AfterDawn: Tech news

Sony posts official response on 'PS3 circumvention' and piracy

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Feb 2011 4:48 User comments (26)

Sony posts official response on 'PS3 circumvention' and piracy Sony has posted their first official response to the recent release of custom firmwares for the PlayStation 3 that allow for signed homebrew and the inevitable piracy of games.
Says the corporation:

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.


And the U.S. PlayStation Blog's continuation:

What this means to you

Circumvention devices and game piracy damage our industry and can potentially injure the online experience for you, our loyal PlayStation customers, via hacks and cheats.

Many PlayStation.Blog readers have asked how we intend to deal with these incidents that they have been reading about in the gaming press, and this is our initial response.

By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve.

Rest assured, this message does not apply to the overwhelming majority of our users who enjoy the world of entertainment PlayStation 3 has to offer without breaching the guidelines detailed above, and we urge you to continue doing so without fear.


Sony has been very aggressive in their actions since the first release of the master signing key by George "Geohot" Holtz last month, suing the hacker and subpoenaing info on others who share the code and tools to use it.

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26 user comments

116.2.2011 17:43

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.

so if you did this to run your own code and just experiment with the cell etc.... you are now the same as a pirate and banned from sony's network, but wouldnt a better business plan be allowing all ps3's to still buy stuff from their own store. but they instead block you from buying games from their store and now essentially force you to pirate, that is arcade dlc only games. sony is too focused on content delivery,DRM, pirates, tha they lost touch with reality. the war on piracy is going to be as effective as the war on drugs, i just realized sony is the apple of consoles,lol. oh and btw ps3's never had a install otherOS feature this is just a ploy by oceania, newspeak :P

216.2.2011 17:45

Sony believes because they can slap everything in an EULA including hardware modification, that they can decide everything that happens to your PS3 right to the letter. In other words if its not approved by Sony, you can't do it; and not only that, the courts haven't decided against that yet, so Sony can get away with whatever they want, as of now.

Whatever happen to that class action lawsuit that took form when they took away Other OS? There has been no word of it since they first announced it was taking place. Wish I had more answers, as I am sure the public does as well, whichever side they take.

316.2.2011 17:55

I for one whole heartedly agree with Sony. We should kick those pirating and cheating PS3 owners out. If your are against this you are ignorant. This is for anyone that has been spawn killed in Socom with a grenade launcher or shot with a grenade launcher in a ranked room. I will say this is regular people are able to do things like add a skin for George W. Bush to Socom then Sony should give us the tools to do that without using home-brew cheats. That being said people are ruining the online experience of a lot of games with this crap. If Sony has to prevent them from accessing the network to prevent this so be it ban them all. Sony if you would make half of the things possible that these people do with the home-brew then most people would be less inclined to mod their system. Increase character and weapon customization and lots more people will be happy.

416.2.2011 18:23

Neo2369's response is spot-on!
Sony needs to be less restrictive, and yet,
Sony has every right to protect their patents.

If you purchase a purchase a Honda and decide to put a Buell engine in it, that it your business because when you bought the Honda you made no agreement with them to the contrary.
However, this is not the case with Sony. When you bought it you agreed to it's terms (you did read the EULA didn't you....of course you did!) and now you wand to change the rules.
You are wrong to think you are right to do so.

516.2.2011 19:08

Honda needs to go around and sue people for putting a non Honda engine in their Honda cars? Or should they just say their warranty is void?

616.2.2011 19:12

Sign and Agree about anything make Business, Companies, etc. have the ILLUSION that they have control over us: but in reality they don' at all....We are free to do anything we want on life end of the History !

And About the so called "Full Experience" of Apple or Sony "Offer" ....I care less about it !
As long I have a full ownership of wherever I already payfor, is mine and save money.....is all I care about it!

If somebody is so worried about the "Full Experience".....well: to have 2 PS3: one with an open source and the other not....is the way to go, I think.

I wish I had a magic switch to make the PS3 work one way or another like a PC with 2 OS's.....Something new will come out soon, like:
- Don't connect to the internet running hacked software.
- Figure out to Dual-boot a second PPC based OS's with a full access to all the hardware and Turn Sony Off, like a well known hacker in the scene has recently figured out that; but he just need to develop the drivers.....(+1)Thx.

The LAW: Is legal to Jailbreak/Unlock/Modify any product we purchase.
http://socialapples.com/blog/2010/07/26/library-of-congress-says-jailbreakunlock-is-legal/


Enjoy !

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Feb 2011 @ 3:19

716.2.2011 20:22

Originally posted by Mrguss:

If somebody is so worried about the "Full Experience".....well: to have 2 PS3: one with an open source and the other not....is the way to go, I think.
Quote:

I think you have the right idea here. But not two PS3's. What if we could dual boot between an official OS and a Custom OS. I think this would be the next work around.

All in all Sony is doing what they have to do to protect themselves. I think they were wrong in removing the other OS functionality. They should offer a developers licsence that has access to this feature for the everyday coder. Go ahead and perma ban anyone who uses the system for piracy but don't penalize the genious minds that may someday work for you.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 16 Feb 2011 @ 8:28

816.2.2011 23:45

My system was sold with the ability to run unauthorized code, sony illegally removed said features, so I have added them back in myself. I guess it isn't enough that they are being sued for removing OtherOS...now they want to permanently ban systems for having the features that they were sold with? Japan hasn't had tyrants this crazy since WWII.

If anyone is working on an UNAUTHORIZED game, how about setting it in the Sony HQ...an FPS would be nice. ;)

917.2.2011 00:55

why can't Sony just block the key and create a new key?

1017.2.2011 02:20

got the letter . lol i aint going on line its nice to know that playing snes is against sonys rules. aint updating . n if i get banned welcome xbox360!!!

1117.2.2011 02:34

is there a way to use a ps3 without agreeing to the terms and conditions???

1217.2.2011 02:41

Originally posted by xboxdvl2:
is there a way to use a ps3 without agreeing to the terms and conditions???
nice thought

1317.2.2011 04:01

i wonder how many shops would give you a refund if you chose not to agree and returned the product?

1417.2.2011 06:15
emugamer
Inactive

Originally posted by themind:
Honda needs to go around and sue people for putting a non Honda engine in their Honda cars? Or should they just say their warranty is void?
Only if said purchased Honda car is used to crash into the Honda headquarters and steal from Honda, or destroy other Honda's ruining the Honda buying shopping experience for some..

You can do whatever you want with your PS3. Just don't go on PSN. When you buy the PS3, you don't buy PSN with it.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 17 Feb 2011 @ 6:17

1517.2.2011 09:49

.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Feb 2011 @ 3:19

1617.2.2011 09:50

.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 18 Feb 2011 @ 3:21

1718.2.2011 12:27

Originally posted by Neo2369:
I for one whole heartedly agree with Sony. We should kick those pirating and cheating PS3 owners out. If your are against this you are ignorant. This is for anyone that has been spawn killed in Socom with a grenade launcher or shot with a grenade launcher in a ranked room. I will say this is regular people are able to do things like add a skin for George W. Bush to Socom then Sony should give us the tools to do that without using home-brew cheats. That being said people are ruining the online experience of a lot of games with this crap. If Sony has to prevent them from accessing the network to prevent this so be it ban them all. Sony if you would make half of the things possible that these people do with the home-brew then most people would be less inclined to mod their system. Increase character and weapon customization and lots more people will be happy.
Thank you, a lot of people just don't see why there's a need to keep that kind of crap away from online experiences. Hack whatever you want man, just don't gloat with cheats, go away!

1818.2.2011 12:41

Originally posted by DougAdams:
@ Mysttic

"Sony believes because they can slap everything in an EULA including hardware modification, that they can decide everything that happens to your PS3 right to the letter. In other words if its not approved by Sony, you can't do it; and not only that, the courts haven't decided against that yet, so Sony can get away with whatever they want, as of now.

Whatever happen to that class action lawsuit that took form when they took away Other OS? There has been no word of it since they first announced it was taking place. Wish I had more answers, as I am sure the public does as well, whichever side they take."


Its called creating a monopoly, forcing everyone to licence from Sony. Many companies practice this discraceful behaviour, Sony is just the master putting propertarian locks onto everything then changing it all slightly so old hardware/software cant be used with new products.

The only way to stop this behaviour is a customer revolt.

remember the Nike fiasco "Slavery, just do it!" now the ps3, wii, apple are all made in asia with chid & slave labour but do they ppl care about this?

imo the corporations have won ftm...
Another rebel eh? Revolt against what? What monopoly? What are you talking about? What license? Putting locks on products? What locks?

Slavery, just do it? Child labor? What are you smoking? Garments are garments, I don't believe for a second that fragile electronic components are assembled by underage workers. Cheap, exploited labor, YES, but who's to blame? Corporations are nothing if people don't consume their products/services.

I hate people talk about revolution when they have no idea what the hell they're fighting for...


1918.2.2011 12:44

The majority of us with patched PS3's aren't stupid enough to play online gaming, truth is, I dont even have my PS3 connected to a terminal.

I never realy liked the PS3 for its inability to play a two player game with a friend in the same room as me (unless using 2 PS3's), the whole point of playing two player games is the ability to have a few mates around and play each other, which is just not possible on the PS3, rendering its gaming pleasure a waste of time.

Still I would be happy to completely uninstall Sony software from the console and use the system for my own developments, I am against the idea of a console that demands I hook up online just to play a game, there are as many children with consoles in their bedrooms that have no internet connection.

Sony screwed up the day they decided to "steal" the option back for other OS features, effectively downgrading the console without permission from the owner.

The equivelant of Microsoft downgrading my PC from XP to 3.1 via an auto update (or downdate). The very second Sony opted to do this was when I decided to unhook it from online (there is no law that states I must have it online), not being into playing two player games over the net, I did not nor will not ever miss it. I am free to do whatever I want with my console, I have no qualms about installing PC based games or even Microsoft on the console.

My biggest mistake was investing in a PS3, you can bet your hide I have no intentions of buying Sony products in the future. So well done Sony ;)

2018.2.2011 21:40

Well said marleyboy, though the only gaming console I own is a 20 year-old pac-man, and have never even seen a PS3, because of what they have done, I now go out of my way not to buy Sony products - even avoiding their movies.

That said: this does not contradict my earlier statement that if you buy a PS3, and agree to it's terms, then you should abide by them - such is honesty.

2121.2.2011 20:12

they can ban us from PSN, however they cant disable your network adapter like they can on the xbox360.. meaning all one has to do is emulate certain PSNetwork service files than anyone with a hacked PS3 would still be able to play on Official PSN servers with the added benefit of the ability to play on unofficial servers.

They've done dug the PS3 a nice early grave, not a bad thing considering the GPU unit is now 5 generation old. i swear maybe one day they'll realize that they can future proof a console by using a scalable GPU solution instead of a modified Computer GFX Chip.

2222.2.2011 00:52

Underdog Geohot Vs. Sony... For Donations:
http://www.geohot.com/

Monday, February 21, 2011
First round of donations is closed:
http://geohotgotsued.blogspot.com/

2322.2.2011 10:12

Originally posted by DXR88:
they can ban us from PSN, however they cant disable your network adapter like they can on the xbox360.. meaning all one has to do is emulate certain PSNetwork service files than anyone with a hacked PS3 would still be able to play on Official PSN servers with the added benefit of the ability to play on unofficial servers.

Err, I find that hard to understand... If you're banned from PSN, then what will you use to log on? An emulated ID? Anyway, why can't people just leave PSN alone?

Originally posted by DXR88:

They've done dug the PS3 a nice early grave, not a bad thing considering the GPU unit is now 5 generation old. i swear maybe one day they'll realize that they can future proof a console by using a scalable GPU solution instead of a modified Computer GFX Chip.

Every product/service has an expiration date, what makes things keep going is not the death of the product/service, but the inspirations to create new ones. As for the future proof statement, you're just applying with knowledge you gotten after the initial product/service launch.

2422.2.2011 15:44

Originally posted by Gnawnivek:
Originally posted by DXR88:
they can ban us from PSN, however they cant disable your network adapter like they can on the xbox360.. meaning all one has to do is emulate certain PSNetwork service files than anyone with a hacked PS3 would still be able to play on Official PSN servers with the added benefit of the ability to play on unofficial servers.

Err, I find that hard to understand... If you're banned from PSN, then what will you use to log on? An emulated ID? Anyway, why can't people just leave PSN alone?

Originally posted by DXR88:

They've done dug the PS3 a nice early grave, not a bad thing considering the GPU unit is now 5 generation old. i swear maybe one day they'll realize that they can future proof a console by using a scalable GPU solution instead of a modified Computer GFX Chip.

Every product/service has an expiration date, what makes things keep going is not the death of the product/service, but the inspirations to create new ones. As for the future proof statement, you're just applying with knowledge you gotten after the initial product/service launch.
PSN is just a gateway, the actual game is hosted by the users. you could choose to emulate the PS Network or you could write your own Gateway to operate similarly to the way PS Network does.

At to the Scalable GPU Solution, its not about an expiration date its about developers going into lazy mode. with these PC bastardized Console Graphics Chips they don't haft to write a new API for graphics every time they make a new game. the only reason they use modified PC graphics chips in consoles is because of the DirectX and openGL API's those chipsets support.

Consoles use to be a unique experience, some games would look but ugly, but others would blow your mind. Consoles had Story, Character, and there own unique feel. Those days are long. console's are just bastardized cut/locked down PC's owned wholly by there creators.

2522.2.2011 16:20

Eh agreement or not I don't see how you pay $300+ for hardware and don't have rights to do whatever you want with it!

As far as PSN yeah I feel they need to protect the legit players from hacker/cheaters BUT I don't accept their refusal to take responsability and take steps to combat the cheating. This has been going on in PC gaming forever. PSN has become lazy and not had to combat this in the past. THey need to react properly and protect their PSN users. Of course that might mean having to charge a premium to use PSN...

Bottom line is you should be able to do whatever you want (even cheat) in your own living room with hardware you paid for but PSN needs to step up and make sure it stops on PSN and spend less time crying and blaming pirates for everything. If they don't maybe you should consider a different console?


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