Sony says, “Hack your PS3, Forfeit PlayStation Network Access Forever!”

Sony recently released on its PlayStation blog*, the following statement:

"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.

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This arose from an incident where a group of hackers, the FAIL0VERFLOW, posted the PS3's root security key online, allowing anyone to decrypt and sign the PS3 code. Sony then sued iOS jailbreaker Hotz and the other hackers with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other violations. The company was granted an injunction preventing Hotz and the others from distributing its software. The case is still pending.

How this case will be decided is not yet clear. Applying Philippine Intellectual Property Law to this situation, it would seem that Hotz and his friends would be liable for infringement. They aided and abetted the violation of the economic rights of the copyright owners by providing the key that would let PlayStation3 run these pirated softwares, thereby encouraging the proliferation of pirated PS3 softwares. However, providing the public with the key also has a useful purpose which is to allow PS3 owners to use Linux instead of the original operating system. This is not an infringing use under the IP Code, and the U.S. government earlier this year exempted iPhone jailbreaking from the DMCA, implying that jailbreaking is legal. In the meantime, it’s best to just follow the PS3’s terms of use because even if you don’t get sued by Sony, being banned sucks.

Blog Entry #14, Katrina Sy

*for the full story, see: http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20110216/tc_pcworld/hackyourps3forfeitplaystationnetworkaccessforever;_ylt=Any.AxNe26M5rCVVgy3.lJQjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTNqNXQzNnYyBGFzc2V0A3Bjd29ybGQvMjAxMTAyMTYvaGFja3lvdXJwczNmb3JmZWl0cGxheXN0YXRpb25uZXR3b3JrYWNjZXNzZm9yZXZlcgRwb3MDMjIEc2VjA3luX3N1YmNhdF9saXN0BHNsawNoYWNreW91cnBzM2Y-, and http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20110216/tc_zd/260775;_ylt=AgyD_IIsxsMlLVnE1HtMTzwjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTIzcGpqaWhhBGFzc2V0A3pkLzIwMTEwMjE2LzI2MDc3NQRwb3MDMjQEc2VjA3luX3N1YmNhdF9saXN0BHNsawNzb255cGxheXN0YXQ-