Sony has released a statement today which, the company hopes, will slow down the recent storm of piracy on the PlayStation 3. The system has been hacked to hell and back ever since internet ninja "geohot" did the deed and spread the message. Sony has been spending their time in court and coming up with steps to force hackers to cease and desist.
Is this the solution? No, probably not. The full release from Sony, as featured on the PlayStation.Blog:
Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the "System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System" and the "Terms of Services and User Agreement" for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.
To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.
Sony's getting after the culprits by threatening their PlayStation Network access. It's too bad hackers really don't need access to the network to get rolling on their piracy, homebrewing and what not.
Hacking is bad, right? Not necessarily. It's the theft and spread of copyright content that's bad. It's also the hackers that glitch the blazes out of multiplayer competitions that are bad. And, as purely a gamer, one has to hope that Sony finds a way to rid their network of these users.
However, Sony's also floating out into awkward waters. They're suggesting that hackers shouldn't be allowed to hack the products that they physically own. These folks bought their PS3s and, of course, should be able to do what they want with them. Is it within Sony's rights to say, "No, sorry, you can't augment your system in any way that we don't approve of"?
To put that into perspective: it would be like a car company saying owners can't mod their vehicles in ways that said company doesn't approve of.
Pick sides: Sony or Modders/Hackers? Or neither?
[via PlayStation.Blog]
