Now that George Hotz has given us a way to execute code on the Playstation 3 without restriction, will this ultimately cut into studios bottom line?

"Without restriction"? Anyone who tries to publish software on the platform without a publishing license from Sony will surely face legal action from Sony. Hotz is in the hot seat right now (temporary restraining order issued on Tuesday).
Besides, if you release a game for the platform, you're unlikely to be able to get a wide audience for it. The end users would have to jump through too many hoops to get it onto their machines.

so Hotz' homebrew poses no threat to studios' bottom line... what if it somehow leads to piracy on the PS3? if that is possible would it then become a threat?

so Hotz' homebrew poses no threat to studios' bottom line... what if it somehow leads to piracy on the PS3? if that is possible would it then become a threat?

No it does not.

Piracy is a huge issue on all the platforms. Nearly every system update that gets released is not to provide expanded functionality, but instead to block known piracy routes. Pirates have been copying content since the system came out using modchips and exploits found in the games.

Those people who pirate games have been doing so for years.


And while it has been filed, the injunction has not been granted. The date of the hearing has been pushed back every time.

When the complaint was filed and hit the press, I read it. I was frankly shocked at how the Sony lawyers missed several key details and got basic facts wrong. It was very sloppy. Even though I'm not a lawyer I've read enough legal documents to know a bad job when I see it.

In talking about it with my co-workers, we only saw a single complaint that seemed valid. That is the claim that he gave a public forum post with specific instructions on pirating three specific games using his tools. The other claims of tresspass (on his own equipment) have been shot down in courts for years.

The original filing even had a poorly written clause that said that piracy isn't even possible without knowledge of the key. This is invalid on its face, as Sony has sued many groups and organizations for piracy in the past, even though they had no knowledge of the key.


This will not affect studios. They must go through the proper channels, and the proper channels will continue to be there.

This will not affect piracy. PS3 has been out for years and pirates have already got modchips to bypass the hardware security. It may help enable a few new pirates, but the number is vanishingly small in comparison.

The lawsuit will not affect homebrew negatively. Sony has always touted the PS3 as a general-use home computer rather than a device for only playing their games. Homebrew game developers can claim that they use the now-released trade secret is a non-protectable requirement for interoperation that allows consumers to choose to use unofficial materials on a machine that they own. That is an exemption in US law and well established in the courts.




I cannot imagine the judge granting the emergency injunction. The trade secret was released and the injunction will not restore it. The injunction that was presented would not interrupt or reduce any harm from the actions. The injunction had claims of (past tense) violations, and wanted to confiscate his computer.

Add to it the fact that there were so many major errors in the document to make it a joke. They delivered it to him at 7:00 PM for a scheduled hearing at 9:00 AM the next day. (They rescheduled because an appeals court would obviously overturn that kind of garbage.) He lives on the opposite side of the country so the state court has no jurisdiction. (That is a major mistake.) The claim he violated the terms of the PlayStation Network, even though he does not have nor has he ever had a PSN account.

In an interesting twist, it may almost be better for Hotz if Sony gets their initial injunction granted. They (Sony) would confiscate all his computer equipment. If Sony gets their fingers (figuratively) inside his computers it opens the door to Hotz and his lawyers to claim that Sony may have tampered with evidence. The ideal injunction would just be to preserve data, but that isn't what Sony asked for. They wanted to get the original devices so they can search for more evidence of tampering. Having Sony crack open the box could severely damage their own claims. That's another sloppy mistake by Sony.



While Hotz is certainly in a bit of trouble for his actions, the only one I can see that has a chance of conviction is the one forum post where he posted specific instructions on loading "backup copies" of three specific games. I'd even question that one, because he was clear that it should be done on backup copies of games you legally own. The law allows you to make and use a single backup, so even that claim is very weak.

Sony will likely amend their complaint to something with more teeth, but as it is,Sony is very unlikely to succeed.

thanks for the sublime analysis! very interesting.

Now that George Hotz has given us a way to execute code on the Playstation 3 without restriction, will this ultimately cut into studios bottom line?

It would help if you posted a link explaining the story for those who aren't aware. Anyone?

'sdaq' said:

Now that George Hotz has given us a way to execute code on the Playstation 3 without restriction, will this ultimately cut into studios bottom line?

It would help if you posted a link explaining the story for those who aren't aware. Anyone?

my bad, here is a pretty good article:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3hacked-article?page=1

'd000hg' said:

'sdaq' said:

Now that George Hotz has given us a way to execute code on the Playstation 3 without restriction, will this ultimately cut into studios bottom line?

It would help if you posted a link explaining the story for those who aren't aware. Anyone?

Short story: George Hotz cracked the PS3, and now anyone can sign their own code. There is nothing really interesting about it. Homebrew guys were already homebrewing, and people with no interest are still not interested. People who wanted pirated games were already pirating games anyways.

I thought it was interesting because now all features of the ps3 were now available for development, 8 SPUs and 1 RSX, whereas previously they were not (unless you were a licensed developer)