishonouring their point of sale promise of functionality.
Personally, I really hope the media takes this and runs with it. It'll be interesting to see how much of a PR hit Sony takes with this one, and how it starts to affect sales at time of austerity, where everyone wants to be able to rely on their vendor.
No, I don't want to see Sony fail. But I want them to understand that actions have consequences, and their action in removing the original deal has a price. And I'd really like them to understand that this may be a price that in future they'll know they don't want to pay.
Ah for an idea world. I suspect it won't hurt them that much, and they'll carry on, knowing they can renege on any deal with impunity. We, as customers, cannot.
What a lovely world us mere mortals live in 'eh? Where's that representation when you need it?

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Unkyjar]

Why use all those words? If you want to just bury your head in the sand just say it. "I don't care about other people, I just want to bury my head in the sand." See? Was that so hard?

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[countertrolling]

So much angst... over playthings and trinkets... What a waste...

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[matt_gaia]

I, in no way, think that Sony should be cheered for the way that they have behaved of the last few years.
However, to lionize GeoHot the way that the /. community (in general) has, is complete and utter bullshit. If it were not for his messing with the Hypervisor for no other reason because he could (save me all the "He wanted to help the custom firmware scene" crap.... he did it because he wanted the notoriety, and that's what he lives for), and Sony (as an over-reaction) stripped the ability to load OtherOS. I'll repeat that for the stubborn: George Hotz is the reason there is no more OtherOS on fat PS3's. You want to bitch about Sony removing it, bitch at him about it. Yes, it was a dick move by Sony, but it was perceived as a major security threat. Had Sony done nothing about it, they would have opened themselves up to many, *many* lawsuits by investors, which would make the class-action suits against them look like child's play. And parenthetically, you really have the stones to think that this somehow would compare to the American Revolution? For that amount of self-importance, are you're sure you're really not GeoHot trying more self promotion?

And after all, the point of them being a corporation is to make money. Sony did not find it in the generosity of their kind hearts to make a PS3 for the gaming for make money. The previous two versions damn near printed money for them, as well as the third one, to a lesser degree. With all of the other snafu's going on at the since the start of this generation (rootkit from their music division, piracy on the PSP, pricing themselves out of the contention at the start), they were not about to let someone break open the security on their system and let their licensing model to go hell. Whether or not you agree with it is a different argument all-together, but that's the way business are. As a rights-owner, they should have some method of keeping their security somewhat under wraps. Many parts of the DMCA are gross over-reaches, but the premise of them having some say to keep their security policies to themselves is a valid one If they lose less by going after a few people trying to compromise their security, instead of opening up themselves to shareholder lawsuits, there's going to be a hell of a less bad PR do deal with that having all of the Sony shareholders look at the company and say "WTF is wrong with you?"

Now most rational (and sane) people would probably realize this as a "shot over the bow" and think to themselves "Eh, They did throw quite the hissy-fit, so it may be a good idea to lay low," but of course, not St. George. The minute fail0verflow finds the key, which they kept fairly low-key, he takes it and broadcasts it out to the internet. For someone who already had Sony pissed for something else, that was a monumentally retarded thing to do. On top of that, he has the gall to say something to the effect of "Hey, big three game makers, if you don't want your security cracked, you better hire me." And if you take a look at *any* of the EULA's of the big 3 consoles right now, they all say *hack our shit, and you will be taken to court." The only difference this time is that Sony finally said "Enough is enough" and finally made an example of St. George.

Hopefully, Sony will have enough common sense to put back OtherOS into a future firmware, now that they shifted the signing around and re-secured the system, but I'm not holding my breath on it.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should Sony care about the consequences of their actions when GeoHot clearly doesn't.
GeoHot didn't care about the consequences when he used OtherOS to hack the hypervisor.
He has at least 30% of the blame in my mind for that feature being pulled from the PS3 fats.
If your going to protest OtherOS being pulled that is one thing. But don't waste your energy on GeoHot.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[John Saffran]

Talk about bizzare conspiracy theories .. here, have a "LOL".

But in any case, no, I'm talking about the electronics divisions (which are separate companies in their own right), not the conglomerates as a whole. Presently Japanese electronic firms are being forced into deals with taiwanese companies or being forced to look for new products types in order to compete, they still retain some reputation from the 80's and 90's but in todays world they're not the leaders of the pack, cost or quality wise.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can read someone's feeling from an internet post with 100% accuracy! Also, my hobbies and ideals are factually more important than every other person's hobbies and ideals!

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[cavreader]

So your comparing this Sony issue to the American War of Independance? The vast majority of people don't give a shit about being able to modify their game controls. There is already a remedy in place for this situation, just stop buying their products. Oh wait, that might not be enough to change Sony's policy. Because they can probably absorb the high cost of maybe losing .0003 percent of their potential customers.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to put the blame on the person who removed the feature: Sony. They're paranoid idiots who use 'piracy' as an excuse to remove legitimate features and stop people from altering their own products (or just sharing the knowledge), in my opinion. Not only can they likely not accurately prove any of their claims about losses due to 'piracy', but even if they could, it likely wouldn't be all that much, and it still would have been an unfair decision (to paying customers) even if that weren't true, in my opinion.

The point of a corporation is to make money, yes, but removing features out of seemingly illogical fear doesn't seem like it would help in that endeavor. There's no evidence that I see that it would. Besides, corporations are also run by people, who, judging by the average person's opinion on morality, should know that doing anything for money is 'wrong'. Unless they just happen to disagree with that view.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[bzipitidoo]

the point of them being a corporation is to make money.

NO! Quit repeating that. The point is to create wealth, add value to society. It is not just to "make money". Money is only a proxy, an imperfect measure of value. Why imperfect? Because there are all kinds of destructive actions that make one small group or individual richer, or only seemingly richer, at the expense of everyone else. The simplest way is outright theft. Lying is another popular one. Bribery is yet another ancient practice. Obtaining a monopoly and gouging the public is the holy grail of profit, and far too many corporations strive for that. Recently we've seen another way: Too Big to Fail. Corporations, to their shame, do all that and more, all the time. Worse, they think that's just life. It need not be! We try to maintain some civility, outlaw destructive actions, and police our corporate citizens, but it isn't easy. There will always be some crime, of course. But we must keep the fraud and deceit in check, or the system will collapse. Damn near happened in 2008, but we were able to bail everyone out. We didn't do it for their sakes, but for our own. Next time, we might not be able to, and then what? I'm not impressed with their behavior. We suffer their existence because they do add value. If ever they fail us, make such a mess that the damage they cause exceeds all possible future value, and we know of it, we can sink them. They know that. But we are very forgiving, maybe too forgiving, and they know that too. For instance, I doubt that BP could survive another disaster like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Perhaps BP should have been liquidated, and their management thrown in jail.

I really don't see what your problem with Geohot is. Even if he's an attention whore, as you allege, so what? Blaming him for Sony's actions is ridiculous. He didn't "make" them do anything. He has every right to do anything he wants with his property, EULAs be damned. And to exercise his right to free speech. All he did was point out that the Emperor Has No Clothes. Their DRM is a joke and a fraud, just like the Emperor's clothes.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

Buy a Sony Dildo and a Sony Jackhammer. Suck on the dildo and pretend it's a friendly neighborhood Japanese businessman while the jack hammer is relentlessly pounding you in the ass.

Should just be the typical experience of being a Sony customer you so cherish.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[easyTree]

Really, the USA has fallen a long way, and I somewhat suspect the idealists who started the American war of Independence would be spinning in their graves.

It makes be wonder if some of those in power haven't got some kind of dynamo gizmo hooked-up to the founding fathers' corpses.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[BitZtream]

So assuming that most of stores have only 1 or 2 people in them, so we need on average 5 people per store to quadruple the number of people in the store ... that means they can only do that in 200 stores with 1000 people ... and while I've not been in a Sony store ... I'm pretty sure that if they only have 1 person on average in them, they'd probably close them down pretty quickly to stop losing money. So while 1000 people might be able to make a difference in your area, they aren't all in your area, thats world wide ... for one day ...

It will probably enlighten at least a few people who will take the initiative to learn more about the issue.

I probably would if I saw it just out of curiosity.

However I'd also likely conclude that the protest was being done by a bunch of obnoxious douche bags who just got in my way that particular day. Not a group of people I particularly feel like being associated with. All of that assumes of course, that 1000 people spread out around the world, are going to make a difference that I would actually notice, which is unlikely.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[countertrolling]

Through your government, you have granted the corporation this authority. Do not complain when they actually use it.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll repeat that for the stubborn: George Hotz is the reason there is no more OtherOS on fat PS3's. You want to bitch about Sony removing it, bitch at him about it.

And sony have only themselves to blame for not having otherOS on the slim ps3's, otherwise geohot would have not had to make that initial hack to get otherOS on to them.

If your platform does not support linux, it becomes a target for hackers to make it run linux, sony was not a target until their newest model did not support it.

Hopefully, Sony will have enough common sense to put back OtherOS into a future firmware, now that they shifted the signing around and re-secured the system, but I'm not holding my breath on it.

They cannot possibly do that because the key revocation system is so ineffective it may as well be non-existent. Their biggest issue is they cannot update boodldr or metldr to fix this. They can of course throw other software hurdles in your way like they have with 3.6, but the systems security is truly broken, nothing short of a hardware revamp can fix this.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[westlake]

You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.

He sounds like a customer who is satisfied with what the PS3 Slim has to offer.

The PS3 Fat has been out of production since 2009. There have been seven firmware upgrades since 3.21 in April of last year.

In April 10 of this year, about 7 of the top 25 bestsellers in video gane hardware and software at Amazon.com are games for the PS3.

The PS3 is "closed" to the OtherOS.

But it is "open" to the 1080p Netflix stream with theater surround sound. The MOVE controller, sterographic 3D and so on.

Features which actually sell product in the home entertainment market.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[DrXym]

You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.

3D? seriously? 'Sony has delivered'?

Do you work for NMS?

Yeah someone must be a shill for being perfectly satisfied that their games console works as intended.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[DrXym]

I regret OtherOS disappearing but I can completely understand why it was taken away. Geohot developed a viable crack that undermined the entire platform so it was removed. People should be pissed at him rather than Sony for doing what they obviously had to do to protect their platform.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[vakuona]

No they are not. Japan is still the largest consumer electronics manufacturing country in the world. Japan is bigger than Sony. Japan has Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, NEC, JVC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Sanyo and others.

You also have to remember that the Korean companies are conglomerates, and their activity include things like shipbuilding, chemicals and even clothing. That is not to say that the Korean haven't been competing harder. They have.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[jimicus]

If they're evenly spread worldwide, we can safely assume that the odd Sony store here and there will have one person come in, decide that they'd look a bit silly trying to run a protest on their own and walk away again.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[hawkinspeter]

Sony didn't have to remove the OtherOs to protect their platform - in fact, the efforts to crack the platform intensified when they did that. I used to be a Sony customer and occasionally used the OtherOs option on my PS3 to play around with the system and that was one of the reasons that I bought a PS3. I'm now annoyed that Sony have removed an advertised feature from my console (I also use it to play games), so in future, I'm going to look to pirate PS3 games as I don't want Sony to get any more of my money

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[John Saffran]

Sorry, but your post perfectly illustrates the point I made in regards to japan still living off its reputation from the 80's and 90's .. it's still precieved to be the leader but the reality is:

One figure says it all: Combined operating profits at Japan's nine major consumer and industrial electronics makers for the most recent quarter were $1.7 billion.

Alone, South Korea's Samsung Electronics earned over twice that.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125732757764927689.html

Pretty much in black and white .. Japan is still a strong player in the electronics fields by all means, but theír role is being restricted to specialised component manufacture. They still has their niche areas, eg. cameras, game consoles, etc but the overall picture is pretty clear, which is why companies like Sony are desperately trying to create new markets that are free from competition.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[DrXym]

Sony didn't have to remove the OtherOs to protect their platform - in fact, the efforts to crack the platform intensified when they did that. I used to be a Sony customer and occasionally used the OtherOs option on my PS3 to play around with the system and that was one of the reasons that I bought a PS3. I'm now annoyed that Sony have removed an advertised feature from my console (I also use it to play games), so in future, I'm going to look to pirate PS3 games as I don't want Sony to get any more of my money

Yes they did have to remove it. Geohot demonstrated a viable attack against the hypervisor through OtherOS. The exploit was sufficient that he could run any unsigned code he liked which would have lead to custom firmware which in turn would have lead to the same situation as on the PSP. Its quite obvious the choice Sony had - either remove OtherOS now before the crack could be developed OR watch as their platform descends into rampant piracy and their 3rd party support ran a mile. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake it was not a hard choice for them to make.

I'm sure some people such as yourself were affected. I'm also sure that most of the people kicking up a stink about it now never even bothered with the feature in the first place and most probably don't even own a PS3.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[hawkinspeter]

They did have a choice as they could have played cat and mouse with upgrading firmwares to try to prevent Geohot's attack as it wasn't a complete attack. However, the PS3 platform has now been completely hacked as Sony are now in a position of trying to revoke their signing key which isn't a practical thing to do.
I think they made a grave mistake with how they handled the whole affair as they more or less forced hackers to compromise the entire code signing kaboodle. Also, suing Geohot is a bad PR move as it calls attention to the fact that the PS3 system is now permanently compromised.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[vakuona]

Profits ebb and flow. But by most measures, Japan still leads the world in electronics.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[John Saffran]

I'm not sure what your emotional investment is in japanese electronics being the best but the evidence is pretty clear, being dogmatic isn't going to change that

Just lately, belatedly, the Japanese are taking note of what Korea has done during Japan’s “lost decade.” Let me offer a shocking example of the current Japan/Korea gulf. Most Japanese consumers still don’t know who Samsung is. To my surprise, many big electronics chain stores in Japan do not even carry flat panel TVs made by Samsung – undisputedly the world’s largest LCD manufacturer.

But out of sight of consumers, the Japanese business community is abuzz with the rise of Samsung. They can’t seem to have enough of Samsung stories. Drop into any Tokyo book stores. Books and magazines with headlines like “Samsung’s global market strategies,” “Japan’s new growth plan: How not to lose to Samsung,” “Samsung’s weakness,” or “Don’t fear Samsung,” are flying off the shelf.

Or talk to any Japanese businessmen working in the electronics industry. Your conversation will inevitably turn to an analysis of Samsung.

http://eetimes.eu/en/5-reasons-why-samsung-scares-japan.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222902107

I'm sorry if that offends you in some way but it's pretty clear to anyone watching the industry.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

This part of the story has always baffled me. I can't see how the removal of OtherOS solves anything here.

If the hypervisor was bypassed, removing OtherOS from newer firmware doesn't stop existing 3.15 units from still being a custom firmware development bed. If they would have simply patched the hypervisor to not have these holes then most the hackers would have updated, got a patched hypervisor, and things would have been business as usual.

Instead, Sony opts to (illegally) remove a feature which causes those in the know to both not update their firmware, and to 'get cracking' on cracking the system. Even if their actions weren't illegal, they were still stupid. They have successfully converted many of their customers into enemies. I personally will never buy a SCE product again.

Oh yeah, I don't give a rat's ass about custom firmware as my PS3 is on 3.15 and I'm not playing new games on it. The only thing CFW could give me is the ability to use the system on February 29, 2012 due to Sony's idiotic leap year handling.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Slashdot: the only forum for discussion in the world where politely offering a counterpoint is considered "trolling". For shame, mods.

Re:i've been boycotting before anonymous...

[vakuona]

I didn't say Japanese electronics companies were the best. You are making things up. I said Japan makes the _most_ electronics good of any country and are leaders in that respect. The whole best thing is 1) subjective and 2) a strawman. And they are still incredibly innovative, and certainly dominant in some markets. (Game consoles and Digital Cameras).

What emotional investment are you talking about. I am stating facts. Japan is still the largest manufacturer of consumer electronic goods in the world. That is a cold hard fact. Of course Samsung scares the Japanese. In fact, Samsung is the single largest electronics manufacturer in the world. That is also a fact. Nokia is the world's largest mobile manufacturer. The fact that it made less profit than Apple, HTC and Samsung doesn't change that. Unless you now believe that Apple is now the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world!

Japan is still the world's largest electronics manufacturer. Samsung is bad news for Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sharp, JVC, NEC, Toshiba, LG (a fellow Korean company), Pentax, Nikon, Nintendo, etc.

Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

If Anonymous participants RSVP'd through Facebook then doesn't that make them no longer Anonymous? If they show up at a Sony store then they will be associated with the anonymous group. Are they really Anonymous?

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[rtfa-troll]

Well that depends if they signed up for facebook with their real ID or not. Maybe anonymous is really targetting idiots who use their own name on Facebook.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[stonewallred]

Every true Anon has at least one if not several troll FB IDs. That is why I take the FB claims of their user numbers with a bunch of salt.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

If Anonymous participants RSVP'd through Facebook then doesn't that make them no longer Anonymous? If they show up at a Sony store then they will be associated with the anonymous group. Are they really Anonymous?

They won't be very Anonymous after they all get booked for trespassing.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[zill]

They can get kicked out of the store, but they can't be arrested for trespassing. The "Open for business" sign in front of the store means the store is inviting the public to enter. It's not trespassing if you have been invited.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[nomadic]

It is if you've been asked to leave.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

Poser. Breaking rules 1 and 2 is off limits while trip-fagging.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is if the police ask you to leave. By then you should be long gone.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[TexVex]

I'm so Anonymous that I don't even have a FB account, and I haven't bought a piece of Sony hardware since 2001.

To post anonymously, or not to post anonymously: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Duradin]

If the property owner/renter/leasee/employee asks you to leave and you don't it's trespassing. You don't need the cops to ask, you need them to haul away the trespasser.

Re:Anonymous is Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

Its your words against his. If you stay he will call the cop, if you leave when the cop ask you he would be foolish to press charge as the burden of proof rely on the store owner. This is a store, not a private house. You only need to have a mean of payment with you to demonstrate you was a customer. I thought you would be intelligent enough to understand all this implied meaning in the original comment.

Avoid RL

[gilbert644]

These guys should avoid doing real life events, it will only underscore how few they are, constantly fighting fire with fire.

Re:Avoid RL

[Anonymous Coward]

But but but a whole 1,000 people have RSVP'd on Facebook! 1,000! On Facebook!!! We all know how big a number 1,000 is (it's not over 9,000, but it's still big!), and we all know that everything on Facebook is legit and honest, so this means SONY WILL BE SHUT DOWN!!1!1!!!

Re:Avoid RL

[guspasho]

Right, 1000 or whatever number they end up with will be nothing compared to whatever arbitrary standard we capriciously decide upon from the comfort of our computer chairs. Nevermind that it might be impressive by itself. We are so much wiser and more prescient in our cynicism. Put more generally, nobody should really ever attempt anything, because everything is futile.

Nihilism FTW!

Re:Avoid RL

[bky1701]

Because nobody ever turned out at that Scientology stuff, right? Go back to cowering in your hole.

Re:Avoid RL

[Anonymous Coward]

Put more generally, nobody should really ever attempt anything, because everything is futile.

OP is saying nothing about any other causes, he's just referring to Anonymous. Their cause here isn't without merit. But if you're going to stand up against a big bad corporation, there's better causes to back. Like corporations that fund terrorism, screw over people in third world countries by employing them in sweat shops and messing up their environment or engage in deceptive business practices (see: Big Tobacco) while lining the pockets of corrupt politicians. The right for a few folks screwing around with expensive toys in their living rooms is cause all right, but it is small potatoes compared to millions of people in need all over the world.

Re:Avoid RL

[TaoPhoenix]

Right start, but I think you missed the finish.

"Ooh - I know this one! Let's get every member of Anonymous to show up, then we can take pictures of the participant all smiling, and post them to Facebook where we can tag them and ... uh... "

These guys should avoid doing real life events ... because then they wouldn't be Anonymous anymore would they? In fact it shows how fragile the fight to keep anonymity is with mega-billions all pouring into tracking initiatives both gov and private ... and naive Web 2.0 sharers!

Re:Avoid RL

[MikeBabcock]

To avoid your silliness for a moment, Sony has several orders of magnitude more than 1000 customers.

One thousand annoyed persons is a drop in the bucket for most companies, anyone who works technical support would know that.

Most importantly, if you're going to attack someone, make it the judicial system. Sony filed suit, its the courts who allowed it. The courts in good old America are the legal barrier here, not Sony. I would expect nothing less from any other company -- sue the guy who possibly stomped on the crown jewels. Being upset at a corporation for trying to protect its assets is just moronic.

Re:Avoid RL

[Anonymous Coward]

And? Yes, things could be worse. There exists worse situations. However, that does not mean that bad situations, which still aren't as bad as some others, do not need attention. Everything need not be done separately. Also, the importance of any given situation is entirely subjective. What you may think is 'horrible' may be completely normal and/or acceptable to others.

Re:Avoid RL

[DrXym]

Are you seriously comparing the actions of a religious cult to Sony suing some cracker?

Re:Avoid RL

[sandytaru]

If you piss off Anonymous, it doesn't matter if you're a religious cult or a megacorporation. They'll break out the Guy Fawkes masks and throw a party either way.

Re:Avoid RL

[Xest]

I think you should look up the scientology proctests they did across the globe, if anything it underscores how suprisingly many there.

I was somewhat amused to be watching Louis Theroux's latest documentary about the Phelps family the other day and noticed that some of the anti-protesters had anonymous masks and so forth on. It's not the first time I've seen them at random protests either.

If anything real life protests have done them a world of good in illustrating how big and how global anonymous actually is, it's completely dispelled the myth that there's literally only just a very small group behind it. Plenty have turned out for public protest, and many times more are likely to be involved yet prefer to stick to the digital world.

What a crock of ...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's right! You too can join the movement! Head to any of several stores that stock Sony's wonderful products! Draw attention to our ..er.. Sony's array of top notch electronics! On sale now!

Don't just stop buying our goods, come see the goods that you are not going to buy. Draw attention to them! Study our wonderful gadgets that you know you want! I mean, Sony's gadgets.

As advertised, er, reported on, in PC Magazine!

Um..

[Anonymous Coward]

If you are RSVPing.. doesn't that take away the anonymity?

Japan had an Earthquake / Tsunami and now this???

[Anonymous Coward]

Hasn't Japan suffered enough?

Do they really need an army of basement dwelling losers boycotting one of their biggest companies?

...no

[Anonymous Coward]

Just continue the DDoS. A key part is the "human time spent" ratio, and having to do this kind of thing for every corporation or group that deserves it is sure to book weeks out of every person's day.

Boycott?

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Erm, don't you need to *not* show up at a store in order to boycott?

A boycott is a form of consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons.

sit-in == protest. boycott == protest. and yet, boycott != sit-in.

Re:Boycott?

[cheeks5965]

You saved me a post. I'll add the obligatory,
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Isn't a sit-in just trespassing, and won't the stores call the cops? In the past sit-ins only worked because they were at university offices and such, and the schools chose to create less of a scene and make it a teaching moment. I don't expect stores to see it that way.

Re:Boycott?

[cheeks5965]

Anonymous is staging a 24-hour, in-store boycott at Sony stores around the world

Also, I'm pretty sure the Sony Stores aren't open 24 hours...

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

You sound like you're patting yourself on the back pretty hard too, asshole.

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

You sound like you're patting yourself on the back pretty hard too, asshole.

Being a genuine idiot: the time-tested way to feel like other people are assholes. You're just mad that I burst your bubble. Next time you want to feel clever cheeks^H^H^H^H^H^H AC, be sure you have a solid basis.

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

sit-in => protest, boycott => protest, and yet, sit-in =/=> boycott.

There, fixed that for you.

Alternatively, is_a_protest(sit-in) == is_a_protest(protest), etc.

Re:Boycott?

[cheeks5965]

Hey, don't blame me. I never post AC. But I tip my hat to the kind stranger who had my back.

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, don't blame me. I never post AC. But I tip my hat to the kind stranger who had my back.

Yes you morons need strength in numbers because that's the only kind of strength you'll ever know.

You proved that idiotic dipshits need to stick together. Bravo! What an accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments ... did you figure out timezones yet?

Re:Boycott?

[SeaFox]

Erm, don't you need to *not* show up at a store in order to boycott?

This plan is fail at all levels.

If you're in a store and have demonstrated you have no intention of actually buying anything, you're just loitering. The store would be completely within their right to have you removed by police for trespassing or for being a possible shoplifter. And good luck staying "anonymous" once the police start asking for identification when they get there.

Re:Boycott?

[DrXym]

Anonymous is staging a 24-hour, in-store boycott at Sony stores around the world

Also, I'm pretty sure the Sony Stores aren't open 24 hours...

And even if they did, anyone stupid enough to move their protest from the public street into private property is goin to get their ass arrested. Criminal charges to protest a civil lawsuit. Clever.

Re:Boycott?

[dmomo]

Yeah. I find this an amusing "boycott" as well. Is it productive as a "protest"? I cannot say. I hope that a crowd at Sony doesn't simply draw a bigger crowd. "Ohh.. may as well pick up some headphones while I'm here!!"

BTW, your use of "==" confuses equivalency with implication. Change "==" to "implies, and "!=" to "does not imply", and you are golden.

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that, but the group calls itself anonymous while encouraging it's members to RSVP on their public facebook profiles and show up in person at Sony stores. My thought is that Sony will have the local police waiting for them. Looks like a clever trap to me.

Re:Boycott?

[Anonymous Coward]

1000 people spread across the world.

Sony will not actually notice the boycott unless they read this article.

Sony's gonna SLAPP

[russotto]

Those 1000 people now get a crippling lawsuit and, for a select few, a free ride to the nearest Federal holding facility for trial on bogus charges.

Boycotts are legal

[erroneus]

I'm still not going to sign anything associated with "anonymous." That's just asking for trouble. But before anonymous started making headlines, I have been vehemently against Sony and its products and my history shows it. I just hope this boycott catches on. Sony needs to be taken down a notch.

Damn you brainless consumers!! Don't you know that Sony is bad?

Re:Boycotts are legal

[countertrolling]

Damn you brainless consumers!! Don't you know that Sony is bad?

So is Ford Motor Company..

Two way street? Goose - gander? Knowwhatimean? Knowwhatimean? Nod nod.. wink wink..

Re:Boycotts are legal

[FLEABttn]

Don't you know that Sony is bad?

The question is do they care. They don't. OtherOS and any potential property rights implications are so low on the totem pole for your average person that Sony doesn't even look bad from it. It's hardly being mentioned outside of tech sites, and even then only on possibly Slashdot or homebrew sites does Geohotz sit in good favor.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony is just a company out of many. There are others who are far more important or evil, going from "defending" Asange and wikileaks to bashing a media goods company, is plain idiotic. They lost most of their political support through this and all credibility. Honestly, now they really do look like a bunch of better organized script kiddies.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, but I don't know what you mean.

The boycott against Sony (of which I've been a participant for years now) is due to their track record of anti-consumerist policies. They planted a rootkit in some of their CDs and laughed off accusations until the class-action suits came around. They retroactively removed an advertised feature from their product, and are suing their customers who are just trying to get it back. In all, undeniable evilness.

Ford Motor Company... indirectly supports Gay Marriage, which only the Christian Fundamentalists think is a bad thing.

Apples... Oranges...

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Anonymous Coward]

Um...there seems to be a misunderstanding here.

Sony is bad because they punish their own customers. They intentionally put viruses on their products, introduce incompatibility, engage in anti-competitive behavior that is harmful to the economy, deliberately cripple their own products and then sue their customers for attempting to repair the products they purchased, and so on.

What has Ford done, according to you? Supported civil liberties for American citizens? And you think this is even remotely comparable?

Re:Boycotts are legal

[zill]

Sony is just a company out of many. There are others who are far more important or evil...

There are still many murderers and rapists on the loose in the streets. Should the police just drop everything else and concentrate on the most evil crimes?

I may not agree with Anonymous' methods, but at least they're doing something instead of just complaining about how there are greater evils out there in the world.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Bacon Bits]

I'm not signing up but I'm boycotting. Of course, it's more of a de facto boycott, because I don't really own any SCEA products or things that use SCEA products. The closest thing I've come to owning an SCEA product is watching an LP of God of War and going with a friend of mine to buy a Ratchet and Clank game... used. I suppose I still have Playstation games for my PS1... but that is no longer functional.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[MikeBabcock]

Not to mention that nobody else is producing consoles that were purposely possible to hack around on using Linux.

OtherOS was disabled shortly after GeoHot posted on his blog that he'd used OtherOS to figure out a way to bypass the system protection.

Which is evil? Microsoft and Nintendo for making a heavily restricted console that never came with Linux, or Sony for offering it then taking it away when it was abused? Last I checked, I bought a PS3 specifically to support Sony for being so open minded on the PS2 and PS3 as to include Linux support at all. Also for not restricting which USB devices or hard drives I use with their products and sticking to open standards instead.

Do people even do their research anymore? No. They just all jump on a stupid band wagon like somehow Sony Music == SCEA. Just a hint: the PS3 *allows* the ripping of CDs to non copy protected files. They're totally different divisions.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[jimicus]

Do people even do their research anymore? No. They just all jump on a stupid band wagon like somehow Sony Music == SCEA. Just a hint: the PS3 *allows* the ripping of CDs to non copy protected files. They're totally different divisions.

That's not just lack of research, that's complete failure to understand how sizeable businesses work.

Hint: With few exceptions, many (maybe most) sizeable businesses contain a number of broadly independent units that are free to make their own decisions and the only reporting they have to do to the very top is to show how much money they've made. It's actually pretty rare for them to all have to toe a particular party line - it's certainly not unusual to find that the only common thing between a number of divisions is the brand name they sell under.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[PRMan]

Xboxes are severely hacked. How many customers has Microsoft sued? Zero.

Wiis have a homebrew channel. How many Wii users are kicked off the network or sued?

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Raenex]

Last I checked, I bought a PS3 specifically to support Sony for being so open minded on the PS2 and PS3 as to include Linux support at all.

And they explicitly removed the Linux option, which was one of the reasons you bought the device.

Also for not restricting which USB devices or hard drives I use with their products and sticking to open standards instead.

Check your User Agreement for the PlayStation Network. You are only allowed to use Sony approved and licensed devices.

I switched from a 360 to a PS3 about a year ago, but decided I've had enough. From the Gestapo tactics against Geohot and anybody he may have associated with, to not being able to use the speaker out on my monitor when renting a movie, to stupid User Agreements that run on for pages and pages long just to play a fucking game, I've finally had enough.

Not one more fucking dime for Sony. Fuck Microsoft and Nintendo, too. They're both dicks in their own ways. I'll hack my PS3 hardware, not to pirate games, but to tinker with. I'm sure the homebrew scene for PS3 is going to blossom.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[MikeBabcock]

Check your User Agreement for the PlayStation Network. You are only allowed to use Sony approved and licensed devices.

Chapter and verse please.

I've read it through several times before, and I can't be bothered doing it again, but nowhere does it prohibit the use of random third party devices. It also doesn't use any form of internal protection to prevent it. Go ahead, plug in a Dell keyboard or use a ThinkGeek roll-out Bluetooth one. They'll both work fine. Its called conforming to standards. My new PS3 slim has a DLink 7 port powered USB 2.0 hub attached so I can charge more peripherals while leaving my steering wheel and Eye plugged in. Works great. So does my Epson printer (yes, you can print full colour photos from a PS3 directly).

Notably of course in your mind, this didn't happen and neither did Microsoft suing over its own mod chip issues.

PS no there's no difference between suing "the hacker" who cracks a system and "the company" who sells the devices in question. If you think there is, you can debate that philosophical issue elsewhere.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Raenex]

Chapter and verse please.

"You agree that you will not use any unauthorized hardware, including peripherals not sold or licensed by a Sony company such as, by way of example only, non-licensed game enhancement devices, controllers, adaptors and power supply devices (collectively, "Non-Licensed Peripherals") or software to access or use Sony Online Services or any content or service provided on or through Sony Online Services."

http://us.playstation.com/support/useragreements/termsserviceagreemt/

I've read it through several times before, and I can't be bothered doing it again

Yeah, that was the final straw with me. You had to agree one more time to a legal agreement pages and pages long just to play some games. Fuck it, among everything else, I'm just sick of the corporate bullshit.

It also doesn't use any form of internal protection to prevent it. Go ahead, plug in a Dell keyboard or use a ThinkGeek roll-out Bluetooth one. They'll both work fine. Its called conforming to standards.

Which is great, except then there's this bullshit license agreement saying you can't do that while online.

Notably of course in your mind, this didn't happen and neither did Microsoft suing over its own mod chip issues.

You have me confused with somebody else. I'm not an apologist for Microsoft or Nintendo when it comes to game consoles.

Re:Boycotts are legal

[Anonymous Coward]

I Agree sony is making every ones life harder trying to take every ones Ip addres i dont agree with Sony never will not joining the boycott Play Microsoft

Re:Japan had an Earthquake / Tsunami and now this?

[stpere]

Hmm, that argument doesn't hold very far IMO.. they could save a lot more money by just withdrawing the lawsuit altogether versus what they are going to lose from this action.

ObFuturama

[istartedi]

Bender: Hear me, hear me! Stop eating Popplers! Stop eating them with honey mustard sauce......stop eating them with tangy sweet and sour sauce. Stop eating the new fiesta Poppler salad. Stop taking advantage of the money-saving 12-pack. Stop enjoying Popplers on the patio, in the car, or on the boat. Wherever good times are had! Ow!

Re:ObFuturama

[steelfood]

I'm not sure this is nearly as applicable. For market leaders in mature markets, publicity isn't necessarily to gain relevancy, but to stay relevant. "Any publicity is good publicity" only really applies to small companies trying to gain consumer mindshare. The Sony brand has enough consumer mindshare that I'm pretty sure the only direction left for them to go is down. And, they have sufficient competition that the competition can use the negative to promote their own products.

For example, Nintendo or Microsoft could market their console as fully-featured for the lifetime of the unit--features that won't suddenly disappear on the whim of somebody else.

Re:ObFuturama

[kobaz]

The proper phrase is "For all intents and purposes"

Don't say: For all intensive purposes | Do say: For all intents and purposes
Comment: The younger generation is mispronouncing this phrase so intensively that it has become popular both as a mispronunciation and misspelling.
--http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html

Re:ObFuturama

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that make's me wanna literally beg teh question.

Re:ObFuturama

[Anonymous Coward]

this is the first time i've ever seen anyone *whoosh* on a sig.

Re:ObFuturama

[Anonymous Coward]

Mistakes like that are a diamond dozen. Don't worry about it.

Re:ObFuturama

[frenchbedroom]

Flied right above your head, didn't it ?

Re:ObFuturama

[Anonymous Coward]

4chan thinks its funny to deliberately get this wrong now. you have been trolled. although they are still idiots and you were right to correct them.

Re:ObFuturama

[kobaz]

I didn't even mention that the rest of it is all wrong. Heh. It's a weird joke I suppose.

Re:ObFuturama

[zippthorne]

Woosh.

Re:ObFuturama

[Anonymous Coward]

Neither phrase was used in the parent post.

Sign me up.

[Anonymous Coward]

May be it's connected to anonymous, but something needs to happen.

YEAH!

[Anonymous Coward]

That'll show them!

You guys serious?
Not only will you get thrown out, you will cause a scene that will end up getting more people towards the store.
Shit doesn't work.

Morons being morons.

Re:YEAH!

[SuricouRaven]

Who actually buys from the Sony store anyway? They don't have a loyal cult like Apple does. I imagine almost all their sales are via other retail channels.

Re Anonymous?

[Anonymous Coward]

More to the point, don't you need to *not* show up a store and identify yourself to be "anonymous"?

This entire idea is laughable from start to finish.

If only Sony could get pictures or video of it...

[Captain Spam]

So let me get this straight. A group whose primary strength lies in maintaining an air of mystery and anonymity on the internet is going to stage a real-life sit-in boycott.... in the stores of a company which makes and/or sells a significant amount of image and video recording equipment. Much of which is on-display and functional in said stores, or otherwise easily accessible. And they're warning them about this beforehand.

Oooooookay...

WTF???

[lennier1]

Boycott it only on that day? Wouldn't that make them plain old hypocrites?

Call me old-fashioned but shouldn't Sony products be avoided anyway if there's a reasonable alternative?
Hidden stuff (e.g., LCD panels) is a different story, similar to products where Sony is involved as shareholders. But at least try to avoid Sony-branded stuff (TV, laptops, ...).

Re:WTF???

[Anonymous Coward]

> shouldn't Sony products be avoided anyway

Exactly - I don't know why anyone would buy anything from Sony, given their behavior since years. Who's still giving them money? And would you cut it out already?

Re:WTF???

[Lehk228]

sounds like it's more of a combination sit-in meatspace DDOS than a "boycott"

show up ask dumb but plausible questions, use up resources but don't buy anything.

Re:WTF???

[Rizimar]

Reminds me of when people would post chain messages on MySpace's bulletins saying how that on some special day, they were going to boycott oil corporations and not fill up at a pump. Those people posting didn't realize how stupid and pointless it was considering that it's only for a day, you continue to drive, and you are still going to fill your tank before and after that event.

Re:WTF???

[Rizimar]

Sounds just like Whirl-Mart, which is where people protest by showing up to stores in huge groups and aimlessly walk around the store without putting any items in their carts to make it harder for actual shoppers to spend money there.

Though, I think that the best way to go about things successfully would be to inform the public why they should participate in a legitimate boycott without resorting to jackassery if at all possible.

Re:WTF???

[PRMan]

Shouldn't everyone be buying Sony products at various retailers, opening all the packaging, and then returning the complete items? This would cost Sony and their retailers a great deal of money. This erases profits on Sony merchandise and causes triggers on return rates which get Sony products booted from retailers.

I mean, if you are going to do something, at least make it effective.

Re:WTF???

[enoz]

That's a comparatively brilliant plan, if enough people take part then stock will disappear from the shelves - preventing real customers from purchasing. I wish I had mod points to give.

Philosoraptor

[Anonymous Coward]

If Anonymous shows up in person, are they still Anonymous?

One-day boycott is dumb

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless it's something you have to buy everyday. So I buy the day before or after.

Even worse, this is limited to Sony stores. I'd love to see their percentages versus Sony products sold in WalMart and Best Buy.

Reminds me of those gas boycotts.

Want to make change? If a couple million PS3's and all games all hit GameStop, eBay, etc and the like on the same day, the flood would cripple the market value of said console. Problem: you'd have to give up your PS3. Moral: you can't simultaneously boycott someone and be their bitch.

Re:One-day boycott is dumb

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome post. Pity it'll never be modded up.

I protested with my wallet too...

[mykos]

...by giving graf_chokolo and geohot money. My household is free of Sony products too, and has been that way since the rootkits.

Re:If only Sony could get pictures or video of it.

[Anonymous Coward]

This isn't that anonymous, this is the other anonymous, anonymous.

If it isn't obvious...

[noobermin]

In a reply to most of the commenters out there who seem to think either anonymous is forsaking anonymity or that this won't help practically, please realize this is in a way a symbolic protest against Sony. Hell, all protests are symbolic, holding up some sign and chanting nice words doesn't change anything, but it gathers attention to your cause, which is very important if you are a minority.

Yes the boycotts actually accomplish more, etc, but this at least demonstrates a more visible opposition to them which again is important.

One Day Boycott? You pusses.

[Sarusa]

After the Geohot site visitor account rape-age I'm on a one decade boycott of all Sony products.

But from RTFA, it looks like this is more of a sit-in. I guess Anonymous are all too young to know what a 'sit-in' is.

Re:One Day Boycott? You pusses.

[Anonymous Coward]

They are too young. They've run out of legitimate targets so are going after The Man stopping them from pirating His video games.

Fuck Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Again.

(sure get alot of mileage out of that since the rootkits)

My home is 100% sony brand free. Has been since they pulled the rootkit crap. Will remain so until... forever. Fuckem.

Sony?

[Sj0]

This may be a silly question, but who still buys Sony anyway?

They're constantly trying to shove their expensive, non-standard shit down everyone's throat, leaving you with devices whose removable memory costs several times more than the standards everyone else uses.

I understand that the Playstation 3 has some great games, but why support a company that's consistently more interested in building an empire than working with its customers?

Re:Sony?

[ZombieBraintrust]

Empire builders do interesting things. You can't do anything interesting without being disruptive. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft all broke the law to get where they are at. They all pissed off some people. Anon is using Facebook to organize this event. How ironic is that? Why are they not boycotting Facebook over the privacy breaches. How many of these people are going to rsvp using their Jailbroken IPhones? Or their rooted Androids? People forgive companies for making mistakes if they put out good product. Also going after GeoHot is good for Sony's customers. I expect and want them to keep pirates, hackers, and cheaters off the PSN. His hobby is too break stuff. Why should I support that? When he did it for the IPhone it provided a useful service the market wanted. Namely using an IPhone on another carrier. What did breaking the security on the PS3 give us?... A subpar Linux box? 20 year old Zelda roms? He needs to work on his message about how he added value before he gets my support.

Re:Sony?

[Gravatron]

Because the games are awesome, duh. The playstation part of sony has been pretty good to it's fans over the years, and really made up for the initial troubles with the ps3 by pushing out good games and adding some nice stuff to the firmware such as the media center functions, videostore, etc. They are no more interested in an empire then any other game maker and have in fact been more open with their console then Nintendo or MS has.

Re:Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

You develop homebrew and tinker with your xbox 1, you can't play online, and it voids the warrenty. And true tinkerers don't care because we never even use a warrenty, and you don't mind buying another xbox if you want to play online. Same with nintendo, same with every other console/ebook reader/phone (now)/car/consumer product (besides medical equipment like wheel chairs for some reason). Though, sony, won't just block you from psn, and ban your console from online play and take away your warrenty, they say, sue the hell out of anyone who tinkers with their devices. Can you get a SDK for your ps3 to tinker on? No. Can you run linux on it anymore? No. Did they advertise that you could? Yes. Your theory of most open is flawed. At least with the xbox you can get a C# SDK to build your own software. And if you get caught running signed code on it, microsoft isn't going to sue you, they will just release a patch and voila, you can't play on live.

Re:Sony?

[Mad Leper]

Nothing wrong with Sony products, I've recently spent $800 on a Sony camera and have about 5 Sony products in the house. The few times I've needed warranty support they've been very helpful, and I've had no issues with compatibility.

The subject has come up at work and any talk of boycotting Sony is met with laughter. I'm convinced the only people claiming to boycott Sony products are a very small minority of angry loners doing it out a "holier than thou" attitude to impress their fellow trolls.

Re:Sony?

[Sj0]

I frankly don't trust the submitters in this thread much further than I can throw them. The universal support for Sony smacks of paid astroturfers. Fake grassroots is part of their modus operandi, so I'm inclined to believe all of you are actors.

Re:Sony?

[MikeBabcock]

Sigh. So yeah, my PS3 came with a compact flash reader, standard USB ports, standard HDMI connector, standard S/PDIF connector, standard IEC power plug, standard bluetooth for controllers, standard SATA user-replaceable hard drive ... ... their competitors? not so much. Yes, Sony also has memory stick support. Guess what, the PS3 isn't memory-stick only ... and the slims don't have memory slots at all any more. Name me something non-standard and proprietary about the PS3 that matters.

Re:Sony?

[MikeBabcock]

The subject has come up at work and any talk of boycotting Sony is met with laughter. I'm convinced the only people claiming to boycott Sony products are a very small minority of angry loners doing it out a "holier than thou" attitude to impress their fellow trolls.

Exactly. Sony doesn't make inferior or crappy product, and as a consumer, I appreciate a company I know will try harder and harder every year to be on the top of their game in their product lines. Sony TVs are frequently the best in the world, Sony portable music players are often some of the best available, Sony professional headphones are quite decent (although I use DT770s myself), etc., etc. ... ... where are all these terrible Sony products exactly? I don't see them.

Re:Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the games are awesome, duh. The playstation part of sony had been pretty good to it's fans over the years, and really made up for the initial troubles with the ps3 by pushing out good games and removing some things you paid for while adding some nice stuff to the firmware such as the media center functions, videostore, etc. They were no more interested in an empire then any other game maker and had in fact been more open with their console then Nintendo or MS has, until recently.

FTFY.

Re:Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

True, they were more open at the start and lured in a lot of users, myself included, that way. Then they switched and became excessively aggressive, removing the OtherOS option etc etc...

I have learned my lesson. I just bought a new TV and no Sony model was even a candidate to receive my 1000-1500EUR budget. (My wallet ended up voting for a Samsung one.)

Re:Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh noes, someone on the internet disagrees with me. They must be paid to do it.

Re:Sony?

[ilsaloving]

How has Apple and Facebook broken the law? Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. Sony, among other things, actively destroyed people's computers with their rootkits (and how you can classify something like that a 'mistake', I have no idea...)

I'm not aware of Apple or Facebook doing anything genuinely criminal. They're obnoxious companies, for sure, but I'm not aware of them doing anything that would have gotten a normal person jail time.

Re:Sony?

[ydrol]

> Sony doesn't make inferior or crappy product,

Sony have two tiers of products IMO

1. Top tier - good quality stuff - but generally overpriced when compared to similar class products from competitors. In UK , Sony have always resisted their stuff being "on sale" or "discounted". You pay extra just for that badge/brand.

2. Bottom Tier - Below average - cheaper stuff - usually made in same factory as other "cheaper" brands - and just "badged" with Sony , and trading off of their reputation in Tier 1. (A lot of other manufacturers do this though)

I personally avoid Tier 2 stuff from any manufacturer. For Tier 1 stuff , bargains are often had by looking at other brands.

eg. TV Sony do make some of the best LCDs at a certain price point, but I prefer Panasonic Plasma.

Their DVD/Bluray etc are always crippled by firmware that is years behind cheap Chinese players. in terms of media playback.

Its just a brand that , whist good at certain price points, does not represent value for money for me. But some of my less technical friends swear by it. At least one did until he saw my Panny Plasma in action..

Re:Sony?

[Anonymous Coward]

...but why support a company that's consistently more interested in building an empire than working with its customers?

Yeah, everyone should go get xboxes instead... oh, wait...

Re:Sony?

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Hey! Wanna hear a joke? OK, here goes:

Question: What's the difference between offering goods/services for sale, and shoving them down people's throats?
Answer: How much people like you!

Not funny? Yeah, I didn't laugh either. Maybe because it's not so much a joke as it is a cold hard fact.

(Nothing against you personally; I just have an axe to grind.)

Re:Sony?

[MikeBabcock]

This is called abusing my Karma ... because seriously, the parent (my own) isn't trolling and such moderation stinks of abuse.

Re:Sony?

[Sj0]

If it's Sony, and it's universal, then yes. Blame Sony if you don't like it. They're the ones who poisioned the discourse.

Potentially a whole lotta nothin'

[gront]

Pretty big gamble by members of the anonymous crowd: if the giant massive preplanned SHOW OUR STRENGTH RAR! sit-in ends up being 12 fat guys, 3 furries, and a couple of abhumans that finally left their parent's basement, the anon-movement will take a giant credibility hit. Kinda like when the brought down Amazon.com for a couple minutes... really showed 'em then!

Re:Potentially a whole lotta nothin'

[belgianguy]

Yeah, I assumed they were planning on executing a "real life" Denial Of Service attack: overcrowding a store to the point that it can no longer service requests... Then again, showing up somewhere in real life has a nasty side-effect of not being anonymous anymore, which could possibly discourage some armchair rebels.

On top of that, the main point in a DOS attack is that many resources focus on a single target for a short amount of time for maximum mayhem and chaos. In this case they seem to target every Sony store, dispersing their strength into infinitesimal small portions, probably causing little to no overload and thus not disrupting anything. Such an outcome would indeed paint a less flattering picture of the collective.

Hitting Sony where it hurts will be difficult, if not impossible. Following HBGary's PR disaster, a lot of firms have teched/lawyered up, and they are, well, expecting them, so to say. Perhaps instead of attacking the behemoth that is Sony, they stand a better chance protecting the hackers/homebrewers from HBGary lookalikes when push comes to shove, provide them with a platform, give them a face...

Re:Potentially a whole lotta nothin'

[Anonymous Coward]

I think this is going to go over about as well as the Thanksgiving TSA nudie scanner boycott: nobody will notice that it even happened.

Re:Potentially a whole lotta nothin'

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean like This?

Re:Potentially a whole lotta nothin'

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty big gamble by members of the anonymous crowd: if the giant massive preplanned SHOW OUR STRENGTH RAR! sit-in ends up being 12 fat guys, 3 furries, and a couple of abhumans that finally left their parent's basement,

You really think furries are gonna associate them with a bunch of /b/-tards? Naw, count us out. You'll have to do with the 12 fat guys and the couple of parental-basement-dwellers.

Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[jafo]

A friend of mine has a theory that Anonymous is backed by the US government to help them gain support for further eroding our privacy. My initial reaction was "that's crazy", but then it reminded me of Operation Northwoods, which had the backing of every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[TaoPhoenix]

Okay, some really good comments here down the page, like yours.

First, Anonymous is going to get stuck in a lexico-logical trap in that the word "Anonymous" is like trying to count on a finger - you can't even parse the results grammatically sometimes. "(Some members of) Anonymous organized the boycott, but (other members of) Anonymous disagreed."

Above your comment, poster said that at the moment Anonymous did manage to gain just the barest bit of credibility. They've moved up that scale from "first you ignore them, then you ....". That poster wondered if they would sink under ridicule when only low tier members of society actually showed up.

You raise the point that they also have an Authentication problem that's actually a really good topic for the techies here. How do you certify communications as "legit Anonymous" without being various infiltrating moles? I would qualify your statement that the *original* members of Anonymous were definitely anti-system politically, but by now the integrity of the original group is under attack by fiendish agents orchestrating stuff.

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[ZombieBraintrust]

Nah, the truth is probably more simple than that. In the United States you have a ton of spending on Internet Security. That equates to a 1000's of people working in that field. Some of them like the job enough they keep doing it off the clock. Most of them have common biases and interests.

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cryptosignatures.

Bitcoin is an example of this. By signing someone's public key with your crypto signature they can accumulate "cred". When a user with high "cred" signs someone's crypto key, it essentially certifies his legitimacy. If you salt the public key with the month, you can "re-issue" credentials on a monthly basis like santa claus.

If the public key requires a significant processing investment, you minimize the ability of diluting new membership tactics. eg. Bittorrent uploads/rainbow table generation & hosting

The most important concept is that leaderless resistance can maintain democratic credibility tracking systems through the use of "like button" type reputation systems and a browser plugin for managing the crypto backend..

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

Anonymous is an internet meme. The reason why that name is still been use by some is because mainstream media still bite on that shit. I would have expect slashdoters to know that by then.

Authentication is evil. Set your password to an empty string. Lose worthless. Gain freedom.

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[Anonymous Coward]

I am going to acknowledge your point. It was an idea in my crazy mind as well, but now I have some more background, this reminds me of MK Ultr@.

Re:Theory on who is behind Anonymous...

[sandytaru]

No. There is no organization behind Anonymous, there is only /b/ and really bored dudes who really can't stand Tom Cruise, and these days, who watch My Little Pony every Friday.

Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[Ron Bennett]

Great that some are committed at going after Sony through public protests. But do such protests really work? Or are they just public spectacles that get lost in the mass-media 24/7 news cycle...

Civil disobedience at a large enough level can be effective, such as so many people breaking the speed limit that finally the U.S. Federal mandated 55MPH limit was repealed in the mid-1990s.

However, it seems few people really care about DRM to go out of their way to knowingly break the law, let alone do so publicly.

Not sure what the answer is other than throwing a lot of money at politicians to change the laws (DMCA for starters), but good luck outbidding Sony, Disney, et al in that pursuit.

Not sure what the answer is other than individuals and small groups seeking out hardware mods / DRM crackers and sharing them among friends ... and over time, if enough people do likewise, maybe change will occur at a large-scale level, but if it doesn't, at least one will still get much of the benefits now within their local group of friends, family, etc; their tribe so to speak.

Ron

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[Ron Bennett]

Opps, should have used preview first ... wrote "Not sure what the answer is ..." twice. With that said, despite the poor grammar, that repetition emphasizes the helplessness / hopelessness many feel these days.

Ron

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[Anonymous Coward]

However, it seems few people really care about DRM to go out of their way to knowingly break the law, let alone do so publicly.

To be honest, unless you grew up literally ON the Internet, or spend a majority of your time on the Internet as a hobby (or in most cases here, an addiction), you probably don't know much about DRM at all. I have friends and family that aren't at all Luddites, yet when I explain to them things like DRM, targeted marketing, and such... they all look at me like I'm a lunatic. I get responses of "Possession is 9/10ths of the law. I own it and I can do what I want with it. Let them try and sue me." or "Why would they care what color nail polish I look at online? Get real... No one's out there tracking everyone. You're paranoid."

I've given up. There's far too many people out there that don't know how good they had it. They don't realise that every day they're losing more rights/privileges because of corporate lobbying and the vast wealth (and thus ability to litigate) acquired by these massive corporate entities. Honestly, with everything else going on in the world, the average American has 100 other things to worry about that take precedence than worrying about a boycott or a sit-in. Bankers responsible for the wholesale theft of an entire nations retirement funds, the judiciary and banks (again) milling out foreclosures to steal your lands and property, the defense contractors and politicians have us on the brink of WWIII, record level unemployment has the crime rate rapidly increasing again across the country (after a period that brought us to our lowest crime rate), oh, and can't forget that the level of education is steadily declining, too... ...But don't worry folks, because Sony makes 3D TV's. You can see Snookie spray on her orange tan... IN 3D!!! What was the topic about again? Fuck it... gonna go play some 3D PS3.

Ignorance is bliss.

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[ZombieBraintrust]

I think the spectacle would be better served if it targeted politicians or Judges instead of Sony.

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[MikeBabcock]

The Playstation3 lets you rip your CDs to unprotected high quality AAC files on the hard drive, then transfer them to external storage of any kind by USB. Last I checked, the only DRM the PS3 cares about is the games they sell for it.

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[Tanuki64]

If you say so.

Cinavia was first introduced into the PlayStation 3 with the November 19, 2009 update of the system software to 3.10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinavia

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[halowolf]

Ask McDonalds if they are effective :)

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[vakuona]

And this proves what exactly?

Re:Are Public Protests Effective in 21st Century?

[Tanuki64]

It contradicts the parents statement that "the only DRM the PS3 cares about is the games they sell for it".

why?

[Anonymous Coward]

wouldn't "anyonymous" be better off sticking to what they do best (and are best known for), that being as far as I know execution of ddos attacks?

i don't see how anything offline is going to even make a dent in sony's bottom line let alone pursuade its ceo to do anything about it

i wouldn't be too worried about harming sony customers by ddos'ing sony's public servers. if you're stupid enough to buy stuff from sony that requires continued dependence on it then you deserve a reality check. imagine not being able to play your playstation games for a while... so terrible. if the ddos attacks continued long term perhaps these poor unfortunate pawns might even wake up and buy something else that worked. that might also draw some response from sony.

i personally don't care much for online gaming. i'd rather spend my time programming while listening to music through my sony receiver :)

Re:why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, that makes sense. Show those plebes how terrible Sony is by hitting their servers and disrupting service for the plebes. I'm sure they'll join your side. Bottom line is that 99% of people 1) don't know about, 2) aren't affected by, and 3) don't care about Sony's misdeeds.

Re:why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you ever see the scientology protests?

Facebook login REQUIRED?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would really like to know more, buta FACEBOOK ACCOUNT is REQUIRED. After a quick search for more, I am disappointed to find all roads leading to this article. There are a lot of us out here who will never have a facebook login (just don't trust them with any info about me, which kinda kills the point of facebook). *** I suggest a substantial number of potential armchair sympathists will be put off by the FACEBOOK LOGIN REQUIRED link for additional info (note to Anonymous).

Re:Facebook login REQUIRED?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would really like to know more, buta FACEBOOK ACCOUNT is REQUIRED. After a quick search for more, I am disappointed to find all roads leading to this article. There are a lot of us out here who will never have a facebook login (just don't trust them with any info about me, which kinda kills the point of facebook). *** I suggest a substantial number of potential armchair sympathists will be put off by the FACEBOOK LOGIN REQUIRED link for additional info (note to Anonymous).

Here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Re:If only Sony could get pictures or video of it.

[Anonymous Coward]

So let me get this straight. A group whose primary strength lies in maintaining an air of mystery and anonymity on the internet is going to stage a real-life sit-in boycott.... in the stores of a company which makes and/or sells a significant amount of image and video recording equipment. Much of which is on-display and functional in said stores, or otherwise easily accessible. And they're warning them about this beforehand.

Oooooookay...

I smelled IRL honeypot, too...

tinfoil hats for all!

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

So, will Sony be paying anonymous for all this free advertising? "Down with the man! Down with the sys... Oooh, shiny! How much for this?!?"

I'm voting with my feet... or money in this case

[Thraxy]

I'm looking for a new camcorder and will not be buying Sony for two reasons. The first reason is I don't like them anymore after they started suing their customers and the second reason, I have lots of SD cards lying around, so I don't want to buy something where I have to invest in a different standard.

Re:Color me unimpressed

[ZombieBraintrust]

Sony should throw a sale that day. Stuff an Anon might want.

TV-B-Gone

[brain159]

Just throwing this out there, I'm not available to go do this myself, but a TV-B-Gone or similar "universal TV turner-offer" device would be useful for this action. Even if you're not visibly obviously "doing protesting", you can help Sony reduce their carbon footprints by turning off all their store display TVs for them.

Re:TV-B-Gone

[JockTroll]

That would be a smarter way to do it. Another would be to put anti-theft powder on DVD covers. People don't like it when their hands turn purple and they can't wash it off. Or set off an OC canister. Takes two person, one lookout and one to do it, but you can do it with one. What about targeting their security cams with blue lasers from outside? Funny thing too. Set off the fire alarm? Other interesting little prank. May cause some panic. Remember, the goal is disruption. Make it so that people won't like to come back.

Re:If only Sony could get pictures or video of it.

[ZombieBraintrust]

Maybe they will wear masks? I think this is more of a feel good party than a boycott. Show up someplace easy to get to. Wear a mask. Get a thrill when the mall cop asks you to leave. Network with like minded people later.

Same one ?

[fractalspace]

Is he "The" Anonymous ?

Yeah, right

[anyaristow]

It's easy to say, while sitting at your computer in your underwear, that you'll do something. It's another matter to actually show up in meatspace.

Nobody will notice, and the few that show up won't find anyone protesting and will be too embarrassed to stay. If three show up they won't even know the others were there.

Not a member but quite a fan

[Anonymous Coward]

While I may not be a member of the group, in fact I wouldn't know where to even being a hacking anything. (I cant even fix my garbage disposal) I am a major fan of what anonymous does to protect the rights of consumers worldwide. I feel like all too often big corporations get to do things that are very unethical, like in the case of sony. Selling a product, then changing features, then suing people who want to modify their own product. Copyright, Trademark, and Patent laws around the world are designed to protect the creator of a product from having another entity take it, copy it, and sell it as if it is the same product. These laws were never designed to enforce the METHOD OF USE for a product AFTER it is sold nor does the law fully support this concept in most countries. These laws do however cover duplication, resale. These laws specifically do not cover live reproductions (I.E. Live Covers in the case of music), parody, or anything that is not a public broadcast in it's original form. If it is a crime to put out a paper about the PS3 then it is also a crime to open one up and show pictures, however I don't see Sony suing review sites. I am a big consumer rights activist, and I like to see these multi-nationals take one on the chin when they abuse their consumers, break ethical rules, and use the courts as a way to strong arm people into admitting (incorrectly) that they have committed a crime I will say, Sony electronics was almost out of business prior to the release of the PS3. The result was to fire their japanese CEO, put the Sony America CEO in charge of the whole company (Sony Electronics) then let it ride on the hope that the PS3 (and blueray) platform would take off. Literally they are such a terrible company and so completely incompetent as a business that they were about to close their doors on the entire electronics division. (which is a separate company) So I don't think a boycott of their already failing products (all electronics lines aside from blueray/PS3) will affect them. Sony only makes money on publishing at this point. The only way to affect them is to interfere with their development cycle, which would need to be more than a DDoS attack, it would need to be a break-in/destruction of development of some sort be it game licensing or movies. Just my 2C P.S. I dont buy sony product because the low end ebay made in china ships from hong kong garbage lasts longer than any sony stuff I've owned in the last 15 years. Not just because they are an "evil corporation" as so many seem to think.

Nice to see they know the real enemy!

[Quiet_Desperation]

Here in California was basically have organized crime for a state government, but, yeah, Sony is such a big menace to me and mine.

Re:Nice to see they know the real enemy!

[dadelbunts]

So go do something about it instead of complaining about people that do something about what they find unjust.

Joining my boycott, eh?

[Maxo-Texas]

I had an incredibly bad customer service situation back in the early 2000's with Sony.

I have not bought a Sony product since. It's never been a challenge to find an equivalent product or do without for a while til one became available.

I know it's a bit irrational- but it's my money and their customer service was unhelpful and then rude. I don't need to give money to a company like that.

Re:Joining my boycott, eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Like Maxo-Texas I was shafted by Sony last year, so I've already started my boycott and will continue til the day I stop buying electronics. Also haven't had a problem finding replacements...

Re:If only Sony could get pictures or video of it.

[Riceballsan]

Masks are certainly an option, this isn't the first action of anon in the real world, there were quite a few gatherings outside the church of scientology, most wore masks, usually also blasting Rick Astley or Fresh prince music from the outside.

Idiots unhinged from reality

[Legal.Troll]

If they stopped to pay attention to the real world, they'd realize this isn't a boycott; it's a protest which they are not entitled to carry out. These kids will be escorted from Sony property, and rightly so. I imagine a significant fraction of them will be unable to maintain their composure and will do something violent and get himself arrested. Unsurprising.

Re:Idiots unhinged from reality

[JockTroll]

That's why you must plan it differently: when the local rent-a-cop thugs show up all ready to show their authority, pull out the guns (you're not telling me you're not bringing any, do you?) and shoot them dead on the spot. Two shots to the chest. Execute any survivor with a head shot. Take the store manager and cut his throat before the assembled employees, then get their IDs. Explain to them that you have nothing against them but if they talk to the cops you will assassinate one of their families' member. Torch the place, leave. What's so difficult about that?

Dream on.

[westlake]

Hmm, that argument doesn't hold very far IMO.. they could save a lot more money by just withdrawing the lawsuit altogether versus what they are going to lose from this action.

There are 27 Sony stores in the United States.

2,800 Walmart Superstores.

Where you will find the PS3 comfortably positioned among big screen HDTV sets and rack after rack of console video games, DVD and Blu-Ray videos.

Re:I'm voting with my feet... or money in this cas

[Mad Leper]

I'm curious, exactly what "customers" have they sued? No-one I know who has purchased Sony products had been sued, and I'm sure that people who crack consoles to play pirated games are not customers in the proper sense.

Someone who purchases a hardware product then violates the TOS by distributing hacked software they do not have a right to might be considered a customer that may have legal problems in the future, but would a person who shops at a grocery store and is caught shoplifting be considered a criminal or a customer first?

Monday, April 18, 2011 Breaking News!

[countertrolling]

Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for Sony Online Entertainment LLC, Laura Naviaux resigned today in disgrace due to the unexpected effectiveness of Saturday's boycott... A replacement will be before the end of the week..

Tuesday, April 19, 2011:

The Prime Minister of Japan has announced the creation of a new copyright enforcement department with full police powers and licensed to kill. Former Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for Sony Online Entertainment LLC, Laura Naviaux has been assigned to head up the operation, and will work with full diplomatic immunity while overseas. All other law enforcement departments, national and local, are ordered to offer full priorities and cooperation.

Re:I'm voting with my feet... or money in this cas

[Thraxy]

Would the grocery store sell you 6 bananas, then show up at your house later in the day to reclaim them and replace them with a stick of butter?

Sit-ins on private property

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave"
"Okay" ...

Re:Sit-ins on private property

[JockTroll]

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave" "Okay" ...

(whips out pistol and shoots security guard/manager in the face). "Anyone else?"

Boycott we don't need no stinking boycott

[Agarath]

I quit using/buying etc etc, any Sony products (except the ones I got "previews of) when they got caught loading up their music CD's with malware somewhere back around 2002 or '03. Why would anyone thing that a company that got caught doing such a think and got away with it penalty free wouldn't do something like it again (and again and again ad nauseum)? Just stop buying the Sony branded items that you can't "borrow".

Where's the Sony love?

[PerlHun]

When I am not hugging my life sized Picard real doll, I happen to enjoy my Sony 3D tv and I also happen to enjoy my PS3. Am I a bad person? I don't think so. Maybe if I was an angry person in my youth I would be more fired up about this whole situation but perhaps my age/maturity has mellowed me because I just don't get the boycott/blind allegiance to anonymous diatribe. I works hard for my money and after I come home to my mid sized apartment next to the freeway, I happen to like my Sony products, go figure. I like how my Bravia sync communicates with my Sony receiver, PS3 and Bravia 3D TV. All of these l33t slashdot threads about casting off Sony products due to "geohot" just makes me roll my eyes. I don't idolize mortals. Sorry if I am rambling but after a bottle of 2 buck chuck and a hour of playing all my favorite joy division and dir en grey tracks on the Sony Q Music service, I get a little teary eyed and prolific in the odd hours of the night. A vote against Sony means the Tsunami won. - PerlHun * a long time slashdot lurker but finally created my account today - hooray for 2400 baud modems *

lol

[Alex Belits]

>Anonymous
>Facebook

lol

Lame

[JockTroll]

Only 1000 answered? In ALL the world? Wow, what an interesting non-event this is going to be. If all of those 1000 showed up with a bomb or serious firepower, that would be different. 1000 bombs going off in one day, or 1000 shootouts, that would send a message. Those clowns know nothing. If you want to cause disruption, choose a date near major holidays when sells are traditionally higher, and hit those. Set off firecrackers or smoke bombs. Maybe cause a fire, the stampede would be a sight. Know any simple chemistry? Chlorine has never been an effective chemical weapon in open spaces, but in enclosed areas it's a killer, plays rough on the airways. Do that on the crowd standing on the DVD or games area and you're guaranteed some lost sales. But to hurt a giant corporation like Sony, you've got to hit the offices, you've got to hit the corporate officials, you've got to hit the developers. Do you know how much an ace game developer team is worth to Sony? If they were to be killed off before project completion and after it has been announced with big ad expense, that would be serious damage. Pick your targets, folks.

Re:Lame

[vakuona]

Yup, that's the idea. Become a terrorist. And quick before politicians have drawn up some anti-terrorism legislation they could use against you. They might even choose a serious sounding name for that act. Something like a PATRIOT Act, you know, 'cause who wants to defend someone who is not a patriot?

Re:Lame

[JockTroll]

If you're so scared of the big bad boys coming after you, suck it up and learn to obey your masters. Disobedience is exactly that: NOT OBEYING. You will obtain exactly nothing playing by the rules because those with the most money make them. Violence, instead, is egalitarian: a bullet to the head kills the rich and the poor.

Old News

[seanellis]

I have deliberately not purchased any Sony products since the Rootkit fiasco of 2005. Up until then, Sony was a trusted, quality brand for me and I had quite a few Sony gadgets around the place. No longer.

So I'm going to "sit out" instead.

Re:Old News

[SrLnclt]

Glad I'm not the only one. Rootkit = no more business from me.

I would even be willing to pay more for non-Sony products, but typically don't have to since Sony overprices everything.

Gamers & Boycotts

[xororand]

Good luck.

Can we boycott Lamborghinis too?

[Anonymous Coward]

If enough people do that maybe they'll lower the price.

Re:Can we boycott Lamborghinis too?

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

They will, only, they will for a different value of "enough".

Sony stores?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do those exist? I can't imagine they account for a significant amount of Sony's business. So a few people standing around in those stores taking up space (not buying things either they weren't going to buy anyway, or will just buy tomorrow instead), aren't going to say much.

Stick it to them!

[Chelloveck]

Yeah! Stick it to the Man, Anonymous! Show those Sony bastards that--

Ooh, 10% off and a free t-shirt if I pre-order Infamous 2. Done and done!

Not another penny for Sony (careful of the movies)

[Douglas Goodall]

I have made a vow to not buy any more Sony products for the rest of my life. I get fooled now and then by a movie I rent, but my intention is clear. Too bad there aren't a million people who feel just like I do about them

My boycot

[asdf7890]

I've not knowingly bought anything with Sony's mark on is since the rootkit incident in 2005 (or there abouts). Of course it has had no effect on Sony, but it has had no effect on my life either. It helps that their hardware, while once great quality, is these days as cheap and unreliable as the next guy, their insistence on releasing products that don't properly support the de-facto standard formats & access methods and with other features missing from competing products that are cheaper.

I may have been to see a couple of movies with their brand attached over the years, but that is it.

I doubt a couple of thousand people making an inconvenience of themselves on one day is going to make a lot more difference than my personal (in)action has, but by all means let the children play.

Anonymous no more

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess they didn't think about being "anonymous" in anything more than name. We are Anonymous, let's RSVP on our public facebook profiles and then show up in person on the private property of a company that wants to do us in!

How could this go wrong?

As opposed to all extensive purposes

[tepples]

Unless of course you're using "intensive purposes" in a pun on intensive properties, such as density, concentration, or GDP per capita, as opposed to extensive properties, such as mass, molar amount of a substance, or a nation's GDP.

Sony owns Rickroll and Fresh Prince

[tepples]

most wore masks, usually also blasting Rick Astley or Fresh prince music

Guess who owns RCA Records, the label that both Astley and Will Smith were on at the time.

Sony Music

[tepples]

How do I go into a grocery store without hearing the products of Sony Music on the speaker system?

Developer qualifications for PS3?

[tepples]

[Sony Computer Entertainment] have in fact been more open with their console then Nintendo or MS has.

How? It'd be one thing if Sony had a direct counterpart to Xbox Live Indie Games, allowing anybody to make games, run them on the console, and submit them to the console's official market. But I haven't even been able to Google up the developer qualifications for the PlayStation family platforms (this press release mentions two sites that are down at the moment), and I see no reason to believe they're materially different from Nintendo's: you have to have a corp or LLC with a dedicated office, and it has to have released a commercial title on another platform.

OK

[BatGnat]

But does not affording to anyway, count?

Is it that unobvious or are you being obtuse?

[Anonymous Coward]

You take up space in their stores but don't buy anything, it's harder for people to get in and get served.

The unwelcome mat.

[westlake]

Even better, give them brutally honest advice

and history lessons. Tell them about the rootkits, the disabling of features on customers devices, the lawsuits, and anything else screwed up that Sony has done to their customers

Remember the scene in "Airplane" where Robert Stack bulldozes his way through every sort of missionary zealot?

It's cherished because no one welcomes the intrusion - and the more obscure the cause the less anyone is willing to listen. Airplane - Airport Missionaries

It has been a year since the OtherOS made its departure from the PS3 - there have been seven firmware upgrades since - and no one but the geek gives a damn. .

Re:U R do it rong

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe its not even a group at all, but one guy controlling a botnet of machines compromised by another evolution of the conflicker virus.

the first useful virus in history? ...and now he's gunna rock up to a sony store dressed as luke skywalker cos he's gunna bring down the empire. remember who you're father is luke.

Jump on the bandwagon

[Anon8---)]

Been unknowingly boycotting that company for years. Their products just aren't my taste. W/e, I'll rsvp.

Counter Boycott

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep i have several Sony things I have been saving for. I'm am going to wait until the 16th then buy them. Just going to show the boycott is doing nothing.