iPhone hacker and prolific jailbreaker George Hotz has publicly responded to Sony's legal action on US TV. The coder, also known as Geohot, suggested that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act should be updated to allow experimentation on devices other than mobile phones.
Hotz first clarified his actions in early 2010 which led to Sony's removal of OtherOS on PS3 systems. "[I'm being sued for] making Sony mad," he told G4TV. "I was playing around in OtherOS and couldn't get access to the video card. So once I did I let it drop - I didn't play around with the game OS at all.
"The way piracy was previously done doesn't work in my jailbreak, and I made a specific effort while I was working on this to try and enable homebrew without enabling things I do not support like piracy," Hotz added.
Until recently, jailbreaking iPhones and other mobile phone devices was illegal, but an update to the DMCA makes the activity legitimate. Hotz compared his work on the iPhone to his publication of PS3 encryption keys on his website, and asked whether the Act should be updated further.
"Currently, the difference is that the DMCA says specifically mobile phones. But I think the same precedent should apply... if you can jailbreak one closed system why can't you jailbreak another?"
"I think this case is about a lot more than what I did and me. It's about whether you really own that device you purchased."
You can watch a video of the interview below.
Hotz first clarified his actions in early 2010 which led to Sony's removal of OtherOS on PS3 systems. "[I'm being sued for] making Sony mad," he told G4TV. "I was playing around in OtherOS and couldn't get access to the video card. So once I did I let it drop - I didn't play around with the game OS at all.
"The way piracy was previously done doesn't work in my jailbreak, and I made a specific effort while I was working on this to try and enable homebrew without enabling things I do not support like piracy," Hotz added.
Until recently, jailbreaking iPhones and other mobile phone devices was illegal, but an update to the DMCA makes the activity legitimate. Hotz compared his work on the iPhone to his publication of PS3 encryption keys on his website, and asked whether the Act should be updated further.
"Currently, the difference is that the DMCA says specifically mobile phones. But I think the same precedent should apply... if you can jailbreak one closed system why can't you jailbreak another?"
"I think this case is about a lot more than what I did and me. It's about whether you really own that device you purchased."
You can watch a video of the interview below.
Companies:
Sony
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Comments
bertybasssett 14 Jan 2011 13:06
1/3
more bad news for Sony. They would have been better just to employee geohot and the failoverflow teams
realvictory 15 Jan 2011 13:07
2/3
@bertybasssett
It's not bad news in my opinion. The bad news for Sony was that Sony are trying to prevent this, when what they should be preventing is piracy.
It's not bad news in my opinion. The bad news for Sony was that Sony are trying to prevent this, when what they should be preventing is piracy.
Bertybassett 15 Jan 2011 21:55
3/3
Sony should have just released a new firmware stopping this and banned any hacked firmware psps found on the psn network.
I know it would have been cat and mouse with hackers hacking the new firmware but it would have been better than this sh1t storm.
What happens if geohot wins in court? Sony will be screwed.
I know it would have been cat and mouse with hackers hacking the new firmware but it would have been better than this sh1t storm.
What happens if geohot wins in court? Sony will be screwed.