Apparently the hackers are fighting back by bringing down various Sony websites. o-O
http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/04 ... employees/
Sony v PS3 Hackers Suit
Re: Sony v PS3 Hackers Suit
I honestly don't think they're helping, as Sony has tried to make the courts see them as a victim of hacker conspiracies. I don't think organized DDoS attacks by an actual hacker conspiracy is really going to do anything but help Sony's cases in both courtrooms.Mahoro wrote:Apparently the hackers are fighting back by bringing down various Sony websites. o-O
http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/04 ... employees/
The SonyRecon group has denied any personal attacks on Sony's staff, BTW. They claim to be compiling information on the staff to try to criminalize and discredit them.
Re: Sony v PS3 Hackers Suit
PSX-Scene is reporting that Hot and Sony have settled the case. The details haven't been disclosed. Hotz has claimed on his own blog that he is boycotting Sony and recommends others follow suit.
Edit: PSX-Scene posted a PDF with the settlement agreement and it looks like all charges dismissed as long as Hotz promises not to hack any Sony products from here-on out.
Edit 2: Here's the Groklaw posting.
Farewell to Groklaw, they've announced they're stopping their postings next month. In any case, Hotz has agreed not to hack any Sony (or Sony affiliate) products with a fine of $10,000 per violation and they say that assisting with or trafficking in circumvention devices would be the same with a cap of $250,000 available as an alternative to other statutory damages. IOW, Sony can sue him if he does it again or just take the money they agreed to here. Hotz also agreed that court battles over any future violations take place in Sony's apparently much beloved Northern California court system.
Overall, while it may sound harsh, I feel this is a loss for Sony. It seems to me that Sony took Hotz to court for an ass whooping so they could make an example of him, and now he walks away a couple of months later with nothing more than a permanent injunction on him. Surely Sony isn't dumb enough to think that stopping ONE hacker is going to obviate their problems. There will be/are dozens that take his place.
There's also a confidential Memorandum of Understanding involved in this settlement as well, which leads me to believe that there might be more to it. Maybe, just maybe, Hotz managed to get Sony to agree to returning Other OS to the PS3, which is something he said he wanted to strive for early on. Sony would, no doubt, ensure that Hotz would be hush hush over it so that Sony could get PR out of it by pretending like they weren't being forced into doing it. They could also use it as a bargaining chip to settle the other suit against them for it's removal. I'm not saying you should hold your breath, that's merely my own speculation and it may be way off.
Fact of the matter is that Hotz needed to look after Hotz. While he didn't score us the victory many of us were hoping for, he was being sued, not the rest of us. Ultimately, he needed to protect his own interests. He had enormous costs of litigation (for likely a number of years), no guarantee of financial support down the line, and the possibility of paying huge sums of money and maybe even jail-time and a felony record if he lost. Walking away without any of that must have seemed a very attractive alternative.
I have no word on whether or not this settlement has any impact on team fail0verflow, so for now I would assume that the case rolls on with them named as defendants (but without any real names or addresses).
Edit 3: Nevermind, I found another docket which dismisses the case against ALL of the other defendants, meaning that Hotz is the only one who even walked away with an injunction.
Edit: PSX-Scene posted a PDF with the settlement agreement and it looks like all charges dismissed as long as Hotz promises not to hack any Sony products from here-on out.
Edit 2: Here's the Groklaw posting.
Farewell to Groklaw, they've announced they're stopping their postings next month. In any case, Hotz has agreed not to hack any Sony (or Sony affiliate) products with a fine of $10,000 per violation and they say that assisting with or trafficking in circumvention devices would be the same with a cap of $250,000 available as an alternative to other statutory damages. IOW, Sony can sue him if he does it again or just take the money they agreed to here. Hotz also agreed that court battles over any future violations take place in Sony's apparently much beloved Northern California court system.
Overall, while it may sound harsh, I feel this is a loss for Sony. It seems to me that Sony took Hotz to court for an ass whooping so they could make an example of him, and now he walks away a couple of months later with nothing more than a permanent injunction on him. Surely Sony isn't dumb enough to think that stopping ONE hacker is going to obviate their problems. There will be/are dozens that take his place.
There's also a confidential Memorandum of Understanding involved in this settlement as well, which leads me to believe that there might be more to it. Maybe, just maybe, Hotz managed to get Sony to agree to returning Other OS to the PS3, which is something he said he wanted to strive for early on. Sony would, no doubt, ensure that Hotz would be hush hush over it so that Sony could get PR out of it by pretending like they weren't being forced into doing it. They could also use it as a bargaining chip to settle the other suit against them for it's removal. I'm not saying you should hold your breath, that's merely my own speculation and it may be way off.
Fact of the matter is that Hotz needed to look after Hotz. While he didn't score us the victory many of us were hoping for, he was being sued, not the rest of us. Ultimately, he needed to protect his own interests. He had enormous costs of litigation (for likely a number of years), no guarantee of financial support down the line, and the possibility of paying huge sums of money and maybe even jail-time and a felony record if he lost. Walking away without any of that must have seemed a very attractive alternative.
I have no word on whether or not this settlement has any impact on team fail0verflow, so for now I would assume that the case rolls on with them named as defendants (but without any real names or addresses).
Edit 3: Nevermind, I found another docket which dismisses the case against ALL of the other defendants, meaning that Hotz is the only one who even walked away with an injunction.