Skip to main content

Judge rules PS3 hacker must hand over hard drive to Sony

A federal judge has ruled that famed Playstation 3 hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz must turn over the tools of his trade and allow Sony to sift through his computer’s hard drive, according to Wired.

Hotz’ attorney, Stewart Kellar, objected to the ruling on the grounds that complying meant that Sony would be able to “observe” all of his client’s files.

Recommended Videos

“That’s the breaks,” said U.S. district judge Susan Illston. Illston had originally ruled that Hotz had to turn over his computer gear last month, but Kellar had asked the court for reconsideration.

“Here, I find probable cause that your client has got these things on his computer,” Illston said, according to Wired. “It’s a problem when more than one thing is kept on the computer. I’ll make sure the order is and will be that Sony is only entitled to isolate … the information on the computer that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation.”

Sony’s lawsuit comes after Hotz posted the PS3 jailbreak codes on his website, accompanied by a “how to” video on YouTube. The lawsuit accuses Hotz, and other hackers, of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) on the grounds that the PS3 hack circumnavigates copyright protections.

The hackers have claimed that their work was aimed at making the PS3 “able to run Linux with dual-boot into GameOS, without 3D restrictions, on every PS3 currently out there.” The PS3 originally was able to run Linux, but Sony removed that feature with a firmware upgrade last summer.

Even though Sony has threatened to sue anyone who posts the code, earlier this week, Sony did exactly that when it accidentally retweeted the jailbreak code after mistaking it for a Battleship reference.

Aemon Malone
Former Digital Trends Contributor
How to transmog and hide gear in Avowed
A masked figure in Avowed. The mask looks like it's made of gold, it has glowing red eyes, and there's a hood over its head.

In older RPGs, you would have to sacrifice that armor set you love the look of for the newer one that had better stats. In Avowed, it isn't exactly a secret tip or trick that wearing the more powerful gear is important, but that doesn't mean you need to sacrifice fashion. If you're playing in third-person especially, you want to make sure your character looks cool while exploring and using your flashy skills. Transmog has become more common lately, and thankfully is present in Avowed so you can wear the most powerful armor while still appearing like your old favorite. Or, you can hide all your armor completely if you want. Here's how to do both.

Read more
How to turn off damage numbers in Avowed
A player fights a bear in Avowed

One of the simple tips and tricks RPGs rely on to show how powerful you are is to display your damage in numbers. Avowed does this for every attack and ability you use, meaning you will see a ton of numbers pop up during your adventure. While they can be helpful at times, enemies also have health bars to see how much damage you're doing so having those numbers pop up can be more distracting than anything else, especially in third-person. Thankfully the game lets you turn these off to get a slightly more grounded experience. Here's how to quickly toggle this setting off.

Read more
PlayStation might skip its standard summer showcase this year
Housemarque's newest IP, Saros.

Summer has always been the season of announcements for the latest and greatest in gaming, but Sony might skip its normal showcase in favor of a smaller State of Play. This would make it the second year in a row Sony has decided against a major show, as 2024 also saw a smaller conference than normal. The news comes from Jeff Grubb of Giant Bomb fame, who says that a decision has not yet been made.

"Internally it sounds like they're debating, and flopping between, maybe making this summer a full showcase versus another State of Play. But they are considering a showcase," Grubb said. "And if they have a showcase, that means they'll have a lot of stuff to talk about. And at that point, you would definitely expect to see Wolverine and a lot of other games that could come out next year."

Read more