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News Sony to track Geohot website users

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 7 Mar 2011.

  1. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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  2. mclean007

    mclean007 Officious Bystander

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    *If* (and that's a fairly big if) it's illegal to jail break a PS3, there may be an argument in favour of Sony being granted access to the IP addresses of people who downloaded the hack, but on what possible grounds have they been given access to YouTube and Blogspot logs? Last time I checked there's nothing illegal about watching a clip on YouTube or reading a blog, and it's a pretty flagrant breach of privacy for Google to be required to hand over its server logs. I appreciate that this is being used only to gather evidence gainst Hotz, but nevertheless it seems to go way beyond the limits of proportionality. Given that many (most?) of us have some kind of user account (gmail, YouTube, etc.) that lets Google identify us personally, I wonder if the information handed over to Sony will extend beyond just IP addresses. Surely Google should be allowed (and required) to anonymise its server logs before handing them over?
     
  3. outlawaol

    outlawaol Geeked since 1982

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    "suspects"

    So, if I go to youtube, twitter, google, or to his site I am a suspect....

    Good grief I hate big legal battles that end like this... I hope it somehow bites Sony in the butt... perhaps they'll ban so many legit users that they'll simply stop this nonsense...
     
  4. liratheal

    liratheal Sharing is Caring

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    ..Am I the only one tempted to get myself onto those logs, despite having a perfectly vanilla PS3, and see if I get banned from PSN?
     
  5. outlawaol

    outlawaol Geeked since 1982

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    No, you are not! I say lets do it and when sony needs us to send in the PS3's for 'checking' we can get new ones! Woo! :D
     
  6. ThirtyQuidKid

    ThirtyQuidKid Minimodder

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    Scare tactics and an oppertunity to get some kind of "internet policing" up and running. Big Brother making an attempt to look into all of our lives in minute detail.

    It's not a case of if Hotz gets prosecuted it is a case of what happens after......
     
  7. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    coming up: all our internet access are logged and recorded. oh wait....


    coming up: all electronic products sold will have a chip that can be used to remotely brick your product.
     
  8. Instagib

    Instagib Minimodder

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    What if; hypothetically, an individual views and downloads these files; for a friend say, but does not actually own a PS3 at present? Will this entitle them to a ban should they get a PS3 in the future?
     
  9. Instagib

    Instagib Minimodder

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    I thought SandyBridge already has this feature?
     
    fuus, Fizzban and gnutonian like this.
  10. Fizzban

    Fizzban Man of Many Typos

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    I think Sony have a bloody cheek. You buy something, it's yours to do with as you like. I can't see they have any right to peoples IP addresses. Either they need to make hacking consoles illegal or they need to write in BIG letters on their products that we are not buying them, but renting them.

    Things like this piss me off! Pretty glad I don't own a PS3 tbh.

    :hehe: +rep
     
  11. Picarro

    Picarro What's a Dremel?

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    If I was GeoHot I'd simply encrypt all my data with TrueCrypt and give Sony the finger. The maximum penalty he can then receive is withholding information and that doesn't exactly give a huge fine or multiple years in jail.
     
  12. julianmartin

    julianmartin resident cyborg.

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    If you buy a car, you are perfectly entitled to modify it as you see fit, as long as it qualifies for relevant safety regulations for other road users (if it is being used on the road).

    If you buy a PS3, you cannot do jack and if you try Sony will revoke the online features of said PS3.

    Unbelievable.
     
  13. Spuzzell

    Spuzzell What's a Dremel?

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    Oh for Gods sake. This is ridiculous.

    Cue the entirety of /b/ downloading the firmware to annoy the lawyers.

    I might too, and I've never owned a PS3.
     
  14. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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    +1. This is what I cannot believe about it - they sell you hardware, it seems reasonable to let you do as you please with it. That said, all this crap is in their EULA, which no one ever reads. Time to start reading contracts before you accept them...
     
  15. Bad_cancer

    Bad_cancer Mauritius? 2nd speck east of africa

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    *For note I do not have a ps3.*

    What really pisses me off to no end is that if you happened to watch the youtube video by clicking on a link or being routed from another video, you are going to get banned?

    Its like watching someone commit a crime on tv and getting arrested!

    What the ### is that mentality? Should this be legal?
     
  16. Cupboard

    Cupboard I'm not a modder.

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    So, is there anywhere you can download this from, get tracked and then put in a naughty pen? I don't have a PS3 but I now really want to wind Sony up.
     
  17. Unknownsock

    Unknownsock What's a Dremel?

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    What makes me laugh is, if you go look at these stories on say a typical gaming site such as kotaku.
    Everyone is on Sony's side...
     
  18. gnutonian

    gnutonian What's a Dremel?

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    Already here: HADOPI (own opinionated link) logging your every move. I think the UK Digital Economy thingy wants to do the same thing. And so is every other nation. But your "oh wait" already implied knowledge of these things ;)

    Shite, even the "open" Google phone was able to remotely remove malware from users' phones. And remember when Amazon removed books from the Kindle?

    As I've often said IRL (but as of yet, no one apart from the other half has agreed): we have a choice today. Either we choose to educate ourselves (not us, the geeks; but "us", society - i.e. the dumb-asses who get confused by "them computery things 'n ****") and free our knowledge and technology - and then our species will end up in Star Trek: The Next Generation (and everyone will have a personal Patrick Stewart to narrate their daily lives).
    Alternatively, we go the iPhone/Android App Market/etc way, and we end up in Idiocracy". It makes me so ****ing depressed, knowing that we're going to end up in "Idiocracy". Thank God I'll be dead before that happens to our species.

    I'm sorry to be the downer in this topic, but this is what tech is supposed to be about: advancement. Our bodies advance temporarily. Tech advances as long as our species does. And, as a member of the human species, I think I've got the right to care for its future.

    Shite, we're so ****ed, aren't we? People type "facebook" into google.com to get to facebook.com, for ****'s sake. If I had a gun permit (working on it!) I'd shoot myself now. Give it another year thanks to bureaucracy...! :)


    [edit]

    I know this may seem like an off-topic rant; but look at how much power Sony has been granted by the US legal system. It's just insane. It's not like geohotz attacked or stabbed anyone. He broke some code. He is not a danger to society. So, what the hell?

    Once there are no more murders, rapes, attacks, etc (you know, real crimes) .... then I will agree to our "justice" system cracking down on non-commercial copyright infringement. Before that, I think we've got a lot of taxpayers' money to spend on chasing down those who actually hurt society, rather than those who potentially may have slightly hurt a multi-billion dollar corporation. :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: 7 Mar 2011
    wyx087 likes this.
  19. TheUn4seen

    TheUn4seen What's a Dremel?

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    AFAIK Sony is doing it to prove that Geohot made the hack for people from Northern California (because there were people from that area downloading it and watching the vid - that's hell of a shitty logic, but that's american law for ya) to keep the case on west coast, where they seem to have better chances of winning.

    All in all, Sony seems to be completely detached from reality; I look at them and I see a stupid, badly raised kid screaming because someone dared to touch his toys. Granted, it's a society of idiots and i-users that made them so arrogant - but that's no excuse. I'm personally sick of a company that bullies its customers, first thing tomorrow I'm going to return the Vaio I just bought and Sony proudly goes on my never-buy-from-them list.

    Oh, and that's some good reading on Sony's track record of pissing off their customer base:
    CLICKY
     
  20. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    nothing remotely brick devices yet. those software blocks can be removed by jailbreaking, which is the problem in question here: should people be allowed to jailbreak/root the products they bought?

    i am an iphone jailbreaker since original iphone jailbreak first came out. and if it wasn't for the possibility of jailbreak, i'd have never bought the Apple iphone.

    Idiocracy is a great film that reflects our grim future. it's already starting now with two major devices of ways approach technology: normal route to be locked in a cell made by big brands; or jailbreak route that perhaps only 5% of users will use.





    it makes me wonder, how many people who side with Sony have done any form of technical attempts at hacking something interesting into something else?

    during the weekend, i installed SickBeard into my NAS box :rock: using Putty, IPKG install and git, along with Transmission and SABnzbd+. how many Sony supporters actually know what any of those mean?
     
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