well we aren't buying software if you didn't know, we are buying the licence to use that software and accepting there terms and agreements at the same time. And by software i mean games as well. And the PS3 runs on SONY's software and this is an case of tamptering with that software which he doesn't own. 

Software is different to hardware. And with the ps3 you can do what ever you want to the hardware and sony can do nothing about it because you own it but the software in the machine you dont own. 

The EFF should also look at the number of job loses due to piracy on consoles. With just some few people enabling piracy, publisher would close down a lot of studios when sales don't meet expectations.

Doesn't the firmware count as software? Modifying the firmware to run in a manner unintended by the platform holder should likely be considered a violation of the terms and agreements.

except it is perfectly legal to do that. IE iphone jailbreak. It has been deemed you can break into your own hardware to open it up to your use. You can not hack and reproduce software(that is not what was done here, they did not hack and reuse sony software, they hacked the ps3 and created their own custom software, from what I understand). That is not what was done here. Read more into it. I don't want to explain all nor am I educated enough on it myself to do so. They are not using sony software, or what do you mean by this?

If you are a "security researcher" you would do that to improve security, so the person you should publish your discovers should be the creator of the system so they improve... then if you publish a way to harm the system you are not a security researcher but a security breacher...

All in all they are hacker doing for themselves, changing names is just to give them some credibility.

@thranx: And would you bet that the hackers used 100% their own programation lines? I doubt more than 10% is made by them and the other 90% is from sony. And the master keys are sony software and if they extract or use they are wrong again...

And one thing is cracking/hacking or anything you want to do with your PS3, but if your actions harm someone and that person or company decide to react don't pretend to be surprised or that they are malicious toward you... if someone did bring harm to you using your toys you would also attack back, but i must remember that hackers are good person that never created virus or done anything wrong, they are almost virtual saints.

You wouldn't publish your finding on the web when its common sense people will use it for bad thing. You would sell it to SONY who would be glad that someone has found faults for them to fix. 

That would be about the same thing as blackmail.  Hi my name is Geohot and I have an exploit that will butt fuck your consoles security.  If you don't hire me or give me x amount of money I will release it into the wild.  Ding Ding Ding, blackmail attempt and the guy would be in even more shit than he is now.  Probably even behind bars.

Some of you don't understand the Linux community at all.  They tend to find and release security flaws within a system so that other people can fix the problem.  Thats why Linux is one of the most secure OS platforms around .  This entire thing should be very scary to everyone who enjoys console gaming.  If Sony succeeds in its venture then we will end up pretty much just like the satellite tv market.  They had a severe problem with people hacking their devices and getting free satellite tv.  So they ended up basically charging you the same amount of money for said device except instead of owning it you lease it from them.  Once you end your service with the company you have to send the device back into the company so you can't resell it to recoup your initial investment.  If you don't return the device they charge you the price of a new system even if you have had it for years.  Personally I think its a shitty idea and I hope Sony loses 100%....

"Security Researcher's "

there are plenty of things you may already own that you can't control it.

housing -- you can't build additions or do major renovations without governement approval.

cars --  some moddifications are legal, many other mean you can't legally drive it.

guns -- laws dictate where you can/cannot use them

in all cases there is a balance between protecting the rights of the those that own the property and other parties thate that can be affected by those modifications. 

sony or whoever has a right to protect their investments in creating software.  I have a right to be able to play games without hackers wrecking my experience.  people should have the right to do unconventional things with their hardware.

somewhere a line needs to be drawn -- now we just need to figure out where that is.

no they are numbers. that is all they were. And sony does not own them nor did they copyright them. I realise you guys may like sony, I do not dislike them ( I may dislike some of their actions) but you must see this as an attack on consumer rights that it is