I just want to state for both bublgum and kasz that if Sony prosecuted any of these individual IP holders (even if they are members of failoverflow, or another group) I would be vehemently against it.
I am actually for hacking and tinkering. I'm also for piracy. I'm for a lot of things that could be considered disreputable because I believe in the free market. I believe there is a way to cohabitate with piracy and hacking, but we are not there yet.
Possibly, with hacking and piracy prevalent, the pressure could help force this evolution in strategy. However, at this point, it is very much counterproductive. Companies are looking at ever more ingenious ways to limit capability in order to stop piracy.
For example, my ps3 just yellow-lighted. If I were to send it in for repair, I would lose all my data because 99% of the time, the provide a refurb unit, and if I hang onto my hard-drive and try it in the new unit, it will format the HDD. The idea is that HDD is tied specifically to one motherboard. That is an anti-piracy measure. That is something I disagree with.
Same goes with weed. I believe weed is a harmless drug that should be legalized for myriad reasons.
Rambling aside, the point is that while I am for hacking, and piracy, and some low class drugs, I also understand how RISKY these things are. At any point, I could be arrested or sued for doing any of these things, and I understand that. I understand both sides.
While I sympathize with these hackers, I am not so blind in that 'bias' that I don't see the reality around me. These people work outside the law. Jailbreaking a phone, for example, only became legal AFTER they got in trouble. Hackers are very much walking a thin and faint line. At any point they could cross the line.
For example, when geohot hacked the system, he said something along the lines of, "I showed them how I broke it, and left it out there to show them how they could fix it". I mean, how does that make sense, geohot? In your mind, how can you possibly think that that is OK? You're basically making them spend more and more money to fix problems that you created! Additionally, it's only hurting the people out there who are using their product within guidelines. We all lost other OS because of that.
Hacking is going to get to the point where all software is going to require internet connection to test validity every so often during use. I don't know whether this is the "game" hackers are playing; a test of strength between opponents in the cyber-battlefield, but it's hurting consumers. It's hurting consumers by making companies spend more for the product and passing the costs onto us. It's hurting the product by adding development time.
Hacking as it is now, is unsustainable. There needs to be real action, not just "I break this, and let's test out who is right in court". There needs to be a movement in the digital frontier. Something that commands power, and not just something that undermines it.
The hackers need to demonstrate how hacking is beneficial. For example, a game's value can be improved by modding and selective hacking.
This is not what Geohot did with the ps3. He hurt the product immensely.
