PSP hackers Dark Alex and Fanjita unmasked
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Feb 27th 2007 at 1:26AM }
Heroes. Villains. Homebrewers. Pirates. The hackers behind some of the most significant PSP security breaches to date have been called many things. A new BBC report does little to settle the ethical debate, but does demystify a pair of thorns in Sony's side.Fanjita, best known for his GTA: LCS eLoader exploit, is none other than mild-mannered David Court, a 34-year-old professional programmer who writes server software for telecommunications companies. Court, who spends an hour or so each night tinkering with his PSP, resides in Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife. He is also a martial arts enthusiast.
In recent months, Fanjita's celebrity has been eclipsed by hacker Dark Alex, whose custom firmware has opened the PSP wide open. A student from Spain by day, Dark Alex derives his moniker from his real name Alejandro. He favors all things goth and finds comfort in manga and cats. "I think it is up to users to make the correct decisions about how to use my software," says Alejandro. "I believe in the presumption of innocence, unlike the media companies."
[Thanks, Brian]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MikeC @ Feb 27th 2007 1:56AM
I love Spider-Man....
mike @ Feb 27th 2007 3:04AM
its always the weird ones who come up with all the great hacks in life.
I suppose that makes sense tho, as you get weird by avoiding society and being locked in a room working on code.
Huh oh, Ive been on joystiq to long today. I must venture forth outside and shovel the driveway, or I too my become weird, or have I already?
Ian @ Feb 27th 2007 3:10AM
Seeing that PSP in Spider-Man's kills me.
Unless he's just planning on chucking it over that ledge. :D
Evan @ Feb 27th 2007 8:31AM
@mike "its always the weird ones who come up with all the great hacks in life."
No, it's always the Europeans. America has script-kiddies looking for pwnage. Asia has profiteers. But only Europe has the true cracker spirit! It's about the challenge of getting deep into the hardware and software. Even back in the days of the C64, it was all about Europe, and Europe still has an active demo scene, and still has hacker communities.
azesino @ Feb 27th 2007 9:31AM
The Europeans Took over after the late 90's, with the downfall of Kevin Mitnick and the DMCA in 1998 many people in America gat detered from hacking due to the hefty criminal penalties and the tough prosecution by the Feds and unlike america, Most Europeans countries did not face such strict laws until the early 2000's and they still not as tough. America now have focus on gaming and Europe has lagged behind.
Buckshot @ Feb 27th 2007 9:32AM
They both rock, made my PSP actually useful!
Kobold Cultist @ Feb 27th 2007 9:37AM
I found this awesome new hack for the PSP that also makes it useful: It makes a great door stop.
BPM @ Feb 27th 2007 9:48AM
And now that they've been unmasked, Sony grunts will come after their loved ones, threatening them to give up the hacking. D:
Jason @ Feb 27th 2007 10:21AM
3.10 OE-A is the shiznit! It's the reason I bought a PSP... and a 4GB memory stick... and...that is all.
Doug Kaplan @ Feb 27th 2007 10:55AM
I think Dark Alex had one of the most perfect quotes i've ever read:
"I believe in the presumption of innocence, unlike the media companies."
I love when hackers make the most sense.
hvnlysoldr @ Feb 27th 2007 11:19AM
Maybe that's the reason Europe always get games late and more expensive. If hackers get away with more in Europe the publishers and developers have to work harder to make it secure and insure themselves from piracy, therefore getting less money and have to charge the regular customers.
Piracy created a flood of awful games creating the gaming crash. Why buy a $50 game when you can grab a handful of $2 bin games? If games are dirt cheap, what value do they have at all?
That's why PSP and PS3 are flawed with easily hackable hardware. Why buy games when you can take free ones? People complaining that Sony and the others should stop worrying about region protection won't affect piracy should look at the PSP. Already the PSP is suffering from being hacked, imagine how worse it would be if they opened it.
Being from a poor family I sort of understand the value of getting even a resemblance of an allowance. How glad I felt when I was given any spending cash to do with nearly how I feel. How I patiently checked and made sure the game I bought at the Music/CD/Games or flea market was just the one I wanted and I could see myself playing for months.
That's why I see piracy as wrong. I had to beg my parents to buy a game and when I got it I played it for years. How wrong it feels that people think they deserve games for free that the people who made them don't deserve compensation for creating fantastic experiences. Piracy itself is looting others' treasures and selling them off. As someone who didn't own much I would feel devastated if they were stolen and then seeing them used flouted in front of me.
sheppy @ Feb 27th 2007 11:28AM
hvnlysoldr, man, I wish I could agree with you....
But here's the deal. Of that $60 you spend on a new game, the actual developer is lucky to see $10. Of that music CD? The artist sees roughly a dollar. You can scream about how purchasing software is supporting companies but all it really supports is a brutal publisher:bitch relationship on which the gaming industry is supported.
Don't get me wrong, I buy a ton of games. But if I see a game on PC that I may or may not like, you can best believe I will download it first. If for no other reason than to see if the goddam thing works considering the sizable crutch game patches have become in this day and age.
But also, you say you come from a poor upbringing, as did I. Just imagine, if you will, your child wants to become a video game artist. The computer is cheap enough but the software? Sure, there is the 30 day trials but I ask you, who has EVER learned an entire career in 30 days. So I say let him pirate, learn the trade, and have a chance at the industry.
While piracy can be bad, every corporation wrestles more and more control of the media from both the consumer and the original creator.
TwhiT @ Feb 27th 2007 12:25PM
ever since i upgrade to the 3.10 OE-A firmware, i've been playing my psp non-stop...not just games mind you, but homebrew stuff like PSPradio and PSPweather and PIMPstreamer and blah blah blah.....BASICALLY, i get more use out of it now that its "hacked"
You can try and link big bad piracy with homebrew and open edition firmwares, but its a complete LIE when you generalize everyone that uses "hacked" versions as pirating games...just complete bogus
keep the scene alive!! DarkAlex is my homeboi!!!
Grant @ Feb 27th 2007 5:50PM
hvnlysoldr,
if piracy delayed games and made the prices so jacked up, europe would get a completely differently coded and protected game... but they don't. It's not the security issue, it's the localization that takes a while.(cough and sony hates europe cough)
while i have used downloaded computer games a few times, it's usually only in the case that a demo isn't available or too restrictive. If i think the game is worth the money asked, i will buy, but i refuse to take a chance on something that will cost me $50.
can i pirate games for the current gen of consoles? sure, there are hacks for the 360 and mod chips for the wii, and who doesn't own a DVD burner?
but i don't, because i respect the industry and know that if i don't buy games... eventually they won't exist anymore.
I believe people who take the trouble to create a quality product deserve to be rewarded for it.
As for these PSP hackers. good for them. Companies need to stop thinking they own your hardware and how you use it. They gave you a warranty, they gave you a sticker that voids it, that should be as far as they are involved in what you do with it.
Muu @ Feb 27th 2007 1:02PM
sheppy
Going by that logic though, the ones that're ultimately hurt the most are the developers, who end up losing even the small profits they could have made. This probably doesn't apply to you as you do buy your games, but a lot of people couldn't give a flying F about the devs, though when slammed at they'll give answers similar to yours (or that they "use homebrew as well") to pretend they cared.
It'd be interesting to see how much money most 'shareware' and 'donation-ware' type games make these days.
Vidikron @ Feb 27th 2007 1:12PM
@ hvnlysoldr
Your comments really don't hold much water. The DS is far more hackable than the PSP and it's doing fantastic.
LanceVDZ @ Feb 28th 2007 11:46AM
Yeah America is way to hard on hackers... that one guy a few years ago who got solitary confinement... for hacking!? Hell these guys are the only reason I actually PLAY my PSP... after I beat popolocrois there was nothing left on the system (except all the SNES games :) )
Dolla Dolla @ Feb 27th 2007 2:03PM
You see, the problem with the PSP is what it COULD do if Sony would simply allow it. The fact that "unhacked" PSP users still cannot access the Playstation store to purchase and play PS1 games is lunacy. Sony still hasn't given the casual gamer a reason to drop $600 for the PS3. The PSP is more attractive at the moment, and with a 20+ million userbase, it doesn't make any sense requiring the use of a PS3 to get PS1 games.
The March update better have all this and more. And, I pray the sh*t doesn't hit the fan when they post the backwards compatibility list of the Euro PS3. Sony needs a break, cause I'm tired of them f*ckin up.
hvnlysoldr @ Feb 27th 2007 2:06PM
I know the DS is hackable. But how much larger is its game library than PSP? People see a legitimate reason to buy the DS for games, and the impression people are getting of the PSP is for media functions and emulation and homebrew. With all these firmware upgrades to stop hacking it's not giving the impression of a gaming device but rather a fight between giant Sony and those who wish to use the PSP as they see fit.
Ben Tremblay @ Feb 27th 2007 6:24PM
Well I hope they're not too surprised when they don't have anything to hack anymore because the PSP has died a horrible death from being pirated too much.
'presumption of innocence'? NON-SENSE!
That's just like selling handguns! They're made for shooting PEOPLE!
mike @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:26AM
Chinese police to release hacker's Panda worm killer.A hacker arrested only days ago will be allowed to release a fix for the worm that he helped write, China's state media reported Wednesday.
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/myblog/
Jigen @ May 5th 2007 5:40AM
Pirating..Hacking...
Look I belive that if I choose to pirate that is my business not some egotistical opinionated idealist who says I am wrong I say if I get caught what is it to you? you will still sit in your room reading the memoires of ronald regan and thinking "im so glad im better than those pirates" more power to you but please for the sake of topic, discussion and all around enjoyment SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH...jerk...
Jigen
oliver @ May 10th 2007 6:57AM
I love them both I buyed a psp on the day it came out and it was 1.50 and I never updated past 2.00 with fear of not being able to downgrade but a month or so ago I found dark alexs custom firmwere and now im in herven altho would have liked the cheat thing to work in gta but someone told me theres a plug in or something but anyway love them both they rule
Logic-Core @ May 17th 2007 4:26AM
I bought a PSP two months after release, bought games and played the hell out of it. It didn't leave my side for the first year. Sadly, it's been reduced to a glorified (not to mention bulky) MP3 player since then, because Sony refuses to put out good games and because like a dupe I kept upgrading my Firmware with whatever Sony pumped out.
Now, I see what the hackers are doing with the tiny titan and I'm pissed... not at the Hackers but at Sony.
Sony refuses to give it a library of titles worthy of it's ownership and because of their piracy paranoia I can't modify my rightfully Purchased Property until another hacker (I.E. "Saviour") releases a downgrader that will aid me.
It's to the point now where I'm shopping for another one so that I can hack it and help people that have fallen to the same fate that I have. In the meantime, my Sony-Secured (hijacked) PSP will be constrained to the life of an MP3 player.