21ST CENTURY (DIGITAL BOY) Yesterday, a ton of people couldn’t log into their PSN accounts because of a huge cyber-terrorist attack set out by the hacktivist group “Anonymous”. The attack, which shut down PSN and made it inaccessible for millions of gamers worldwide, was supposedly in response and protest for Sony’s lawsuit spam against the iPhone jailbreaker, “GeoHot”. GeoHot had altered his Sony PlayStation 3 so that he could run homebrew programs, to which Sony acted upon (rightfully so I suppose since it’s their property). However, keep in mind that GeoHot never actually signed onto PSN with his PS3, which would have prompted him to accept the terms of service. Which brings us to the debate. Hacking happens; it’s part of the computer world and any related medium. Games are no exception. Heck, it’s safe to assume that 90% of people who own a computer (provided they have the technical know how) have modded their towers. But we don’t get sued by the manufacturers: the Dells, the Gateways, the Toshibas. So why the PS3? What about it makes it different? It’s essentially a computer due to all the multimedia it can do. It begs the question. Do we not own the product in its entirety? We paid the money in full to purchase it. Or are we actually just “renting” the device if Sony is going to enforce strict rules and regulations on what can and cannot be done on their consoles? Think about it. If you buy a record with your money, should you have to pay again just because you played the album in your car for your friends? Same goes for cars. People soup-up their and customize their cars all the time. The situation between Sony and the hackers gets more interesting based on the notion that Sony’s marketing campaign of “It only does everything” seems to have been contradicted with their recent course of actions. GeoHot jailbroke his PS3 to run programs that weren’t thought possible; in a sense, he proved that yes, the PS3 can do everything. Everything it was meant to be, not what Sony wants to control and have us know on a need-to-know basis. It’s safe to say the PS3 at this point is more than just a gaming machine. I personally feel that Sony is on the losing end of the battle. I don’t think GeoHot did anything wrong to be honest. He paid for his PS3, therefore he owns it. He should be able to do with it whatever he wants. They cannot stop hackers. So long as there is hardware and software, there will always be hackers. While I don’t condone what Anonymous did since they clearly did not factor in the idea that their actions would cost millions of gamers the chance to play games (which should the primary reason for buying these consoles), which is connected to PSN, it’s easy to see why they are upset at Sony. I say just play games y’all. Geez. This didn’t happen back in the 8-bit NES days. :D And I don’t want it, the things you’re offering me. Symbolized bar code, quick ID, oh yeah. - “21st Century (Digital Boy)” by Bad Religion

21ST CENTURY (DIGITAL BOY)

Yesterday, a ton of people couldn’t log into their PSN accounts because of a huge cyber-terrorist attack set out by the hacktivist group “Anonymous”. The attack, which shut down PSN and made it inaccessible for millions of gamers worldwide, was supposedly in response and protest for Sony’s lawsuit spam against the iPhone jailbreaker, “GeoHot”.

GeoHot had altered his Sony PlayStation 3 so that he could run homebrew programs, to which Sony acted upon (rightfully so I suppose since it’s their property). However, keep in mind that GeoHot never actually signed onto PSN with his PS3, which would have prompted him to accept the terms of service. Which brings us to the debate.

Hacking happens; it’s part of the computer world and any related medium. Games are no exception. Heck, it’s safe to assume that 90% of people who own a computer (provided they have the technical know how) have modded their towers. But we don’t get sued by the manufacturers: the Dells, the Gateways, the Toshibas. So why the PS3? What about it makes it different? It’s essentially a computer due to all the multimedia it can do.

It begs the question. Do we not own the product in its entirety? We paid the money in full to purchase it. Or are we actually just “renting” the device if Sony is going to enforce strict rules and regulations on what can and cannot be done on their consoles? Think about it. If you buy a record with your money, should you have to pay again just because you played the album in your car for your friends? Same goes for cars. People soup-up their and customize their cars all the time.

The situation between Sony and the hackers gets more interesting based on the notion that Sony’s marketing campaign of “It only does everything” seems to have been contradicted with their recent course of actions. GeoHot jailbroke his PS3 to run programs that weren’t thought possible; in a sense, he proved that yes, the PS3 can do everything. Everything it was meant to be, not what Sony wants to control and have us know on a need-to-know basis. It’s safe to say the PS3 at this point is more than just a gaming machine.

I personally feel that Sony is on the losing end of the battle. I don’t think GeoHot did anything wrong to be honest. He paid for his PS3, therefore he owns it. He should be able to do with it whatever he wants. They cannot stop hackers. So long as there is hardware and software, there will always be hackers. While I don’t condone what Anonymous did since they clearly did not factor in the idea that their actions would cost millions of gamers the chance to play games (which should the primary reason for buying these consoles), which is connected to PSN, it’s easy to see why they are upset at Sony.

I say just play games y’all. Geez. This didn’t happen back in the 8-bit NES days. :D

And I don’t want it, the things you’re offering me. Symbolized bar code, quick ID, oh yeah.

- “21st Century (Digital Boy)” by Bad Religion

  • 04.07.11