so a random guy posts a video on the internet claiming he hacks it, and the entire gaming community claims it official and is happy..

its fake, they used a DEBUG old ps3 model which is running linux to use the USB pirate.. it's an obvious scam, if it could work on all ps3's they wouldn't have used a debug ps3.

Would you pay 150$ for this USB MOD? and you will still have to copy or download 50GB games, so it will be 150$ 100$ for a decent 1TB HDD = 250$ which you could use to buy 5 or 7 genuine games AND play them ONLINE without fear of getting your PS3 bricked.

It's not fake.

I'm sorry this is hard for you to accept.

1.  It's not a random guy, its a guy from a pretty big and respected modding community.

2.  They are testing the USB software hack that was developed on another pirating site.

3.  It works on both fat and slim with the latest updates installed.

4.  It loaded straight to the XMB to run the hack, not into Linux or anywhere else.  The hack then runs  off of the software on the USB, not linux or anything else on the PS3.

I'm sure there will be a video of a PS3 slim using the hack soon, to ease your concerns.

the person seems to have an older PS3, does it work with the PS3 slim?

There is a modchip involved. It's just not a mod or a chip. It's a USB dongle. It's not like they're able to crack your PS3 through the fourth dimension or anything.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how the hack works. I probably am wrong, because Firefox isn't letting me anywhere near their website.

First, you put your Blu-ray into the PS3. Then, you copy all 20GB of data over onto the hard drive. Fair enough.

Now, let's see how this can lead to piracy.

First, you buy a handy Blu-ray drive for your computer. Then, you upload 20GB of data onto the internet. Then, someone at the other end, who, naturally, has a Blu-ray burner, downloads the 20GB and burns it onto the Blu-ray disc. They then put the disc into the PS3, copy all 20GB over, and then they can play the game.

I don't see this becoming very widespread.

If its really a debug PS3 then they changed the housing of the PS3 in the vids because thats how a Debug PS3 looks like:

AS far as I understood it the USB Stick makes the PS3 thinking its a debug PS3 and activates the feature which allows to load images from the HDD.

Not to mention the fact that, as soon as Sony gets wind of this, you won't be able to play online or, indeed, connect to PSN in any way. No more trophies. No more online play. No more PS Store. Hell, no more games which require the new firmware.

It's pretty good work, way better than anyone else has done (even geohotz), but it's ridiculously flimsy.

The guys that posted the video are from a well-know store in Australia. They're even calling the doubters who live nearby to check my themselves. Besides, there has been another reports from both the community and sites. 

The mod itself is supposed to make the PS3 boot on debug mode so what you pointed out is just as valid as the flag waving in the moon argument.

The dongle is just using a code from Sony itself that somewhat leaked into the hands of a certain manufacturer. Soon enough a custom code to be used in any USB drive will appear in the internet for free just like it happened with the Wii, I guess.

And you need no blu-ray drive or anything, just an external HDD. Rent or download the game, upload it into the drive and pronto.

Actually the bolded way is the same thing you do when you download a 360 game.

But btw I think most people will buy a 99 Dollar Bluray Drive buy a 1 Terabyte external HDD and rent 50 games for one day and copy them all to the external HDD give back the games to the rental store and keep the external HDD and thats it. Or who knows maybe you will be able to copy the games directly from your PS3 to the HDD without buying an extra Bluray drive.