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Thin Crust

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    Sony vs. Everyone - Tales of Exploits, Lawyers, Hackers, and Houseraids

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Case in point. Just because you want something to be legal doesn't mean it should be. In this case, it's like leaving a gun lying around where a kid can find it. It's like letting a 12 year old drive a car (he may be the best driver in the world, but does that mean we should allow him to drive?) It's like leaving a pedophile alone in a room with a little kid. WHATEVER! Just because piracy can happen with George Hotz's legal modifications, doesn't mean it will happen. That's the argument you are trying to make and even though I would love a world where people would make their own homebrew and not perform any illegal activities with this, I know that it's never going to happen. The vast majority (like probably more than 90% majority) are going to use this for piracy. That can't be avoided and this is why I support Sony on their endeavors. Out of all the steps taken to combat piracy, Sony has never prevented any activity that I ever wanted to take with their systems and until they do, no one has any right to complain about their course of action.

    If you want to claim that he didn't do anything wrong, (like you said) the law needs to change. Until that happens, he's guilty.

    Sony vs. Everyone - Tales of Exploits, Lawyers, Hackers, and Houseraids

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I just fail to see why people think he's innocent and think he has a chance in this.

    This is what George Hotz is being sued for.

    * Violating the DMCA

    * Violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

    * Contributory copyright infringement

    * Violations of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access & Fraud Act

    * Breach of contract

    * Tortious interference with contractual relations

    * Common law misappropriation

    * Trespass

    According to the law you can be held liable for being negligent. Meaning that regardless of the fact your work had no personal intention for being used illegally you still understood the ramifications of your actions.

    Fact is George Hotz knew what could have happened and it did. He isn't exempt from fault.

    Thus is the reason he needs a lawyer, donations, and all the help in the world.

    Sony vs. Everyone - Tales of Exploits, Lawyers, Hackers, and Houseraids

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Um, thin crust? That's kind of the problem. No other product type in the history of products and selling them has ever been treated that way, but somehow digital media SHOULD? If you buy something, you own it. That includes the copy of the software that Sony willingly provided you on the physical system you bought.

    Thus, the copy on your PS3 is your property to do with as you wish, provided you don't sell it. Mod it, reverse engineer it, do whatever. except, Sony doesn't want you being able to create products or services for yourself that would make it so that you don't HAVE to give them money, so they want legal protection. It's dumb, and its not in the consumer's best interest.

    They are giving you a free software update. But there are strings attached which include a contract saying you are not to change it. Sounds like a legally binding agreement to me.

    And I would also like to know why stopping hackers is not in the consumers best interest. When a game is pirated, it decreases profits from the developers and will halt production on a sequel. Case in point, Alan Wake is a great game that was pirated much more than it was bought. It never reached 1 million in sales in almost a year since it has been released. Considering its 5ive year development cycle, this puts them at such an incredible loss that there is no way to reconcile it. Because of this, like Zircon says, developers no longer make unique games. They make games that will sell. And it also raises the prices for the honest consumer because less sales means less profit and it needs to be made back somehow. So there are plenty of reasons for the best interest to people like me who buy games to be the same course that Sony is taking right now.

    Sony vs. Everyone - Tales of Exploits, Lawyers, Hackers, and Houseraids

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    comparing a credit card machine to a video game system is a terrible analogy because one of these things is a credit card machine and the other is a video game system

    the code that something runs on is only sacred insofar that nobody else is trying to make money off it when it is not their place to do so

    again, unless you are stealing something than you can pretty much do whatever you want to your video game systems

    No you can't. You can alter the hardware, (smash it, burn it, throw it off the Empire State Building) But you don't have the right to alter the software that it runs on. Don't you know? Every time you click the "I agree" button on firmware updates, you agree not to alter the system in any way other than what it was intended to be used for. So since these hackers all signed the user agreement, they don't have any claim to innocence in whatever court Sony is dragging them into..

    Sony vs. Everyone - Tales of Exploits, Lawyers, Hackers, and Houseraids

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    actually the idea here is that hacking the PS3 itself is not against the law

    piracy is illegal - wanting to install linux on your ps3 is not

    but if sony had their way they'd lock up everyone who has ever even considered either of them

    now I'm not going ignore the fact that the very large majority of people who hack their systems do so to enable piracy, but the fact of the matter is that making your system capable of piracy is not really a crime in itself, nor is spreading information regarding the methods in which you do so

    This is a cry from George Hotz on his website calling for people to boycott Sony.

    boycottsony.png

    And this is a very well thought out response to it. I did not make it but I agree with it.

    So, without much fanfare, here we go.

    Sony continually removes features from the Playstation 3 hardware that were a major ADVERTISED selling point for the system. This is a form of false advertisement and it is ILLEGAL.

    The only feature Sony has ever removed from an advertised item is OtherOS, something they confirmed as being used than not even close to one half of a percent of people and done because George Hotz found a way to use it to hack the software.

    Removal of BC, extra USB ports, and similar in later models wasn't illegal as those models were updates and were not advertised as having those features.

    So, the statement of "continually removes" is completely false. I will grant that there was the removal of OtherOS, but it wasn't a focus of advertising, used by even half a percent of the current users, and was removed because of the attempt for users to obtain data that is reliant on ensuring the security of every PS3 out there.

    Sony places customer's security at risk by allowing credit card information to be transmitted over the internet in plain text every time someone signs into the Playstation network.

    Actually, all they know is that the information is stored in plain text. They still have not been able to detect how it is sent. It's far from unusual to store items in a text format on the client's end and then send it as a package of bits via the Internet.

    While I agree it could be more secure, the information being sent isn't insecure. It's pointless information that does nothing to identify the person on the account or anything worthwhile that could be used to collect and use the CC data for fraudulent purposes.

    Sony permanently bans Playstation 3 hardware from accessing the PlayStation Network for suspected (not proven) custom firmware.

    Actually, they can confirm exactly if you are running CFW or not. From comparing the local XML/text files (such as the ToS text file), to checking the digital signatures of installed software to make sure it's not running any that aren't found on their end, to even just detecting if the account has enabled previously disabled features, such as OtherOS. No one has been banned that hasn't run CFW. It's very easy to tell who is running CFW and who isn't, since if you're not, everything would match up exactly with what the latest FW put out. Any changes to this requires that you had installed or otherwise hacked your PS3.

    As far as the leap that they are taking in saying that "hackers found a way to change the hardware id of the Playstation 3 hardware" in order to ban an honest user. Total pablum and a pipe dream. The exact same thing could have been done with the 360 by now since Microsoft utilizes the exact same method of banning accounts/consoles. The reality is that knowing that information is sent isn't the same as being able to properly spoof the necessary information being sent; which includes decrypting it, generating a method for creating new valid keys, and then re-encrypting the data to be sent; and then sending it to Sony via a PSN connection without it being recognized as spoofed data by their Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems. So far, this is just fear mongering. An attempt to get legitimate PS3 users scared and angry at Sony by saying it's possible without even attempting it.

    Sony secretly sends micro updates to the Playstation 3 firmware without the user's knowledge anytime a user connects to the internet in order to prevent the installing of customer firmware.

    Completely false. Like all things, Sony validates the access a console and account has upon each attempt to connect to PSN and updates any cached data used for validating this information on the PS3. This is the exact same as pretty much everything validating you being logged in and updating a cookie in your temporary internet files to mark your last visit and that you are still logged in.

    In order to install any new code onto your system, they must halt you from using the OS. The newly compiled code cannot just be placed on your system without having to restart the OS as well. This isn't taking a PHP or similar page and overwriting the new one. The C code that is used on the PS3 requires that it be compiled and that the necessary configuration and relative files be compiled with it and updated at once.

    Again, more fear mongering to get legitimate users worried and angry at Sony without any substance to it.

    Jailbreaking or custom firmware are legal and completely within your rights to use.

    Jailbreaking a phone is completely legal if used for custom programs and opening them up to use with different providers; jailbreaking is not legal for illegally obtaining the IP of others or adjusting any software that isn't related to allowing custom programs or unlocking the phone for use with a different service provider.

    What is not legal at this time is jailbreaking a console nor taking Sony code (firmware) and modifying it as your own custom firmware. The reason behind this is that the CFW modifications made aren't illegal because they can run homebrew, they're illegal because they allow a person to bypass the security protocols and limitations set by Sony with the PSN code, which is illegal to modify.

    Unlike phones, the firmware for the PS3 and similar consoles contains specific data for processing sensitive data and purchases on the provided network (XBL/PSN). The modification of this code is akin to customizing a credit card processing machine to send the person's personal information to a source not specified for the machine's design.

    Furthermore, this isn't about allowing people to run homebrew, it's about A) the sharing of sensivite and secure information that is integral to Sony's ability to provide a secure environment for their business and therefore each of their users (metldr key data); and B) the modification of Sony IP, specifically the firmware code which also acts as the framework for PSN.

    Conclusion: I'm not one to stop someone from boycotting. Go right at it, it's your right. But this stuff kind of pisses me off only because it's riddled with a lot of misinformation. It's fear mongering at its worst, knowing that the general public doesn't know enough to question what they're being told and immediately worrying if Sony is keeping their purchase and personal information safe.

    The people who are spreading this information are liars or some of the most ignorant people I've yet to see on the Internet. I find it hard to believe that they don't know that what they are saying is false. I do know that they are, unfortunately, getting the attention they want, and this will only force Sony to have to work harder to fight against the poor publicity.

    All of this because Sony needs to protect their business from people who didn't care how their actions would affect them or the legitimate customers of their hardware. And as gamers, we tell people every day to support the people who make the games we like. Looking at 2011 and what Sony is doing for the gamers, I wonder where people's heads are at the moment.

    Sony PS3

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    So I played through God of War 3 again to see if I could platinum it. I got all the way through to the very end, got every trophy except "Maxed out" which requires you to fully upgrade all items you have. I was 5000 short. So I'm going to have to play through the entire game on easy if I want to get that last one. Sucks don't it.

    Do you name your characters?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I tried that with Gollgagh once

    it was really awkward

    something about naming a character after myself (even if it's just a pseudonym) doesn't feel right

    Well my name is Zack and the first time I played ff7 I named Cloud "Zack". I couldn't understand what was happening when the real Zack came into the storyline and they were all trying to figure out who he was.

    Do you name your characters?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    lol. I'm following spoony's example and calling squall "Emo Git" and Rinoa "A whore" You get all kind's of great lines like:

    Squall: We need to find a way to bring Ellone and A whore together

    Mean Guy: Hey, is there A whore with you?

    Rinoa: I'm A whore.

    Zell: You're A whore's father?

    And don't forget the dog Angelo is named: Anal.

    A whore's limit break uses Anal. She can learn abilities like Anal search, Anal reverse, Anal cannon, Anal reverse.

    Do you name your characters?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Most of the current generation of games have names already preselected because of the use of voice acting. It would be pretty hard to add a custom name to a full voiced game. FF10 did it, but the result was that the main character's name was never spoken once throughout the game.

    However, back in the ps1 era and before(along with many recent games), we could choose our own names if we wanted. Did you keep them default, or change them to something else? And if there wasn't a preselected name like Dragon Quest 8, what did you name them?

    Activision is at it again. (Lawsuit against EA)

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    http://ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1141432p1.html

    793899-kotick3_large.jpg

    So apparently Activision is trying to sue EA because of an alleged conspiracy causing the crumble of Infinity Ward.

    The complaint states,"Activision is informed and believes that the negotiations between Electronic Arts and West and Zampella were structured with the design and the expectation that West and Zampella would 'spin out' from Activision and would take significant numbers of key Infinity Ward employees with them to set up their own independent company so that Electronic Arts could make another run at competing with Activision."

    Is anyone else getting extremely tired of Kotick and his pathetic grab for attention? And does anyone seriously believe any of his allegations? I think it got out of hand when they tried to sue EA for publishing Brutal Legend after they dropped the project themselves.

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