GeoHot Claims Sony Is Misleading the Courts in PS3 Legal Battle

[Logan Westbrook]

GeoHot Claims Sony Is Misleading the Courts in PS3 Legal Battle

The fine print in the PS3 software developer kit has become an important point in the ongoing battle between Sony and jailbreaker GeoHot.

Sony's lawsuit against George "GeoHot" Hotz, has hit another [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106990-PlayStation-3-Hacking-Lawsuit-Hits-a-Snag] jurisdictional snag as Hotz's legal team have accused the corporation of deliberately misleading the court in order to get the case tried in California. According to Hotz's lawyers, Sony isn't being entirely candid with the court, and is withholding important information.

This complaint seems to hinge on the exact wording of the PS3 Software Developer Kit. According to Sony, if it found the SDK on Hotz's computer, that would prove the connection between Hotz and California - where SCE America is based - and would thus settle any dispute over jurisdiction. Sony petitioned the court for permission to search Hotz's computers for evidence of the SDK.

Hotz's lawyers said that there was no validity to this argument however, as the SDK was actually the property of SCE Japan, and that Sony had concealed that fact in order to gain access to Hotz's computers, a request that the court would have turned down had it had all the relevant information. The lawyers said that Sony was hoping that during its search for the SDK - which it knew was actually useless in determining jurisdiction - that it might find something else linking Hotz to California.

Sony responded to the accusation by saying that SCEA was the sole distributor of the SDK in the US, as well as the developer support contact. It seems that the company is being cagey about letting Hotz's lawyers actually look at the terms and conditions of the SDK however, without them first signing a non-disclosure agreement. Even then, the company is only willing to show the SDK at its offices.

This is going to be a bitter and hard fought case. These arguments aren't even part of the original complaint. Instead, they're to determine in which state the case should be heard. It will be some time before the case even really gets underway, and months - or maybe even years - before it's resolved.

Source: Ars Technica [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/03/ps3-jailbreaker-claims-sony-is-misleading-the-courts.ars]


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[googleback]

personally, I think They're going to bleed down his expenses till he cant fight back regardless. All this extra time Hotz's lawyers have to cut through bureaucracy is costing him money and unlike with sony... this is eventually going to run out.

aren't there laws against doing that though?

 

[reddfawks]

Seriously, people...

...I'm running out of popcorn for this...

 

[Pendragon9]

Sony is misleading the courts?

Well, I didn't see that through all of Geohot's deceit. What with the whole "encouraging people to ban others from PSN" fiasco and "rapping about how all big corporations are evil" while taking bribes from Microsoft, etc.

Geohot is a disgusting example of a hacker/pirate that I hope loses. I frankly don't care what dangerous legal precedent this sets. I refuse to support such a person.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

Why is he even trying? We all know that Sony is corrupt and will do anything to destroy that boys life. That's already pretty much in evidence.

Because there's even the tiny chance that they might lose a legal battle, it all comes down to bankrupting the opposition. Such is the world run by corporations.
I back anyone who decides to crack the ps3 for the sake of pissing off Sony (not to pirate- just to piss them off)

 

[Baresark]

Nah, Geohotz has widespread support. And the lawyers involved could become famous because this is a pretty ground breaking case when you think about the scope of it. I think he is probably right, that since Sony's actual base of operations is out of Japan and the California office probably still answers to the main office there (till at least there is only a nuclear puddle left in it's place), then they may not have any rights to his computer. We could go all day arguing about whether Hotz is right or wrong, but that would be useless. Only thing to do is watch and see. But, I don't think he will be out of money anytime soon.

 

[gigastar]

Just speculating, but I think Sony is out for Hotz's computers so they can copy his PS3 jialbreak SDK then implement a patch to negate it completely. It does make sense in that context.

Oh and lawyers misleading in courtrooms? Deceptions have been at the core of legal practice for centuries.

 

[DazBurger]

... Wow!

Iv said this before and Im saying it again:"Happy to be danish!"

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

personally, I think They're going to bleed down his expenses till he cant fight back regardless. All this extra time Hotz's lawyers have to cut through bureaucracy is costing him money and unlike with sony... this is eventually going to run out.

aren't there laws against doing that though?

Nope.

That's legal battles. It's not to win, it is to make the other broke through forcing him to pay for lawyers.

Hotz can still get money from donations if he can prove they are simply donations. Nothing's stopping him, but SONY wants to fight in Cali, Hotz wants to fight in New York... If they can't settle that, Hotz should have thought ahead of this.

Sony is misleading the courts?

Well, I didn't see that through all of Geohot's deceit. What with the whole "encouraging people to ban others from PSN" fiasco and "rapping about how all big corporations are evil" while taking bribes from Microsoft, etc.

Geohot is a disgusting example of a hacker/pirate that I hope loses. I frankly don't care what dangerous legal precedent this sets. I refuse to support such a person.

Pretty much. I seem to remember him tweeting companies asking for a job, and the next second he's calling all companies evil. Even if he's broken, he's gotten his name out there. People will donate to get him on his feet, and then he'll live. Hell, they've donated to him once before.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Just speculating, but I think Sony is out for Hotz's computers so they can copy his PS3 jialbreak SDK then implement a patch to negate it completely. It does make sense in that context.

Oh and lawyers misleading in courtrooms? Deceptions have been at the core of legal practice for centuries.

The jailbreak codes were posted all over the internet, they wouldn't need to steal his computer to grab this, they could simply counter it on their end. But then Hotz would just counter, and back, and forth, and back....

SONYwants this done for good

 

[gigastar]

Just speculating, but I think Sony is out for Hotz's computers so they can copy his PS3 jialbreak SDK then implement a patch to negate it completely. It does make sense in that context.

Oh and lawyers misleading in courtrooms? Deceptions have been at the core of legal practice for centuries.

The jailbreak codes were posted all over the internet, they wouldn't need to steal his computer to grab this, they could simply counter it on their end. But then Hotz would just counter, and back, and forth, and back....

SONY wants this done for good

Yes thats why they should get thier hands on what hes using to write the jailbreak patches. Sony cant be seen to have downloaded a copy of jailbreak after they got the access records to his site. Best way around this is to stop distribution then seize and duplicate the source.

Im not saying its perfect but while Hotz is banned from computer work it would give Sony a considerable lead against further jailbreaks.

 

[mjc0961]

Sony petitioned the caught for permission to search Hotz's computers for evidence of the SDK.

That makes no sense. I assume you meant to say court there, but maybe I'm just having a brain fart and reading it wrong.

Anyway, more typical bullying and cheating from Sony. Of course they won't be fair about the terms and whatnots of the SDK. They're trying really hard to make things tough for GeoHot by having the case in California instead of where he lives. It's really all quite bullshit if you ask me. Sony is the big corporation with lots of money. They can send people to New Jersey to a nice hotel and whatnot easily. Plus, they are suing him. They should be the ones going out to New Jersey, but they're just trying to screw him even harder by trying to make him go all the way out to California.

Honestly, I find it harder and harder to support Sony these days. Almost everything they do anymore makes me want to give them less and less money for PS3 games and send it to my Wii, 360, DS, and PC instead. I'm already down to just getting exclusives for my PS3 as it is because of all their other things they do that annoy me (lots of little things that add up to a giant "what the hell are you doing Sony?!"). I might have to go to buying those exclusive titles used instead of new so they don't get any money from me if they want to keep this up. It's like they want to be the biggest villains in this industry since EA.

 

[Danpascooch]

personally, I think They're going to bleed down his expenses till he cant fight back regardless. All this extra time Hotz's lawyers have to cut through bureaucracy is costing him money and unlike with sony... this is eventually going to run out.

aren't there laws against doing that though?

Fuck that, he already has tons of donations for his legal fees, and if he starts to run dry I plan to contribute myself, because this is complete bullshit.

They can't stall the courts decision forever, donations are going to lead Geohotz to the win!

 

[WanderingFool]

Well, Im rooting for Sony largely because I doubt they will lose. I rarely ever get on the side that wins, so Im doing this so I can say, "Yup, I called it!"

 

[Syntax Man]

I find it despicable that there are people on this forum that are rooting for the big faceless corporation involved in this. Can you honestly say that you wouldn't be scared by the legal precedent set by Sony's victory in this case would do to the average consumer?
'Don't do things we don't like or we'll go Big Brother on your ass'
Personally I'd love to see one of these corporations that act like they control the world get taken down a notch...or twenty.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Just speculating, but I think Sony is out for Hotz's computers so they can copy his PS3 jialbreak SDK then implement a patch to negate it completely. It does make sense in that context.

Oh and lawyers misleading in courtrooms? Deceptions have been at the core of legal practice for centuries.

The jailbreak codes were posted all over the internet, they wouldn't need to steal his computer to grab this, they could simply counter it on their end. But then Hotz would just counter, and back, and forth, and back....

SONY wants this done for good

Yes thats why they should get thier hands on what hes using to write the jailbreak patches. Sony cant be seen to have downloaded a copy of jailbreak after they got the access records to his site. Best way around this is to stop distribution then seize and duplicate the source.

Im not saying its perfect but while Hotz is banned from computer work it would give Sony a considerable lead against further jailbreaks.

No, because SONY would be DESTORYED if they found out that SONY looked at the computer files for any other reason. The risk simply isn't worth the money they're throwing into this, or the trouble they are going through. Plus, if the court rules in favor of Hotz, then what? They lose, and they can't protect themselves from this jail breaking anyways.