Australian court halts PSJailbreak sales ... to anyone but Sony

by JC Fletcher on Aug 27th 2010 11:00PM

Now that we've determined that the PSJailbreak dongle is real ... the question of its authenticity has abruptly been made moot. The Australian Federal Court has temporarily enjoined retailers from selling or distributing the devices. The court also ordered that a number of PSJailbreaks are to be "released to [Sony] for such analysis, including destructive analysis, as the Applicants think fit, upon the payment to the applicable respondent of its retail price for each such PSJailbreak Device."

If we're reading this correctly, that means that OzModchips and the other named retailers are legally forbidden from selling PSJailbreaks outside of Sony, and legally forced to sell PSJailbreaks to Sony. In any case, once Sony's had a chance to figure out exactly how this thing works, it basically won't matter if the injunction is lifted later, as the PSJailbreak will be rendered useless by a firmware update.

Via: Ars Technica
Source: Federal Court of Australia [DOC}

Tags: australia, legal, mod, mods, piracy, playstation, ps3, psjailbreak, sony

Reader Comments (102)

So can anyone guess which feature is going to be taken away from us next system update?

@Air King
The ability to use USB ports?

@(Unverified)

Backwards compatibly and Linux. Oh wait...

@Air King

Nothing will. Probably USB restrictions at worst.

@Air King
The ability to play games.

@patboy2008

BC was removed cause people whined.

@BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam

..idiot

@Air King

They're going to add a feature: ads in the XMB.

@Air King

Sony's not even gonna bother. They're gonna break into your house and just smash your PS3.

Mission Accomplished. Now no one can try to pirate games ever again.

@Air King

If they remove *ANYthing* else I think a hell of a lot of people will go rogue because they are simply sick of it.

@Faenix
Hi, you must be new here. Please allow me to introduce myself.

I'm BPM. I make posts that are sometimes witty, sometimes insightful, sometimes sarcastic. I don't troll or spam, and, given my history of highly ranked comments, it would appear quite a few people like what I have to say. In fact, my history with Joystiq extends to the beginning of 2006.

Nice to meet you. Now git tha hell offa mah lawn!

@Air King
Cause Linux on PS3 was such a Ground Breaking feature and everyone used it for its great Applications.

Lets get real, it was just a gimmick people.

@The Aquacharger
What games?
*shot*

@Air King

Either Sony will realize that they can't patch it so will disable the USB ports or they will totally disable your console. LMAO. j/k.

@twocows

Wow, I've never heard anyone make a joke about the PS3 having nogaems before.

@Lennoko

A gimmick is a big word, let's call it a useful but for 99.8 % unused feature that could lead to 100% hack ability feature?

@Faenix

why did he get downvoted?... BC was removed because you all did complain. How easy you forget the endless "PRICE DROP, SONY!!" posted in every article on every website countless times... They had to strip it in order to make it cheaper for you complainers. If you didn't get a BC one by the time MGS4 Bundle came out then it sucks for you.

@Air King
I wish someone would take away the feature that allows you to run your mouth.

you cry-baby's need to go get xbox's, like the rest of the children.

@Lennoko Do you know how many universities used the Linux feature ? .. You might not have used it many of us did.. It allowed for some seriously good number crunching the Cell Processor is an awesome processor.

@Lennoko:

Let's get real? Sure. Institutions used the Other OS function and multiple PS3s to run supercomputers and it's significantly cheaper that way. You ignorant people just need to shut your mouth.

@Air King

Why do gamers whine so damn much?

Whoever made the post about people constantly whining about how expensive the PS3 was and then whining after the price drops about no PS2 BC was right on the money.

@Reinhart :

Sure Research institutions and many other organizations used and USE Linux on the PS3, as an cheap way to learn and teach how to program on Cell SDK.

But listen, those organizations either dont updated the PS3, since dont need the PSN Store, Online Play, etc or they have a special custom firmware designed in cooperation and supervision of Sony.

Those PS3 held in those organizations are not for gaming purpose and is not like they miss log into de PSN and such thing, hell, even I doubt that they even log into the XMBm since they have their own interfaces designed for programming at Cell language.

@ObiAlKenobi:

While what you said sound plausible and would be something smart people might do, companies are known to not do the smart thing. I've actually read that the removal of the Other OS features have cause concern among institution that run their PS3 this way. It's made it impossible for them to replace their failing units (failing from operating all the time), or for them to upgrade the size of their supercomputer clusters. Now, if such arrangement as you've said exist, they wouldn't be concerned would they?

It's still possible that Sony have come to similar arrangements - as you propose - with these institutions since then, but I haven't read any news about it.

@Reinhart

Nobody builds a supercomputer out of a pile of PS3s. That's just silly. Yes, there are cell-based supercomputers but the cell processor is (*gasp*) available in machines besides PS3s. The PS3 form-factor is not designed for a high-density rackmount, contains extraneous features, and is very limited in other aspects (like memory). Not only that but there are newer, faster versions of the cell processor now. Nobody builds supercomputers around a 4 year old chip.

And even if somebody was making a supercomputer out of a pile of PS3s, why would Sony want to encourage that? They don't make money on PS3s, they make money on games.

The real loss in removing Linux support from the PS3 is more in the sense of general literacy with the cell processor. Programming for the cell is *different* and practice makes perfect. The PS3 is, by far, the cheapest and most readily available cell-based computer for average consumers. It was really nice to be able to stick Linux on it and learn a bit about cell programming when you had the chance. That knowledge could then later be applied in things like the previously mentioned supercomputers or even developing games for the thing.

@Reinhart
Universities are WORTHLESS to Sony. Are they going to buy games? DLC? Stupid home clothes? Nope. Same with the air force. Sony sees those consoles as losses.

@McDuckScrooged

So what.... everyone who bought a PS3 solely as a Linux box was not effected by the removal of that feature. As they don't use the PS3 for nothing but being in a linux cluster, they won't be trying to play PS3 games and go online to PSN network. Thus not having to update and lose that feature. I am not saying that no one felt the removal...but just know that the universities and other research facilities are still crunching await and programing on their PS3's just fine if that part of the PS3 was all the bought it for.

well damn.

I was thinking of a clever way for them to render this thing useless. You know how, in some games, when you start them up it says "Installing Trophy Data"? Well, they should pick a high-profile game like Black Ops and have them set it that when it says "Installing Trophy Data" it's actually installing a kill-switch that will delete everything on the flash-drive once it's connected to the system. And if that's illegal, then just block out everything it uses.

ahhh man... there goes homebrew...

@youngoz

Bull, like you were going to use it for homebrew.

@Faenix

You do realize people do use stuff like this for homebrew. Otherwise such things wouldn't even exist. One of my favorite things last generation was a hacked XBox running XBMC with loads of homebrew. Most people pirate with these devices, but there's no way you can simply call "bull" on someone claiming they were looking forward to homebrew.

@Vidikron

Wouldnt exist? Tell me your joking. 98% of the people who BUY these things do it for ONE reason: FREE games.

PLUS, the people who make these things make $100+ and majority of that is profit no doubt.

@Vidikron

Also, I can.. and I did. I highly doubt anyone gets it for "homebrew". They get it for free games first, homebrew second.. if and only if something catches there fancy

@Faenix

When I said "wouldn't exist" I was referring to the homebrew.

"Also, I can.. and I did. I highly doubt anyone gets it for "homebrew". "

Well, OK, you can... but it doesn't make it particularly smart or correct. Plenty of people use these things for homebrew, even if most do it for piracy. You can doubt that these people exist all you want, but you're absolutely wrong.

@Faenix

I just LOVE it when people randomly CAPITALIZE words in their SENTENCES.

People 'brew. I 'brew. Its a fact. Unfortunately, most exploits that allow homebrew also allow piracy, so the two crowds get combined by those who are "outside" the homebrew scene for a given console.

In the case of the ps3, I suspect most homebrewers are using ps3s with older firmware that runs linux. There's no reason to fully unlock a ps3 for homebrew. Its the same with the 360--the exploit that is used to run piracy (hacking the dvd-rom firmware) is useless for homebrew. So I don't think there will be much sympathy for this device amongst legitimate homebrewers.

@JCDoe

Actually, there is a reason. Even with Linux Sony never allowed full access to the GPU. I think people eventually figured out some partial ways around that restriction, but it was never what it could have been without those restrictions. This device allows unsigned code which could have been used to run homebrew natively on the full PS3 hardware.

@Vidikron

No man, just no.
The majority of people don't even know you can get homebrew for your hacked DS, they're only interested in pirated ROMs. Good riddance, I say.

@youngoz

if i had this and i said to myself it was going to be for Homebrew only, i'd be lying. Once you know you can get one free game you're gonna do it, then twice then before you know it you don't even use Hombrew apps at all... i know i would.

*Sirens*

oh no the morality police. Everyone hide in a white shade.

You know... I don't even know why some of you guys are even debating this. The OP didn't even claimed he wasn't going to pirate (though no one can say for sure he would) and I've readily admitted that most people use these devices to pirate. So what's the issue here? He just said we was disappointed that there may not be any homebrew now. I only took exception to Faenix trying to claim he wasn't going to use homebrew and just pirate, which is an absurd assumption.

The bottom line is that homebrew exists because people enjoy and use it. Simple as that. No one's making any claims that piracy isn't more prevalent. Any attempts to claim that people don't homebrew or twist my words to make it sound like I'm arguing that most people just homebrew are baldfaced lies.

@Aguiluz
@ all your sarcastic questions the answer is yes. All of those things listed were originally made for homebrew and things other than pirating.

@Sally

You are very ignorant on the subject of homebrew. Many large software projects had their origins in the homebrew and FOSS (free and open source software) scenes. This includes games like Every Extend and Cave Story, and non-game applications like the widely successful XBMC (xbox media center).

The homebrew scene also created emulators for many popular legacy consoles, like the NES or the Sega Genesis, which are now used to officially port these titles to modern systems like the Wii or the Xbox (via XBLA).

Just remember what homebrew has done for you the next time you want to spew a diatribe about how homebrew software all sucks and how we all need jobs (lolwut?).

I doubt it can be stopped,now that the vulnerability is out,people will find a way.

@Mr White

Don't be so sure. The article here at joystiq isn't really all that well reasoned. just because an injunction, based on advertising promises, was granted, doesn't mean those promises were actually realistic.

For all we know, there is no USB game copy device... just another scam. After all, what were you going to do if your piracy device didn't work? Sue? Chargeback? Nope... you have no legal right to that device actually working, if you're in the USA, since the DMCA makes it illegal.

Illegal contracts aren't enforceable.

I think the entire device was a complete joke. One of the advantages of the PS3 over the 360 is that it's simply better designed for preventing piracy. I imagine the game sales gap would be even worse than it already is, otherwise.

Unfortunately, with the 'share game' ability, a lot of devs aren't happy with the PS3's policies anyway (they consider that piracy in many cases).

@Dustin F
Its been proven to work.

@tmujir955

I'll believe it when I see it.

Living in Australia, I won't ever see it, so therefore, it ain't real.

*Cool face*

Well, that means they have to sell them to Sony, therefore still make what little profit that can be made from the PSJailbreak.

As a whole, this really wasn't a bad idea at first. I miss the days of Gameshark and Codebreaker, where it was altering the game instead of stealing it. Ah, GT4 with 16x Acceleration, I miss you.

@SnorlaxTheSerialKiller

lol I blame achievements for killing Code Breakers and Gameshark.

@SnorlaxTheSerialKiller

Umm....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FzmTxatNb4

@philmcfail

oh man, i second, third and fourth this... Why did we get ride of the game altering devices. GTA was 100x more fun when you could make almost ANYTHING happen. Games would have such long relay value in my opinion. Once you beat it, you load up one with all weapons and unlimited ammo, and enjoy.

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Australian court halts PSJailbreak sales ... to anyone but Sony

Reader Comments (102)

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:04PM Air King said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:11PM BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:13PM patboy2008 said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:22PM Faenix said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:22PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:25PM Faenix said

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Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:51PM postpwn said

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Posted: Aug 30th 2010 1:27AM RagingStormX said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:12PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:14PM CrimsonRyan said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:16PM youngoz said

Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:22PM Faenix said

Posted: Aug 28th 2010 12:14AM Vidikron said

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Posted: Aug 28th 2010 12:54AM JCDoe said

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Posted: Aug 28th 2010 3:28AM Esposch said

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Posted: Aug 28th 2010 11:35AM thenutman69321 said

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Posted: Aug 27th 2010 11:23PM Mr White said

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Posted: Aug 28th 2010 9:18PM tmujir955 said

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