After a short but rather storied history, infamous PlayStation 3 jailbreaker George "GeoHot" Hotz and Sony Computer Entertainment of America have settled their legal dispute, with a statement on the PlayStation Blog stating the two parties "reached an agreement in principle" around 10 days ago. According to said agreement, Hotz has "consented to a permanent injunction," meaning he super swears he won't do it again (legally speaking, of course), though no other terms are given. We were told by an SCEA rep that the terms of the settlement (beyond what was disclosed) are confidential.
Unsurprisingly, both Hotz' legal team and Sony's were excited to resolve the legal dispute so quickly. "It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier. I'm happy to have the litigation behind me," Hotz said in the announcement.
Previously, Hotz had strict terms for a potential settlement. "Let's just say, I want the settlement terms to include OtherOS on all PS3s and an apology on the PlayStation blog for ever removing it," Hotz wrote on his website during the trial. "It'd be good PR for Sony too, lord knows they could use it," he continued. "I'm also willing to accept a trade, a legit path to homebrew for knowledge of how to stop new firmwares from being decrypted." Apparently the case spooked Hotz enough to reconsider.
The settlement announcement also absolves Hotz of any potential wrongdoing associated with recent PlayStation Network attacks. "Hotz was not involved in the recent attacks on Sony's internet services and websites," the statement reads.
To fully drive the point of the blog post home, SCEA general counsel Riley Russell said of Hotz, "We appreciate Mr. Hotz's willingness to address the legal issues involved in this case and work with us to quickly bring this matter to an early resolution."
For his part, Hotz announced via his blog this morning that he is "joining the Sony boycott," and that he "will never purchase another Sony product." It could be that he's mad after the legal case ... or it could just be that he's broke.
Reader Comments (208)
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 8:22AM Rocketboy said
@kgoo867 Well, Hotz's career as a hacker was destroyed the second he decided to make it about himself.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 9:25AM Uracat said
There's no good reason why Other OS is needed on a game console. You can build your own linux pc for next to nothing and play emulated pacman until your eyes bleed. His justification for hacking the PS3 stems from Sony's removal of this feature, but in truth it's hackers like himself that made Sony remove it in the first place.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 10:23AM Kira Blaize said
And yet PS3 users still don't have OtherOS capability. Ugh. Way to miss the damn point Sony.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 11:00AM ColorblindMonk said
Luckily gamers don't know what the term 'boycott' means, if you look back at Modern Warfare 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. It'll pass and eventually the boycott will dissolve because boycotting a console you just want to jailbreak is not that strong a reason.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 11:14AM (Unverified) said
@Hardcore1
What he did was no different than a guy taking apart the engine in his car, modifying it, and posting pictures of what he did on the internet.
What Sony is trying to do is outlaw tinkering. It has nothing to do with 'cheating at games' or whatever. It is about the freedom of speech and the freedom of people to have control over their own possessions...
or do you wish to live in a world where you are not allowed to lift the hood of your own car? or where a certain group of short numbers become illegal to publish? That is where Sony wants to take us.
That is where we are headed unless people stick up for the George Hotzs of the world.
What he did was no different than a guy taking apart the engine in his car, modifying it, and posting pictures of what he did on the internet.
What Sony is trying to do is outlaw tinkering. It has nothing to do with 'cheating at games' or whatever. It is about the freedom of speech and the freedom of people to have control over their own possessions...
or do you wish to live in a world where you are not allowed to lift the hood of your own car? or where a certain group of short numbers become illegal to publish? That is where Sony wants to take us.
That is where we are headed unless people stick up for the George Hotzs of the world.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 1:34PM mimalo88 said
@(Unverified)
"What he did was no different than a guy taking apart the engine in his car, modifying it, and posting pictures of what he did on the internet."
Assuming that modifying the engine of the car would allow him to fill his tank with free, stolen gas.
"What he did was no different than a guy taking apart the engine in his car, modifying it, and posting pictures of what he did on the internet."
Assuming that modifying the engine of the car would allow him to fill his tank with free, stolen gas.
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 2:37PM AnonymousIAm said
I fullly support u /b/rother - GeoHotz FTW
Posted: Apr 12th 2011 2:43PM AnonymousWeAre said
what goes around comes around..............





