Police Raid PS3 Hacker's Home

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eyemaster

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Apr 28, 2009
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I still don't understand how doing anything to something you own, such as a VCR or a PS3, can warrant a police raid. There's nothing illegal there. I can hit it with a hammer, I can remove the chips in it, I can replace parts in it, it doesn't mean police can come into my home and search for whatever they want.
 

rhino13

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Apr 17, 2009
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"hack it some more"
Haha what's that? It's hacked already.

Also the title: "Hacking your own purchased goods warrants a police raid..."
Seems a little wrong.
Here I fixed it: "Publishing Hacks of your own purchased goods warrants a police raid..."

 
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Ok folks, lets set something straight here. When you purchase a device, you ARE purchasing the right to do whatever you wish to it. If you want to take it out behind the barn and fill it full of .22 holes, thats your right. The hardware is protected via patent. That only protects it from being copied and redistributed. Also, software is protected in the same fashion. Whats being done here has been titled "hacking" which is also in a way incorrect. They are implying that software has been illegally broken into and altered. But that really only applies to software that IS NOT YOURS. Whats being altered in software intrinsic to the device itself, not software contained on a server or network. Now, they can protect against this by using a Term of Service and blocking those with altered software...similar to the modding community with online capable games. But, beyond that, Sony has no other legal leg to stand on...or legal right.....unless the person in question is illegally copying games, and then Sony can only prosecute them for that offense.
 

hoofhearted

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If a car shop guy invented a universal key that could open all car door locks, and released the plans to the world, would that be wrong or illegal? If you ever lock your keys in your car, you now have an out. Now if the same guy released a mod to make the car go faster or get better fuel mileage, then that would be different. I can't really judge this unless I have more facts. I personally like buying old xbox1s and turning them into xbmcs.
 
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Too bad he got arrested/lost his stuff. Was vaguely hoping he (or some other person with free time) could solve the dead system issue caused by a bug the latest firmware preventing the system from accepting a clean hard drive, as its been a month and sony's done nothing. (http://www.community.eu.playstation.com/t5/Technical-Support-Help-Advice/System-Update-3-56-Data-Corrupted-after-Swap-HDD/td-p/12309619)

As far as the actual case, sure sony can try and keep people from cracking the console, but a cracked console really has no effect on legitimate users. The people that hack in games will do it whether the system is cracked or not, and even on pc where its an open platform hackers are very rare, and are often humorously bad at game mechanics besides aiming, making them an easy target.
 

mikem_90

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The law they justified this raid on was the DMCA, Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Which puts civil issues into Criminal court, Something I feel is unconstitutional. You should have the right to modify, change, tweak, etc for any product you buy under first sale doctrine.

The DMCA is just a way for business to foist their badly designed business model on the people and have the government play police for them. Sure piracy can be a problem. but arrange your business so its either not worth it, or that its minimized and getting and using your products is very easy. Do it the right way and the big pirates are few and easy to stamp out.

The government should not be in the business of propping up your business.
 
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I don't understand how Sony has the grounds to raid and confiscate a person's possession if they lawfully purchased the product. It's legal for the iPhone to be jailbreaked why can't PS3s be hacked. I feel that as long as the hacked consoles do not degrade the quality of gameplay for other PS3 owners it should not be an issue.
 

kooltime

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"" I still don't understand what legal grounds sony is using for this... I always figured when you bought something what you did with it was your own business "

The guy did not hack for his own purposes, he also included re-distribution of copy write material. This is where he is wrong. If someone buys a game, then hacks it for himself at home, nobody would ever know about it, but as soon as you go ONLINE anyplace with said material, you have now broken the law, this is where he is wrong. re-distribution of copy writed items is illegal, unless you have owner consent to do such actions. Companies make products so there employees can earn a living, and stay in business to keep going. Every business works in this fashion, so stealing work from people that never hurt anyone just trying to keep their jobs in tough times is wrong. Not just Sony they have many partner companies that help distribute content, so all those persons work is now effected as well since less money means someone will get laid off. Hurting people that are just trying to have a job is wrong, and hackers dont understand that.

 
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@hoofhearted

then the automakers did a damn poor job of designing their keys if a single key can open every car, in fact it's in the public interest for them to know this, why the heck is there a single key that can open every single car, was there some ulterior motive behind this, on top of that the community might be able to design a work around to prevent said key from opening their own cars

yes there will be a bunch of folks who will copy the plans and attempt to break into cars, but the hack can also have constructive results too
 

mattclary

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[citation][nom]victomofreality[/nom]I still don't understand what legal grounds sony is using for this... I always figured when you bought something what you did with it was your own business[/citation]

DMCA. It's retarded, it's a bad law, but unfortunately, it seems to be the law.
 

djsting

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First off, I'm in agreement with folks asking this question. How in Hades do you get a police raid from a civil case?

Second, I find myself agreeing with the previous poster who said the worst that should happen if you choose to mod a ps3 is they deny you a warranty service and kick you off their online network. If you go so far as to hack that network, you've committed a crime. Sony can sue you in civil court, the feds can take you to criminal court. *assuming you're in the US*

I've played online games where hackers make life harder on everybody else. It sucks. Anybody remember Diablo trainers? That's why you ban them. This nonsense about police raids and property taking is overreaching on so many levels. It's just another reason why I won't buy $ony.
 
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