Gotta keep in mind that these hackers are the reasons many many companpies have gone out of business even if they do make quality games, do i do get what you mean :P

Hackers are the bottom of the barrel in the PC/Console gaming arena.  Too bad that law enforcement doesn't really bother to go after them too much.

Actually i'd put hacking into the petty theft and dicking around section. seems more appropriate.

I am a programmer, not a hacker.

Hey, they did't break the PS3. Those people are aces in my book!

(Joking of course)

If I came face to face with someone that violated my pc, I might be a bit angry, I might kick him in the nuts if he stole my financial details.

If I came face to face with someone that violated my kids, I might still kick him in the nuts. However his nuts would not be attached to his body at the time, they would be flying through the air as I booted them downfield before returning to the chap to remove other appendages with a blunt object and no anaesthetic.

Short story, hackers are dicks but not anywhere close to the kind of real scum that's out there.

Yeah this is about where I would put people that hack as well. 

They are nowhere near "bottom of the scum list" That is reserved for the horrible people that rape and murder and torture other people.  

Let's be fair here, yes a number of hackers are utter shits whom I would quite happily punch in the face, these be the ones that try to worm their way into your system/s to steal information, hold your computer ransom or simply create to destroy, with that intention.

However I am not againt those that go, 'hmmm i wonder what other uses I might get from this phone/Console/Machine' etc... as long as their original intent is not to cause harm. For example the recent Geohotz PS3 'incident' as far as I understand it, and I will admit I don't know all the details, his intention was never to allow pirating of games and content but to unlock features that were already there previously. As far as the use of those features goes I can't say nor do I ultimately care, but it isn't his fault that many unscrupulous people are/may use that for 'questionable' means especially when, as far as my knowledge goes, he even implimented measures to try and prevent such use... even if they were rather shit and uneffective. Infact it is a bit like saying 'Damn you Karl Benz you are responsible for everybody who has ever died because of a car' or 'You got the blood of all those children on your hands Zynga, all because you had to go and create Farmville!'

Obviously in such cases you cannot ignore the role they had in unlocking said systems but it is still the millions of people who decide that they would rather get 'Product N' for free rather than pay those deserving of credit and reward for their work that should to be hated upon.

In the end though I can't hate them if their creation/idea gets misused because then I would have to hate everybody whom has ever created anything that had ever been misused, however if their intentions were specifically to deprive, in this case, developement studios of their hard earned and by all means rightful income then yes to the Pillory with them I say (Edited, gallows might be a bit extreme. I must make a note to get my mediaeval forms of punishment right).

Hmmm this turned into far more of a rant than i had intended.

OP doesn't understand. Let's leave it at that.

Hackers and pirates are never as bad as the true criminals. In fact, most of the time they're not even bad people, however, I won't argue that right now.

for the most part i agree with you, but there are indeed two sides to every story.  not all hackers hack to steal games.   ill use an anology.  say you are a poor immigrant living on the streets and you are starving.  in the street you see an apple stand but you are too poor to buy an apple.  if you go up and take an apple it is stealing but it was necessary for your survival.  my point is there is a fine line between whats wrong and desperation.  i tell you this because i used to hack via psp when i was younger, say 14 or so, because i couldnt afford to buy any games and my parents wouldnt buy me any.  also, just so you know, in 2008 i believe there was a study on hacking psps, and only around 12% of psp owners actually had a hacked psp.  furthermore, i do not have a problem with hacking if you own a copy of the game and are using the hack merely for convenience, i.e. ripping a ps1 game you own onto your ps3 or psp.  also, i think homebrew is a great backdoor for game creators who do not have the financial priveleges to hire a team and producer to get their works into the world.  so on one hand, if you are saying someone who spends hours making their own game then puts it on a website for thousands to download onto their hacked system charge free is the lowest kind of scum, i think you may need to rethink what the term lowest scum means.  to me, that is a truly passionate gamer doing what he or she loves simply because he or she loves it.  however, if someone is using their hacked system to steal games from companies, that is a major offense.  just some things to think about.