Geohot's lawyer responds to Sony's South America accusations

by Griffin McElroy on Mar 24th 2011 12:00PM

Yesterday, the ballad of hacker George "Geohot" Hotz and his ongoing legal struggle with Sony took a bizarre turn, when the latter claimed Hotz had hampered "jurisdictional discovery" by removing parts of his overturned hard drives, and is currently avoiding trial in South America. Recently, Hotz' legal counsel Stewart Kellar responded to these claims, explaining, "The notion that George has fled the country is absurd."

Kellar added, "George is in South America to see a friend, on a trip he planned before this lawsuit ever began." With regards to the claim that Hotz had sabotaged the hard drives he turned over to Sony, Kellar said Sony is "using intentionally ambiguous language" to turn public opinion against Hotz. "The 'components' SCEA is talking about are hard drives' controller cards," he said, claiming that they had been supplied to the prosecutor.

We've once again contacted Sony for a response (to this response), but given their policy for not commenting on legal issues, we won't bother crossing our fingers.

Source: Ars Technica

Tags: geohot, george-hotz, hack, jailbreak, lawsuit, legal, mod, playstation, ps3, ps3-jailbreak, sony, south-america

Reader Comments (141)

Between all the legalese and stuff that's not being said, I doubt anyone besides Geohot, Sony, and their lawyers really knows the whole of what's going on here.

Just figured I'd squeeze this in before "BURN IN HELL GEOHOT" and "SCREW YOU SONY."

@R Planteer

Burn in hot geo's and You screw Sony!!

If Sony is just trying to make him look bad I'd say they need not try because he does a good enough job of that himself.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

Agreed! :D

@Aguiluz and do what? he will win this case in a court of law unless our country is completely run by corporations. Everything he did he was in legal right to do. Sony is trying to make the kid's life miserable, successfully.

But he will win god willing.

The courts seem to disagree at least at this stage. You may hate it, but EULA's are widely accepted as a legal contract where not exceptionally burdensome or egregious. And releasing a tool that can disrupt that service, and is widely applicable to and used for copyright has a precedence of legal liability. See limewire and napster. Hots' bigest issue is that his work is both derivative (adds nothing 'creative' or stand-alone), and disruptive, while also asking for money (so he's deriving profit from it).

He may win in the long run, but it's not cut and dried. And he's really not been subjected to much more than the average defendant in this kind of case. (defendants which are typically corporations infact.)

See, this is exactly why I don't buy Sony's PCs and laptops.

@Mr Esc is the namesarcasm is my

Yes, but that's not as funny as "DURR DURR HOW DO I PLUG IN HARD DRIVE?"

@Zertoss
Posting from my Vaio, feels good man

if you are in a civil law suit, you don't have the time to see a friend outside of the country....
you simply have to wait to have your "vacation" after all this blows over....

he is a complete idiot for doing this...

@(Unverified)
that's what i thought too !

@(Unverified)

I agree!!!

@(Unverified)

Incorrect. It's a civil suit. Civil suits are long, protracted affairs, and he is not required to stay in the country unless there is a specific appearance he has to be present for. Even if there was, courts often will schedule around this sort of thing. It's not a criminal trial. It's one thing if he's actually on vacation, that's legit and it's honestly really not a big deal. However, if he is going to spoliate evidence, that is something else.

A new episode of The Young & The Restless.

*Grabs popcorn and waits for Victor Newman to make an appearance*

"Yeah, I'm probably in a lot of trouble, should consider not leaving the country or at least mentioning that as I might be needed in court but might as well just go see a friend in South America without even letting anyone know. kthxbai"

Sony is "using intentionally ambiguous language" to turn public opinion against Hotz.

Whatever it is Sony is calling him in court is nothing compared to what the public has already been calling him.To turn public opinion of him would mean the public favors him,last i heard it was pretty much unanimous opinion that he was a douche and is getting what he deserves.

@SgtDookie It's only unanimous among an extremely vocal minority.

@Faceless Troll

Its so easy to pick and choose, isn't it?

@SgtDookie

Agreed

Blah blah blah blah, bullshit bullshit bullshit bullshit.

Just get your ass over here and take responsibility for your actions. If you didn't want to get caught you should have shut up and kept anonymous.

I hope GeoHotz wins this case, regardless of how much i'll get downvoted.

People compare this to the PSP but, it's not even the same thing.
The PSP is a handheld, and your PSN ID although can be used on PSP or PS3 is much more significant on your PS3.

And with out it you can't get online, people should be allowed to run Homebrew on there consoles and I don't give a crap PSN makes them unable to connect PSN with these hombrews.

The point of the matter is, people should be able to do what they want with what they buy. I don't condone piracy but the PS3 already had modchips for that.

Yes this makes it easier, but this is why you don't let them on PSN just like the Xbox 360 does with Xbox Live.

In another note, can Sony add Cross Platform chat already?

@Juri I wish people understood that they buy the console not the software that runs it. Yes, you can do what you want with your console. Burn it if you want. But the software and infrastructure is Sony's. You don't buy that. You can use it, but not abuse it. Simple, really.

@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar So, then everything should just go Digital then? Cause what you're saying is true then what's the difference of having a disc over a digital download?

Also, you should have the RIGHT do what you want with it.
However, that doesn't give you the RIGHT to connect to Playstation Network.

As for piracy if you get caught then bam the slammer.

@Juri

You can have the right, but you have to pay for it. You currently aren't. Until then, you're restricted to the TOS and the EULA you agree to when you buy the system.

And I'm pretty sure they make a vague yet widely encompassing clause about software manipulation. I could be wrong, I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to bet there's enough language there to convince a judge.

@Juri

there is nothing stopping you from building your own legitimate applications for the PS3.

@Juri Did you get the OS Source Code with your purchase? No? There's a good reason for that, you know.

@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar
Except that when I install Linux on my PS3, I DO have the source. Except that Sony decided to remove that ability, after publicly stating numerous times that the ability would remain.

@Slippyblade

Actually, you agreed to remove it. You had a choice between keeping the "other OS" feature and losing access to PSN (a network that is completely free and subject to removal without at any notice by Sony), and updating to keep your access to PSN and lose the "other OS" feature.

Sony didn't take it away from you. You chose not to keep it.

@Juri you right people should be able to do anything with their console that they want, but at the same time they should be willing to pay the consequences when they do illegal things with said console.

@eat it Sure, you could have kept the ability to use Linux, if you gave up your rights to use the hardware for other things that it claimed that it supported. You know, like playing games, Blu-Ray discs, etc.

@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar

I didn't get the OS source code when I purchased any of my copies of Windows ..... that doesn't stop me from writing programs for it.

The PS3 is as much a stripped down PC as it is a console ..... So....

Arguably the same difference.

@Scuffles

I do take part of that back, there is one difference and that is Sony is still treating the PS3 like a console when they really need to be treating it more like a PC.

From what I have gathered the PSN network security essentially assumed their single layer of security (the encryption key) would never be breached. Well it has, and the "easy button" isn't going to cut it anymore.

I fully support Sonys right to track down and go after actual pirates and their right to track down and Ban cheaters on the PSN. But I also support the rights of consumers to do what they want with their property.

Sorry its one of those "I might not agree with what you have to say but I will fight to the death for your right to say it" sorta thing, and as long as the person in question isn't involving themselves in piracy or cheating it falls under consumer rights.

Trying to lump everything together and saying its evil or trying to scapegoat an individual (doesn't change that I think 'Hotz' is a total douche) for the actions of others just isn't going to cut it.

@Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar
According to the courts. You do own that one copy of software. You can modify that software any which way you want.

" Kellar added, "George is in South America to see a friend, on a trip he planned before this lawsuit ever began." With regards to the claim that Hotz had sabotaged the hard drives he turned over to Sony, Kellar said Sony is "using intentionally ambiguous language" to turn public opinion against Hotz. "

Most Of The Public from here was Against him BEFORE yesterdays article ... i think he's doing a fine job for making people hate him.

@Faceless Troll

Mmm yeah. That delicious cock... I'm sure it has nothing to do with spending a significant amount of money on a product and an experience only to have it completely ruined by some douche and a thousand other douches like him.

If I had known that was the case, I would have just spent my money on clap-infested hookers.

@Apakal The last I checked Sony is still making millions off the PS3. Completely ruined my ass.

@Faceless Troll Most of the people against him enjoy an online experience free of cheaters and morons.

@jmr1986 Because cheaters totally never existed before Hotz.

@Faceless Troll
Who said that? Nobody.

People don't want cheaters ruining their multiplayer experience. Is that so hard to understand?

@PointlessPuppies Then how is the comment relevant? The hack hotz did had nothing to do with cheating, and cheating would have happened with or without the hack.

@Faceless Troll

No one said they didn't moron, what Geodouche did was make it so even the non-hackers could cheat multiplying an already existing problem exponentially. Which in turn ruins multilayer games for people who have bought them. It is one thing to cheat for your own personal gain but becomes a whole other beast when it is used to gain an unfair advantage over millions of others ruining their online gaming experience they pay for.

Maybe you should stop posting and just go down to SA and suck his ...., basically the same thing you are doing here.

@Faceless Troll
"The hack hotz did had nothing to do with cheating"
Then why didn't he manage who had access to the hack? He could have easily made a homebrew private community where people had to prove they weren't some random kid wanting to use hacks in their online games. Something like talking to them and verifying their knowledge of programming/hardware then giving them access to the program privately. Hell he might not even have gotten this lawsuit slapped on him if he had just distributed it more carefully.

Instead he chose to release it to the public knowing that 90%+ of the people using it would run hacking/illegal programs. Sounds like a jackass move to me

@Blay Is suing hotz going to make cheaters go away? No? Then maybe Sony should spend that money on more effective measures to catch people cheating in a game instead.

@Faceless Troll
Id say making a very public example of someone that has publicly opened a door into an area that Sony is very sensitive about is the point of what they are doing.

@SgtDookie Because that sort of tactic has had such fantastic rates of success in the past and . . . oh wait.

@Faceless Troll

Nothing will make cheaters/pirates go away, they will always be out in one form or another, but what you are saying is Sony should just let everyone freely distribute their hacks then just worry about banning them? Lol are you serious? These public hacks alone make up for a huge majority of the cheaters today, take them down and you have not only took a huge part of the cheating population out you bring it down to manageable levels to deal with.

What making an example of this clown does is make future hackers think twice before releasing stuff like he did to millions of people on the internet, growing the cheating/pirating rate on the ps3 exponentially.

If you can't see how making it unattractive for hackers to release their work to millions online would lower the amount of cheaters ruining games for others online and the ability to pirate games then I believe the short bus is honking its horn for you.

@Blay What I said was that making an example out of someone isn't an effective solution. Not that Sony should do nothing. But feel free to keep drinking the koolaid and making stuff up.

@Faceless Troll
Lol you must be "special" or something to think that the possibility of getting a lawsuit slapped on you for releasing a hack publicly to anyone on the internet isn't going to deter some hackers from doing so.

No one said it would put an end to it but it sure as hell will deter some from doing so.

But anyway I'm done responding to you, obviously you are to busy gagging on geodouche to entertain any other thoughts besides servicing him.

@Blay Missing the point as usual. Then again I expect fanboys to do that.

@Faceless Troll Sony pays these lawyers to work or not, so it seems that putting their money to work is the best option for Sonys legal department.

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Geohot's lawyer responds to Sony's South America accusations

Reader Comments (141)

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:04PM R Planteer said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:14PM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:04PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:25PM DigitalFortress said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:07PM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:26PM DenebSwift said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:09PM Zertoss said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:30PM Zertoss said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:38PM Helghast102 said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:14PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:16PM MLC said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:29PM MarkezJM said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:11PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:12PM Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:12PM SgtDookie said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:16PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:19PM Apakal said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 2:21PM Quayle said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:14PM Shockwave said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:16PM Juri said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:19PM Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:22PM Juri said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:25PM Apakal said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:33PM eat it said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:36PM Dark Archon PSN Archonik XBL Dar said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:13PM Slippyblade said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:33PM eat it said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:56PM SpikeJX said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 3:09PM Rocketboy said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 3:45PM Scuffles said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 4:09PM Scuffles said

Posted: Mar 25th 2011 3:40AM kujospam2000 said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:16PM HardBoiled2009 said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:22PM Apakal said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:29PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:32PM jmr1986 said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:37PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 12:49PM PointlessPuppies said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:01PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:08PM Blay said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:14PM Blay said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:23PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:40PM SgtDookie said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:47PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 1:55PM Blay said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 2:06PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 2:17PM Blay said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 2:27PM Faceless Troll said

Posted: Mar 24th 2011 3:06PM mmmfishtacos said

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