Sony’s racketware
Sony got hacked again last week, several times it seems, by crackers’ group LulzSec, who released a copy of the scedev website, and apparently also got access to a million user accounts (and passwords) of Sony’s customers. If you’re counting, I think they got hacked 6 times in the past 2 months, in a series of events that are probably a direct consequence of them suing security researcher George Hotz.
I’ve been very clear I think regarding my position in this whole thing: although I don’t think it’s cool to steal people’s information on a private server, I believe Sony got it coming, and I for one find it comforting that there are “vigilante groups” doing the job that governments don’t do against ginormous corporations violating people’s right.
Now to be clear on the subject again, what people like Geohot, Failoverflow, or graf chokolo have been doing is reveal information that is essential to running Linux on the PS3. Believe it or not, doing so is perfectly legal in many countries.
As I was digging on the subject, I found that HP was recently sued in France (and lost) for selling computers to the general public, without giving a possibility for the customer to buy the hardware without the software (in their case, Windows + a bunch of crapware). Digging a bit more, I found that Sony was sentenced for the same kind of thing with their music players 4 years ago. Selling hardware tightly linked to software without giving the customer a possibility to buy only the hardware is considered as similar to a monopoly position and goes against France’s anti-trust laws.
I’m still confused that console/phone manufacturers are allowed to do what computer manufacturers can’t. To me it seems the only reason Sony doesn’t get sued in France for removing Linux support from the PS3 is that there is no equivalent to the “class action” in France, preventing customers from taking effective actions against corporations.
It’s also funny that in the USA Sony can sue an individual for putting Linux back, while in France, it’s probably them who would get sued for not allowing an alternate OS to be installed in the first place (while it’s known to be technically feasible) 🙂
Dang! Sony is in a big hole, and we should have the right to put software on to our consoles without fear of getting sued by Sony
On an irrelevant note: How come Apple isn’t sued for having a monopoly on Macintosh computers? You can’t buy those without the bundled software, the same goes with iPods, iPhones etc. Doesn’t make sense to sue a company for including their own software with a product…
I agree with you.
There are LOTS of reasons I’d like to see apple swallowing the same pill sony has to swallow right now…. only perhaps a bigger, nastier tasting one, don’t worry though… i think they have their just deserts coming also.
It’s actually kinda sad that it has to be groups of hackers that are the only people willing to act on behalf of consumer rights because our politicians and legal systems will not
Why would I want Apple to be sued? I like Apples products, their iOS devices, the Macbook and iMac in specific…
I’m just curious to why HP got sued, while Apple doesn’t allow any alternative to their software. There should be a liberty to making a product, not allowing alternate OS’s to be installed doesn’t mean the company is trying to lock in the customer, and that they should be sued to allow other parts to be used.
It’s like sueing BMW if you can’t fit a pair of non-BMW made rims on your car.
Apple never sued george, Sony did.
so sad i actually enjoy my PS3 over a 360… thinking of making a permanent swap!! anyone want to buy a PS3???
http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/x_factor_contestants_database.txt <here is all the info about everyone who signed up for the xfactor
Dammit, my friend said that psn was giving away free stuff. Only when i went to log in i found out it was sc*** up again. I mean no one’s really benefiting from this, but it’s funny how helpless sony is right now. That big of a security flaw has to be pretty embarassing. I really want to get back on psn though, sony giving away anything for free is too amazing to miss out on.
The problem I have with people putting lulz on pedestal is they think they are doing it to get back at Sony. But what is their end goal what are they trying to accomplish? What to kill a company made up of thousands of people. To get Linux back on ps3 guess what, what ever legal issue that could have been used to get it back on there got killed with these hacks. Also how does hacking into Sony movie studios who is basically a different entity entirely supposed to help the fight with hackers being sued. Also what geohot did and what this group is doing are different geohotz was legal stealing and releasing customers information for laughs is illegal and I won’t be convinced otherwise no matter how much people may despise Sony. Once again I have no problem with Geohot or anyone trying to unlock the full potential of the hardware they purchased but these hackers just seem to be *** doing this for fun. Hacking into a company and stealing data is one thing but when you release that info on to the net you are not aiming at the company but those who supported it so that they could play games the enjoy.
I don’t think anyone is putting lulzsec on a pedestal, they haven’t even announced their motives, it could very well be as you say and they are simply a group of troublemaking opportunists…… I liked Anonymous methods far more, atleast we knew WHY they were attacking Sony, and atleast they weren’t trying to victimize Sony’s customers.
Definitely. I didn’t want my article to sound like I approved what people like LulzSec are doing. I’m just saying that deep inside me I think Sony got it coming, but I don’t approve of people breaching into a private network to steal information.
There’s a very clear limit between messing up with hardware you bought, and messing up with a network that is not hosted in your flat, but in a company’s data center.
Physical ownership of the hardware hosting the data is where I personally draw the line, like Geohot did.
“I believe Sony got it coming, and I for one find it comforting that there are “vigilante groups” doing the job that governments don’t do against ginormous corporations violating people’s right.”
This line makes it look like you’re doing just that, I mean supporting these guys…
What these guys are doing is just awful, they’re ruining everybody’s fun and I wouldn’t be surprised if they got some credit card numbers out of it
wait… was my comment removed or did I just not happen to reply? I could have sworn I saw the comment I made posted
and it’s back now o.o
what the heck?
(Caching issues on my website, this happens once in a while.)
Yes, my post does really sound like I’m supporting these guys. This is because I am actually confused on the subject… I don’t appreciate what they did, but I don’t know how a message sent to Sony could have been any clearer. When Anonymous where doing the right thing (physical protests), people mocked them. And Sony has way too much money for a group of individual to take legal action. Those who tried got burnt.
Note that in the same sentence that you quoted I also say:
“I don’t think it’s cool to steal people’s information on a private server”
I won’t rewrite what I wrote, but I am trying to put nuance to what I said. I’ll state it clearly again: entering a private server and steal information is illegal and I definitely don’t condone this.
Wololo, your probem is you hate soo much sony that you just don’t make sense with your opinions. You are getting really boring these days with all the please-hate-sony-like-I-do stuff.
Just get over it. We all know you will be the first one to buy a Vita.
Strange, almost bizarre, opinion to anybody whose nickname is “Anonymous”… 😉
The only people who hacked Sony for suing Geohot were Anonymous. The guys who did the rest of the hacking involving people’s personal info did it, as far as we know( since they haven’t stated a motive) because they could. They’re bullying Sony, just as Sony bullied Geohot. And I find absolutely nothing wrong with that. It’s just Karma.
*** all hackers that touch the PlayStation Network!
Yo People Update On Playing Iso In Bricked Psp Hellcats Those Not Work If The Hen Or Whatevet You Used The Flash 0 Protect Feature If It Whas On Your Screw Beacuse Hellcats Will Reject It And Wont Load So Thats The Only Way There Is No Other Way Around It Unless If Wololo Can Contact Helcats Developers To Make An Update And Make It Ignore That Option Or Posibli Turn The Function Off
Well, they CAN be sued in the US, in theory (But they seem to have paid off every judge in California). Wasn’t one of their main points in the lawsuit that the PS3 was a computer, and GeoHot was doing something against the DMCA?
Then the whole buzz became that whether they win or lose, Sony is sc***.
i have mixed opinions about this
sure, it i what sony deserved for suing a security researcher (nice name for hackers btw) who is just trying for get linux on their system.
but you also make in impossible for gamers to go online. ok, i don’t even use psn. but i think that there are more gamers that have trouble with it than that sony have with it.
besides, this hacking stuff is getting old. go search for security bugs in the ps3 (and hopefully the NGP when it is released). this doesnt bring gamers and hombrew dev’s to anything except a bad image.
What do homebrew devs have to do with this? Anyone who mistakes homebrew devs with cybercriminals is too stupid to matter. Let them think what they want.
i know that, but not everybody does
Wow, i feel sad for sony now. over 16 time hack and it seem more to come soon. i hope sony learn there lesson but i think it about time that hackers stop hacking sony network. a lot of people want to play online again and i think you guys already got your point across. Plus i think it will be better if you guys use your time more productive like making a new system for the ps3 or something else then disabling the psn network.
Take a bow and let start a new show 🙂
Aiie Aiie Aiie ! SONY fait quelque chose !!!!!!
wololo could be a great lawyer 🙂
I would join Wololos legal team….. I’m sortof a rageaholic though, I would flip out and start flying across the court room to punch people in the mouth…… other legal team gets too cocky? Serve up a nice steamy knuckle sammich for them! Judge wants to find in favor of the other guy?Knuckle sammich for the judge!
wow…no wonder i tried going on PSN on my 6.20 PRO B6 which is PSN-compatible and got signed off immediately…i gotta keep up to date with this ***
With Love for all the Sony haters:
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/10/three-arrests-made-in-connection-with-psn-hack/