Fellow Hackers Blast Geohot For Sony Settlement

RedEaredSlider writes "The hacker who settled with Sony after the company sued him for modifying his PlayStation 3 console is getting a lot of flak for not taking the fight further. 'Night Breed' [wrote], 'So basically you settled for a job and took people's money, giving them a false hope of settling for their rights? What do you plan to do with the money that was donated to you to provide a cushion for the legal battle? I hope you will be paying all those people back since you obviously didn't live up to your word.'"

Comments

this is a

[Bozzio]

DramaFest.

Re:this is a

[clang_jangle]

Idealistic people tend to spend a lot of time being confused about how to deal with reality, which is not the slightest bit idealistic. When it's someone else's painful consequences, ideals rule. When it's your own, well, different story. Lots of people will jump in with accusations of "selling out", "siding with the man", etc. That's all pretty much delusional though.

Re:this is a

[hedwards]

I disagree, Geohot is a complete dumb ass if he didn't see the lawsuit coming. If you're going to kick the hornet's nest you're going to get stung, and caving in on something like this is stupid. Geohot made himself a pinata and apparently hasn't the integrity to stand up.

Remember Sony took away the otheros feature in response to that initial crack that he refused to release after posting about it online.

Nobody forced him to do that, he voluntarily made himself a target in all this.

Re:this is a

[DurendalMac]

It's a bunch of whining from a bunch of neckbeards who are crying that someone else didn't spend godawful amounts of time and money in court. They'd be singing a different tune if they were the one on the other end of Sony's lawyers.

Re:this is a

[poetmatt]

Actually it's pretty freakin accurate. He gave up to just get the lawsuit over, and took substantial hits to his own freedoms.

Geohot essentially "won", but the settlement was a joke, especially considering it roughly translates to him accepting an unrealistic permanent injunction. Really, not supporting "PS3 infringing activities" that aren't specified? Say it ain't so!

1. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the law
      2. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the terms of any SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES' license agreement or terms of use applicable to that SONY PRODUCT, whether or not Hotz has accepted such agreement or terms of use, including without limitation:
                  1. reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the Sony Product
                  2. using any tools to bypass, disable, or circumvent any encryption, security, or authentication mechanism in the Sony Product;
                  3. using any hardware or softare to cause the Sony Product to accept or use unauthorized, illegal or pirated softare or hardware; and
                  4. exploiting any Sony Product to design, develop, update or distribute unauthorized softare or hardware for use with the Sony Product.
                    * If any term of such SCEA or SCEA Affilates' license agreement or terms of use applicable to that Sony Product shall be determined by Congress or by a court of law in a final non-appealable decision in an action to which SCEA or an SCEA Affiliate is a party to be illegal and unenforceable, then such term shall not be binding on Hotz.
      3. CIRCUMVENTING any of the TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT;
      4. TRAFFICKING in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof that, at the time of Hotz's trafficking, circumvents any of the TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT, including but not limited to the Ellptical Curve Signature Algorithm ("ECDSA") Keys, encryption and/or decryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter program, Signing Tools, 3.55 Firmware Jailbreak, and/or any other technologies that enable unauthorized access to and/or copying of the PS3 System and/or enable compatibility of unauthorized copies of other copyrighted works with the PS3 System.
      5. Distributing or posting any SCEA or SCEA Affiliates' confidential or proprietary information relating to any SONY PRODUCT;
      6. Knowingly assisting or inducing others to engage in any of the conduct set forth in A-E above solely directed at any SONY PRODUCT or that otherwise constitutes contributory liabilty under the law.

He had this case in the bag from the issues at hand, and instead settled giving Sony a major advantage. The facts were on his side bigtime unless there is something we don't know about.

Re:this is a

[Jeff DeMaagd]

The main complaint is that he was asking for donations to fight this, and then more or less bailed on the fight. That's the only valid complaint in my opinion, then again, we don't know if and how much money was raised. It pays to be wary of donating to a legal defense fund, you can't be certain it will be spent the way you want it to be spent.

Re:this is a

[_0xd0ad]

If you read the list you posted, those things are already illegal anyway

The whole point of the case was that he had done those things because he believed (and still believes) that they are not against the law.

Had he won, it would have set legal precedent that they are in fact not against the law. Had he lost, it would have set precedent that they are illegal, and since he was convinced that he was inevitably going to lose he chose to settle and avoid setting that precedent.

Re:this is a

[shaunbr]

The facts may have been on his side, but there's one thing that Sony has that he doesn't -- an endless pool of money and lawyers to make his life hell. Sure, the community thinks they're doing a good job by sending him a buck here or there for his legal defense fund, but it costs more than a couch full of pocket change to pay for a reasonable defense. Unless you suggest that he take a serious (and likely) risk of committing himself to a lifetime of poverty due to a crushing multi-million dollar loss in court (which by that point I doubt anyone in the 'community' would actually stand by him anymore, lest of all give him money), taking the settlement was the smart thing to do. Relatively speaking, those restrictions aren't even that severe; had he let this go to court, he'd be lucky if he could afford a Sony product to hack ever again.

It's easy to play Internet Tough Guy when you're not staring down the barrel of a court summons - I guarantee that all of you would have 'caved' the same way. I know I would have.

Re:this is a

[MachDelta]

Wait wait wait wait wait.

Engaging... unauthorized access... SONY PRODUCT under the terms of any.... license agreement or terms of use.... whether or not Hotz has accepted such agreement or terms of use

Whaaaaaaaaat the holy fuck?

Isn't the whole point of a contractual agreement that both parties have to agree to it first? Hotz just gave Sony a rubber stamp with his signature on it! If he so much as looks at a Sony product sideways, they could pin his ass to the wall any time for any reason. That's insane! The whole thing could be simplified if it was just:

1. Mr. Hotz agrees to never purchase, use, or be affiliated with the use of any Sony product. Evar. Byebye!

Sheesh.

And secondly... how is this even legal? I didn't think it was possible to sign away your ability to sign a contract. /boggle

Re:this is a

[bluefoxlucid]

Yes, he paid for and owns a machine which he has full rights to mulch up with a wood chipper. It is illegal for him to make it process certain electronic signals, for example to run Linux locally. One day your home PC will have a TPM, and it will be illegal for you to hack it to bypass the TPM and run your own custom OS, too.

Re:this is a

[Rakarra]

The whole point of the case was that he had done those things because he believed (and still believes) that they are not against the law.

It sounds like he got some good legal advice after being hit by the lawsuit and not surprisingly, very little of that before the lawsuit.

Re:this is a

[jmac_the_man]

George Hotz had just graduated high school when he did the iPhone hack in 2007. I remember him being hailed as famous and everything when he came to RIT. (I was news editor of the magazine there at this point; we were trying to get him to do an interview with us.)

Anyway, he was a freshman the year after I was, and I'm 23. He's no more than 21/22. It's theoretically possible he has a family, but given his age and the fact that he's the subject of a Slashdot story, I doubt it.

Re:this is a

[StikyPad]

I suspect that he didn't prepare for this eventuality as well as, say, Compaq did when reverse engineering the IBM BIOS, and that there was damning evidence out there or on his own hard drives. Maybe he has or had a PSN account, or maybe he did in fact profit from this hacking somehow. Just because he swore to the contrary in his affidavit(s) doesn't make it so, and we have no more reason to believe him than to believe any random person off the street.

What we really need is a corporation, formed by interested parties, with the sole raison d'etre of undertaking the next generation of hacks on our behalf. It can be a thorn in the side of onerous, overbearing multinational corporations, and if it's sued out of existence it won't matter one bit; just turn around and form a new one. It's time to fight fire with fire.

Re:this is a

[petermgreen]

As I see it both sides had a lot more to lose in this case than they had to gain.

If sony won the lawsuit then they would just drive the next guy further underground yeah that is a victory for them but most people with a sense of self preservation undertaking such activities are likely to be somewhat underground about it anyway. If they lose then the case would essentially legitmise such hacking attempts.

If geohot lost the lawsuit then he would likely be bankrupted, lose most of his possesions and have financial problems for however long it takes a bankrupcy to come off your record. If he won then he would be winning a huge victory for the hacking community but it wouldn't personally gain him much. There are plenty of other products to hack on that don't have such litigous companies behind them.

Re:this is a

[cheekyjohnson]

When it's your own, well, different story.

It depends on the person.

Lots of people will jump in with accusations of "selling out", "siding with the man", etc. That's all pretty much delusional though.

Yet, even so, the fact that they might crumble if they themselves were in such a situation does not make them incorrect.

Re:this is a

[Hatta]

The facts were on his side bigtime unless there is something we don't know about.

The biggest fact not on his side is that Sony is a multi-billion dollar international conglomerate, and he's just a guy.

Re:this is a

[DrJimbo]

People donated to geohot's defense to get him the legal advice needed to fight Sony. Obviously, his legal advisors told him accept this settlement. It would have been a far greater waste of the donations if geohot had failed to follow the legal advice the donations paid for.

Re:this is a

[DrJimbo]

Yes. This is a common mistake. Those public documents are not the terms of the settlement that geohot is not allowed to discuss. Those documents are part of the public record. It would be ridiculous for Sony to prohibit geohot from divulging terms that are part of the public record.

Settlements have two parts: the public part (that in this case has been splashed all over the web) and the private part. It is the private part that geohot cannot discuss. Often when a corporation pays money to settle a case, one of the terms of the settlement is that the person getting the money can't divulge the amount. I'm not saying this therefore means that Sony paid geohot, but ISTM that if the terms all favored Sony then they wouldn't demand that geohot be silent about them.

We don't know what the deal was. We don't know what's going to happen to the leftover donation money. But we do know that you can still buy a t-shirt sporting Sony's private key. ISTM this is a major victory. Doesn't this enable other people to continue hacking on the PS3? I'm going to wait and see what is going to happen to the donations before I condemn geohot.

When you get older (I'm referring to geohot, not the Slashdotter who buys civilization with taxes) you learn to choose your battles. I'd much prefer that the question of whether the DMCA covers jailbreaking be decided in a court that was not quite so bend-over-and-pick-up-the-soap friendly to corporate interests.

Inevitable but maybe a good thing

[Anrego]

Much as I think this battle needs to be fought geohot is an attention seeking ass, and it’s a shame he was the one who was slated fight it.

I think it’s actually a blessing in disguise that he decided to save his own skin. Not saying I wouldn’t do the same, I’ll admit it, when it comes to me or the greater good I’ll go with me and screw everyone else. However there are lots of noble idealists types who would fight themselves in prison and then keep at it and that’s who needs to be fighting this thing, not some annoying jackass.

As for donations wasn’t the plan for unused (so in this case, most of it) money to go to the EFF.

And just cause I’m already pseudo flamewar-ing, we really don’t need another Kevin Mitnick in the world.

Re:Inevitable but maybe a good thing

[Higaran]

I agree, in theory I'd love to take on sony with this kind of thing. But when the shit hits the fan and you have a lawyer telling you that you could lose your house and everything you've worked your whole life for then your I'd probably save my own skin too. Anyone that says the guy didn't do enough is an idiot, and they can only say that because they've never been anywhere near that kind of a situation. Companies like $ony have armies of laywers and will look for loopholes that would probably include lawsuits for anyone you've ever met your entire life, no one need that kind of hassle in thier lives. So I think everyone should just let the guy be, he's been trough enough already, and what he did do is alot more than most people.

Re:Inevitable but maybe a good thing

[MoonBuggy]

All of what you say is entirely reasonable (with the possible exception of $ony), but it discounts the context; Hotz said, when taking donations: "...this case isn't about me. Clearly I am not being sued because of something I have that Sony wants, I am being sued in order to send a message that Sony is not to be messed with. But if I(and all codefendants likewise) actually win this, we have the power to send a much stronger message back. That consumers have rights, and we aren't afraid to stand up for them." and "My attempts at humor aside, I do take this whole matter very seriously. Again, it's not about me, I was on the verge of quitting this stuff last June, and I would hate to be the one who sets a reputation for hackers that all a company has to do is sue us and we back down. In fact, I want the opposite reputation set, that the more a company tries to abuse the legal system, the harder we rally back.".

He talked big, he took money, and then he shied away when he realised that Sony could quite possibly crush him. I think it's disgusting that they can do so, and I think it's quite understandable that he didn't want to take the risk, but the fact remains that he was fairly misleading in what he said. It wasn't "please help me survive until I can make Sony leave me alone" it was "fuck them, I'm fighting back, I'll make them pay, and I want you to help". I don't really blame him for backing down, but I do think those who donated have a reasonable right to feel aggrieved, and some level of apology and explanation from Hotz would probably be appropriate.

Re:Inevitable but maybe a good thing

[BitZtream]

He didn't do anything original, everything he did was someone elses work

He got caught for trivial reasons that anyone with half a clue would have avoided.

He tried to throw it in the face of those he was abusing that he was doing it.

He cried like a little girl when the police interviewed him.

He's nothing more than attention whore who thinks the world should be handed to him because ... HE is Kevin Mitnick.

He's a nobody who got a bunch of publicity, thats it, nothing more.

Armchair Hackers

[Anonymous Coward]

It's easy to criticize GeoHot when you're not the one being sued by one of the largest corporations in the world. I feel bad for GeoHot, it seems like no matter what he does and how he tries to help -- and make no mistake, he has helped immensely on many projects -- he keeps getting blasted by haters.

Re:Armchair Hackers

[halivar]

The best part is how the haters aren't the ones who were being sued. They have no vested interest, and nothing to lose. Screw them.

Re:Armchair Hackers

[cptdondo]

+1

Next time you're looking down the barrel of a gun, or at a multi-billion dollar company out to crush you, tell me how brave you're going to be.

It's easy to watch an action flick and say "I can do that" and another thing not to shit yourself when you hear the bullet whiz by before you hear the crack of the rifle.

Re:Armchair Hackers

[cptdondo]

Depends on the state. In SC you get to keep a mattress. Seriously. Still, a bankrupcy will fuck up your life for at least 7 years. No decent job, no college, no rentals, no credit cards, no checking account. You wanna live like that?

Re:Armchair Hackers

[Anonymous Coward]

It's easy to criticize GeoHot when you're not the one being sued by one of the largest corporations in the world. I feel bad for GeoHot, it seems like no matter what he does and how he tries to help -- and make no mistake, he has helped immensely on many projects -- he keeps getting blasted by haters.

Perhaps geohot keeps getting blasted by haters because he makes himself so easy to hate, as he is, in fact, a douchebag.

The legal documents pertaining to his case read like some sort of self-aggrandizing group wank, referring to himself as a "prodigy" of some sort. Sorry, but George is a prodigy in no field other than taking the LEGO Bricks that other hackers have so kindly molded for him, then popping them together and subsequently claiming that not only did he build the entire model from scratch, he painstakingly molded the plastic using rainbows and sunshine, and wrote the manual using calligraphy on papyrus.

Need I point out that it wasn't until Team Twiizers complained - and rightly so - that geohot was taking 100% of the credit for the Jailbreak exploit that he finally acknowledged on his site that maybe he didn't do it single-handedly? Then, after beating his chest to every media outlet that would listen about how HE was the one who completely blew open the PS3, he got sued by Sony - I call it karmic justice, if not legal or moral - and suddenly he's every hacker's favorite martyr, with everyone happily glossing over the fact that it was Team Twiizers that figured out the key exploit in the first place.

The simple fact of the matter is that geohot is nothing more than an attention-seeking douchebag who, when required to face consequences for his actions - something apparently foreign to people under the age of 25 nowadays - ran *screaming* to a lawyer with his Backpedal-O-Meter burying the needle at the far end of the scale.

He is scum, plain and simple, and I would have not lost a blink of sleep if he found himself rotting in the modern equivalent of debtor's prison until the heat death of the universe. He blatantly rips off other peoples' research without giving credit, he tries to portray himself as some utterly transparent martyr, and when it comes to put-up-or-shut-up, he doesn't even have the stones to try to defend his sand castle against the incoming tide.

At the end of it all, though, I suppose I got what *I* want out of the entire thing - he gets to shut the hell up about this whole PS3 debacle and Team Twiizers is unaffected by Sony's suit, so the real hackers behind it all can continue doing what they've been doing, and the loud-mouthed con artist gets gagged.

Re:Armchair Hackers

[BitZtream]

Depends on whether it was civil or criminal. If it's criminal I'd sell out. If it's civil once you declare bankruptcy then it should be all over. You usually get to keep your house and cars in bankruptcy.

You clearly have no idea what happens in bankruptcy.

You might get to keep your house, depends on what state its in and how much its worth. You most certainly may be forced to sell it and move to something more modest. Same goes for the car and pretty much every other posession you own.

Bankruptcy is NOT a get of jail free card, and its been made worse recently to cut down on the number of idiots like yourself who try to use it as such. Its doubtful he would even qualify for it.

Then ... to top it off ... the court can simply say 'you don't get out of this by filing bankruptcy' and he's done. Depending on the laws where the trial was taking case, it may already legally be that way by state law.

Re:Armchair Hackers

[BitZtream]

no checking account? I think you went a bit far, there. CREDIT, yes. checking, no, that's not based on credit

Really? Show me a bank that doesn't do a credit check before opening an account for the first time. Checks are treated as a form of credit since you can write them without the money actually BEING in the account. Checking accounts are most certainly dependent on your credit history.

I walked into multiple banks with a $9500 cashier check and was denied due to my horrible credit. I was told flat out they would be happy to deal with me if I can back with proof that I had paid the debts I owed but they couldn't do business before that was done even though the amount of outstanding debt was 1/4 that.

To the EFF

[KingAlanI]

Wasn't it pointed out in the last GeoHot story several times that unused donations would be sent on over to the EFF?

Re:To the EFF

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is that people didnt donate to him so that he could settle with sony. people donated because it was a fight to set a precident and they were lead to believe by Geohot that he was going to fight $ony until the end. now people have less $$ in their accounts and nothing to show for it.

Re:To the EFF

[gad_zuki!]

Right, his lawyer told him to settle. That's the wisest move. The law isn't like it is in the movies where the young guy challenges the status quo and wins. In real life, the status quo sues you to oblivion and 80% of your check is garnished for the rest of your days.

Corporations have too much power. Fighting them in court doesn't work as they more or less write the laws they're attacking you with. Change the laws. Regulate corporations tighter.

Re:To the EFF

[Anonymous Coward]

I donated to him so he wouldn't get crushed by Sony. I got what I wanted. I wasn't expecting some fairy tale ending where OtherOS is restored, the Sony Executives are all vanquished, and hacking your own hardware is recognized by the Supreme Court as a protected activity.

You expected too much.

If they want a fight...

[mseeger]

If they want a fight, they are invited to post the secret key on their own web site (including a manual how to use it), add their contact details and wait for Sony (or their lawyers) to come for them. Then they can show how brave they are...

CU, Martin

Misleading

[Anonymous Coward]

Hotz didn't "settle for a job" and it's assumed that he is going to donate remaining legal funds to the EFF. What some misinformed blog commenter says is irrelevant.

Re:Misleading

[smelch]

You seriously clicked on the link pointing to the nig.gr domain?

If GH's work and code is in the wild...

[gatkinso]

...then the whole settlement is moot.

A possibility

[Anonymous Coward]

Geohot can't talk much about why he settled, but his replies on his blog suggests a plausible reason: he realized he was unlikely to win the case (suggesting that the judge was biased) and chose to settle to avoid setting a legal precedent.

Re:A possibility

[gnasher719]

Geohot can't talk much about why he settled, but his replies on his blog [blogspot.com] suggests a plausible reason: he realized he was unlikely to win the case (suggesting that the judge was biased) and chose to settle to avoid setting a legal precedent.

Can we replace "unlikely to win the case" to "unlikely to leave the court room without being at least bankrupt, if not worse"? As an individual, it's no good if you "win" a case if it costs you money that you cannot afford to spend. And I don't think that he got donations that are enough to pay the cost of a good lawyer. Plus the risk of losing the case, which might have happened whether he was guilty or not.

Re:A possibility

[_0xd0ad]

I actually have trouble understanding why hackers just completely lose their shit when the law is involved. It's an interesting and complex system that any real hacker should relish understanding and, well, hacking.

Wrong because of what you said shortly thereafter:

I actually argued with a linux kernel dev who refused to accept the verdict even after Reiser led the police to the body, because he couldn't understand how a guilty verdict was reached in the trial. He actually said "the investigation was flawed, and couldn't logically produce Reiser as a suspect, therefore the trial was flawed and the guilty verdict wrong."

"Hacking" the legal system doesn't work if the judge doesn't care. Yes, maybe the judge should release you on a technicality that you cleverly discovered, but if he/she doesn't, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

"Hacking" a system is only possible when it always follows its own rules. Judges are allowed to make up the interpretations of rules as they go. It's called setting precedent.

Re:A possibility

[jjohnson]

what hope do you have of getting the desired outcome in your petty little case?

The legal system does not exist to provide you with your desired outcome. It's not a computer where the right inputs get the right outputs. It exists to resolve disputes according to the law as written and the body of previous judgements that are applicable. And, pretty much by definition, where a trial proceeds through appeals, it's because the existing body of law and precedent do not provide a clear rule on who's right and who's wrong, and so the process works to generate a final ruling.

Unless you can find someone with extremely deep pockets to back you, you just lose and pay whatever penalty gets dished out.

The legal system is not a market where money purchases you the desired outcome. SCO is proof enough of that.

I'm not claiming the legal system is perfect, or invulnerable to bias or the effect of money on cases. But this idea you seem to have that the legal system is simply corrupt is just... tremendously illustrative, perhaps, about how the hacker mindset deals badly with non-deterministic systems.

I've been through legal issues that took years and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I've read up on cases where I heard the verdict and thought "WTF?" In both cases, when I got down to the details, I could understand how the result was achieved. I didn't necessarily agree with it, but I could understand how the legal issues were resolved by people participating in the process and making decisions along the way that were generally comprehensible at the moment.

Re:A possibility

[StikyPad]

[The law is] an interesting and complex system that any real hacker should relish understanding and, well, hacking.

The problem with the law is that it's written in an ambiguous language and applied inconsistently from one case to the next. It is essentially a chaotic and unpredictable system which, frankly, is not worth the expense in time and money for most people to bother with unless they absolutely have to. Trying to win a court case is like trying to make it rain in New York by spraying some water in the air in California. Will it work? Maybe, maybe not -- there are so many variables that it's impossible to know for sure.

The more variables you can control, the better your odds become, but it costs a lot of money to position your variables as the dominant forces (researching various issues, introducing them as evidence, arguing for their significance) while at the same time preventing your opponent from doing the same. And in the end this whole complex structure you've created, your case, can be undone by a little unexpected piece of evidence or even a turn of phrase, like a tiny breeze that sends a future hurricane toward Galveston instead of Miami.

The only value provided by law is the false comfort it gives us in justice and fairness -- it says it's fair, and we believe -- and the true knowledge that there's a giant out there we should all fear, because when it sets its sights on us, anything can happen.

Re:A possibility

[GuldKalle]

But why would Sony want to settle the case?

Re:Gimme a break...

[epdp14]

An indignant hacker? What's next? Shoplifters of the world uniting?

You sir have no idea what hacking is. Hacking is not stealing, hacking is exploring and creating new uses for devices and software. Pirating is what you are referring to. The "hackers" that are following an internet HOWTO that walks them through downloading ripped PS3 games are nothing more than cheapskates costing the rest of us useful tools like OtherOS.

Re:Drama aside,

[Surt]

There are no legitimate concerns about what will be done with excess donations to his legal fund since he made that clear from the beginning.

Re:Half and half

[Surt]

He should do exactly what he said he'd do with any money not used in his legal defense. If you didn't know what that was before you donated, you really should have read the donation web page.

Get off your high horses

[timholman]

What, so people are disappointed that Geohot didn't wreck his life to fulfill their armchair fantasies? "I gave you $20, and you won't ruin your life to make me happy? You SUCK, Geohot!"

Get real. I've had some dealings in civil cases, and let me say that there are few things in this world as life-destroying and gut-wrenching as being a defendant in a civil case against a plaintiff with lots of money and a willingness to do whatever it takes to crush you.

It is very easy for people with l33t nicknames to criticize Geohot behind the safety of an anonymous computer account. It is another to sit in a room with a group of highly paid lawyers who explain to you in excruciating detail how your life will be made a living hell if you don't cooperate.

Geohot got in over his head, and wisely decided to settle and get on with his life. If Geohot's critics want to fight the good fight instead, all they have to do is repost his techniques on a web page of their own, and wait for Sony to come calling. Somehow I don't think that's gonna happen.

Re:Get off your high horses

[N1AK]

What, so people are disappointed that Geohot didn't wreck his life to fulfill their armchair fantasies?

They are angry that someone talked about how they were going to fight Sony over this, asked them for money and then settled. People didn't offer him money if he agreed to do something stupid, he said he was going to do something 'brave' and people gave him money to support him in that action.

Re:Get off your high horses

[spire3661]

All that is great unless you consider statements from the Geo himself.

"They picked the wrong guy to sue"

"Out of business is jail for me and you're suing me civilly"

"I want the settlement papers to contain the words OtherOS and an apology from Sony"

Now can you see why people are disappointed? He talked ALOT of smack and then backed out. I think he is due some deserved criticism. What concerns me most is that the MAJORITY of this discussion is about the donation money and not about the true issues of the matter.

Re:Settlement terms confidential

[NewWorldDan]

More likely George won the right to not be bankrupt and spend the next 6 years dealing with ongoing litigation. Anyone who faults him for cutting his losses is an asshole.

Title is wrong

[Anonymous Coward]

Title should be: "Script Kiddies Blast Actual Hacker Geohot For Sony Settlement".

Re:Settlement terms confidential

[TheGratefulNet]

he BEGGED for donations with the express understanding it was a 'fight the good fight' battle.

he exited far too soon for many of us (yes, I did donate and I have never even SEEN the gaming system he hacks about; I don't game and have no interest in it at all). I did support the freedom aspects of his fight and he basically gave up instantly and without any real fight.

if he had not involved the community, that would have been one thing; but he stood up and said 'I will fight this!'.

and yet, he didn't.

so, he's no hero, he's just a regular schlub like you and I. nothing *wrong* with that, but he's lost his hero status, fwiw.

Re:Get Hotz off his high horse first.

[timholman]

No offense - but wasn't it Hotz himself that went into this with a battle cry and asked for donations for his defense and so forth and so on?
If he hadn't done that - if he had "wisely decided" to immediately go for a settlement, people might have still called him a pussy (as that's what some people do) - but at least they wouldn't have much reason for calling him out on his behavior.

Sure, when Mr. Hotz got that first cease-and-desist letter, I'm sure he thought: "I gonna beat these assholes! My fellow hackers will rally to help me!" Maybe he reads Slashdot - no doubt he could have picked up lots of bogus bravado from this crowd.

And then he had one of those "growing up" epiphanies that most 20- and 21-year-olds go through, where you realize that empty words of support mean nothing, and that while many will cheer you on as you march into the lion's den, damn few will stand by you against the lions.

As for the donations, I doubt that Geohot collected enough money to pay for a week of a good lawyer's time, much less enough to fight a real court battle. If his attorney worked pro bono, maybe he'll have something left to give to the EFF - but frankly, I wouldn't count on it.

Geohot learned a hard lesson about the real world, and wisely opted not to ruin his own life just to make a lot of strangers happy. I don't fault him one bit.

Re: we really don’t need another Kevin Mitni

[BitZtream]

So I'm guessing you know nothing about Mitnick?

He was a complete and total douche who got what he deserved. He wasn't clever, he didn't even do anything original, he just sucked enough to get caught. You need to learn a fair amount about his history if you think he's someone to be idolized. Get the real history about what happened and what a pussy he is and you'll be far better off picking someone else with skills to be impressed by.

Let me give you a hint, the leet hackers you want to be impressed by, aren't in the fucking news because they are good enough and smart enough not to get caught or draw attention to themselves. It takes years of being part of the scene to get to know the real artists and geniuses in this arena. Mitnick is a joke on a good day.

Re:Settlement terms confidential

[BitZtream]

You also didn't see the fight he was facing.

Fighting the good fight is only logical if you have a chance of winning.

Suicide is ALWAYS stupid, regardless of why you donated money to him.

I donated money, and I don't blame GeoHot one bit.

[incubuz1980]

I can't say that I would have done anything differently. If he donates the money to EFF great, if not it is his decision, and I am OK with that.

If you didn't donate any money, you don't get to say what is right or wrong.

Thanks for the laugh

[name_already_taken]

... when the Chinese president call the White House and say: "Tell Sony to drop this BS, or we will call back ALL Treasury bonds". When that day comes, DMCA will be repealed quickly, and a new patent/copyright reform will come.

Sony is a Japanese company, not American. Of all of Sony's business units, Sony Computer Entertainment America would be an unlikely choice to go after someone in China. It's entirely possible that Sony has a division located somewhere in Asia - that division might try to get the Japanese and Chinese governments involved, but it's not clear why you'd think America would be involved. Maybe you got your wires crossed a little.

Or, the USA can always print $1 trillion and pay back the Chinese. Then we will have inflation -> Civil War -> Constitution suspended -> No DMCA.

Yeah, right. I think you may be in a strange mental state where you're dreaming, but you're still able to interact with the real world. Try pinching yourself to see if you wake up.

Re:Skilled professional? In what area?!?

[matt_gaia]

I'm sure Sony will be disappointed to hear that a 15 year old who can't spell, punctuate correctly or string a coherent sentence together doesn't want to work for them.

15? My 6-y/o can probably make a more coherent sentence than that drivel (and spell it better, as well). I don't think the GP would be able to make it through the initial screening at any decent tech company.

Lawsuits are not fun

[DrStrange66]

Even if you are in the right lawsuits are very stressful situations. I recently battled my HOA for nearly 2 years. I won but at a cost. The lawsuit was all I could think about. My work suffered, my family suffered, my mental stability suffered, etc. I can fully understand why people choose to settle. To those people that are hating on Geohot... why don't they sue Sony for whatever it is they believe in?

No one is asking, why did Sony settle?

[MrL0G1C]

Perhaps due to negative publicity, or perhaps they thought they could lose, I wonder which.