Jump to content
NEurope
heroicjanitor

Sony sues hackers

Recommended Posts

They probably want the computers to destroy any software that was used to hack the console.

 

I personally would hire this guy to fixe the problems, a lot of big company's have employed hackers for this reason.

 

They can't just do whatever they want with stuff that's seized as evidence. Sony themselves will never get their hands on the computers. They'll just be used to try and find more evidence to use against him.

 

Considering who this guy is though, he probably had true-crypt installed anyway.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's not really the same thing. At all.

 

It's also been mention in the Playstation thread.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Seems like a cool story bro comment will land you in court after all:

 

A federal magistrate is granting Sony the right to acquire the internet IP addresses of anybody who has visited PlayStation 3 hacker George Hotz’s website from January of 2009 to the present.

 

Thursday’s decision by Magistrate Joseph Spero to allow Sony to subpoena Hotz’s web provider (.pdf) raises a host of web-privacy concerns.

 

Respected for his iPhone hacks and now the PlayStation 3 jailbreak, Hotz is accused of breaching the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other laws after he published an encryption key and software tools on his website that allow Playstation owners to gain complete control of their consoles from the firmware on up.

 

Sony also won subpoenas (.pdf) for data from YouTube and Google, as part of its lawsuit against the 21-year-old New Jersey hacker, as well as Twitter account data linked to Hotz, who goes by the handle GeoHot.

 

more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/geohot-site-unmasking/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Seems like a cool story bro comment will land you in court after all:

 

 

 

more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/geohot-site-unmasking/

 

No it won't.

 

The reason they want that information is to prove that geohot distributed the hack, and also to allow them to sue him in a different state due to that being the place where most of the traffic on his site was.

 

Individuals who simply visited the site have nothing to worry about. Sony simply doesn't have the resources to subpoena all the IP addresses that have visited the site and then sue each person individually.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Geohot has run away to South America after a judge ordered him to hand in his hard drives and other devices.It also turns out that when he declared that "To the best of my knowledge and belief, I do not have a PlayStation Network account" he was lying. He is fairly fucked now it seems...

 

After the judge demanded George Hotz gives in his devices and hard drives, the PlayStation 3 hacker ran away to South America to avoid handing his possessions in and now has put his case in extreme jeopardy. The hacker also lied about having a PlayStation Network account. GeoHot has finally been caught out.

 

A file from the Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC v. Hotz case recently detailed Hot’z recent actions. It said:

 

Though the evidence establishing personal jurisdiction is already overwhelming, SCEA has little doubt that there is much more. However, over the last several weeks. Hotz has engaged in a campaign to thwart jurisdictional discovery at every turn –regardless of whether the Court has ordered such discovery or not. Most seriously, after Magistrate Judge Spero ordered an inspection of Hotz’s devices and ordered Hotz to appear at a deposition in California, SCEA learned that Hotz had deliberately removed integral components of his impounded hard drives prior to delivering them to a third party neutral and that Hotz is now in South America, an excuse for why he will not immediately provide the components of his hard drives as requested by the neutral. Hotz’s attempts to dodge this Court’s authority raise very serious questions.

 

The hacker also lied about having a PSN account:

 

On January 12, 2011, Hotz submitted a declaration to the Court (Docket No. 19-1) in which he made unequivocal statements on a number of topics. However, when it came to discussing the PSN account, Hotz equivocated, stating: “To the best of my knowledge and belief, I do not have a PlayStation Network account.†Hotz also provided interrogatory responses that he has refused to verify, stating that he has not accessed the PSN. Bricker Decl. ¶4.Hotz identified four PS3 Systems in his possession. Bricker Decl., ¶4, Exh. C. He explained that he had purchased one of these consoles new in February 2010 and provided the serial number for that console. Id. SCEA used that serial number to determine that on February 25, 2010, Hotz purchased the PS3 System at a Gamestop store just miles from his home. Law Decl., ¶6; Bricker Decl., ¶6, Exh. E. SCEA’s records show that the same PS3 System was used on March 10, 2010 to create a PSN account under the user name “blickmanic.†Law Decl., ¶6, Exh. A. The IP address associated with the registration is located in Glen Rock, New Jersey, where Hotz lives.

 

Then, more evidence regarding his PSN account was discovered:

 

Hotz’s ownership of the “blickmanic†account is further supported by the fact that an Internet search of the user name “blickmanic†reveals a posting discussing the jailbreaking of cellular phones – Hotz’s original “claim to fame.†Bricker Decl., ¶7, Exh. F (“Just curious what people would pay for exclusive rights to this solution. [Motorola] Tracfone W175g unlocked and debranded. PM me.â€) As discussed above, to create his PSN account, Hotz was required to first agree to the terms of the PSN User Agreement and thus he is clearly subject to personal jurisdiction in California. It is well established that a valid and enforceable forum selection clause operates as consent to personal jurisdiction in a designated forum.

 

Sony continued that even without his PSN account breach evidence, they already have enough evidence against him:

 

Although Hotz’s PSN account registration clearly establishes jurisdiction, even without it, SCEA has shown the necessary minimum contacts between Hotz and California.

 

Oh, boy; it’s going off big now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was looking for this thread to post this news and it had already happened!

 

I love how this is becoming a film plot lol. They will sensationalize it and make a social network style movie out of it before long1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Some of his supporters are getting annoyed too, saying he took their donations and went for a holiday with it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The plot thickens. I wonder wot he said to bring in donations what he sold himself on?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

He is a champion of freedom to some people, even though all he did was use someone else's hack(they didn't want to publish the key) and publish the key. Made sure he got al lthe fame and attention. Some just want him to continue to enable piracy. It's their money.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Random settlement! Sony and Geohot have come to an agreement whereby Geohot is never allowed to hack a Sony product ever again, and if he does he gets a $10,000 fine even if it was legal to hack that item. If he releases and more confidential information about Sony products it is a $250,000 fine. Ended on a bit of a whimper but at least no one is going to jail...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Weak.

 

Should have sent him to jail as a deterrence to others!

 

Should have done it for running like a little girl, when he started by giving it the big one on tv.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Should have done it for running like a little girl, when he started by giving it the big one on tv.

 

Did I miss something? Did the hacker come out on TV about it?

 

Ultimately the best outcome we could have hoped for.

 

You don't think he should have gone to jail?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You don't think he should have gone to jail?

 

I don't think any of us really know enough of the details (both in therms of coding, American law and IP law) to make that decision. That this was settled so quickly implies that both parties have agreed to each other's conditions in some form. From the sounds of it Sony might actually have listened to some of the criticisms he had.

 

End of the day, he's going to stop doing it. Sony aren't going to look like dicks. Security is pretty solid now (From what I can tell).

 

What more could you want?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

He'll do it again. Who wouldn't want a free holiday with other people's donations?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Weak.

 

Should have sent him to jail as a deterrence to others!

 

He hasn't done anything that someone CAN be sent to jail for. This was purely a civil matter, not criminal at all.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
He hasn't done anything that someone CAN be sent to jail for. This was purely a civil matter, not criminal at all.

 

This. The whole thing was actually rather boring than what the interwebs hyped it up to be.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry I don't study American law, I wouldn't know what they can do about hackers.

 

They got a good deal if it was only a civil damages award they could have been given.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×