So, ugh... what is it that they've settled upon? It doesn't say...

The one-year argument wouldn't run in most European countries, as over here purchased goods are supposed to be fit for purpose for a reasonable life. Because of this, the year's guarantee is often simply the start, as the retailer will be liable, and in turn the manufacturer, for products that do not do what they were advertised to do, even many years after they were purchased. That's why many companies offer up to 5-years free guarantees in the UK on many goods -- they are almost compelled to by law, anyway.

So, Sony would be stuffed using the same argument over here.

That aside, Sony won this. Completely and utterly. I'm stunned at how well this has turned out for them. I expected a different outcome given what I had read about the case.

Geohot is officially the internet icon he never imagined to be.

It's posted on the web somewhere. Basically, Hotz can't mess about with any Sony products, or talk about how to mess with them, or link to any site that refers to hacking Sony products. At all. Ever. If he does, he has to pay Sony $10,000 per infringment. So, make two small, naughty posts on a hacking site about Sony products and he owes Sony $20,000 automatically. Basically, he's now banned from hacking Sony products in any way at all, or he will have to pay through the nose. In return, Sony drop their current case against him.

...that is not a bad deal at all, it probably turned out far better than it would with further stretching of the case.

The key words are "who receive notice of this judgement". To receive a notice you have to be a party directly involved with the case.

Not a bad deal for which party, exactly?

Sony, of course.

Thst's not the case, he's far more tightly pinned down. Read the following:

II. ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED by consent of the Parties that Hotz, whether as an individual or as a principal, officer, director or employee of any business entity, and his agents, servants, employees, distributors, suppliers, representatives and all other persons or entities acting in concert or participation with Hotz who receive notice of this Judgment, shall be and hereby are permanently enjoined and restrained from:

A. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the law;

B. Engaging in any unauthorized access to any SONY PRODUCT under the terms of any SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES' license agreement or terms of use applicable to that SONY PRODUCT, whether or not Hotz has accepted such agreement or terms of use, including without limitation:

(i) reverse engineering, decompiling, or disassembling any portion of the Sony Product;

(ii) using any tools to bypass, disable, or circumvent any encryption, security, or authentication mechanism in the Sony Product;

(iii) using any hardware or softare to cause the Sony Product to accept or use unauthorized, illegal or pirated softare or hardware; and

(iv) exploiting any Sony Product to design, develop, update or distribute unauthorized softare or hardware for use with the Sony Product.

If any term of such SCEA or SCEA Affilates' license agreement or terms of use applicable to that Sony Product shall be determined by Congress or by a court of law in a final non-appealable decision in an action to which SCEA or an SCEA Affiliate is a party to be illegal and unenforceable, then such term shall not be binding on Hotz.

C. CIRCUMVENTING any of the TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT;

D. TRAFFICKING in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof that, at the time of Hotz's trafficking, circumvents any of the TPMs or security in any SONY PRODUCT, including but not limited to the Ellptical Curve Signature Algorithm ("ECDSA") Keys, encryption andlor decryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter program, Signing Tools, 3.55 Firmware Jailbreak, andlor any other technologies that enable unauthorized access to andlor copying of the PS3 System andlor enable compatibility of unauthorized copies of other copyrighted works with the PS3 System.

E. Distributing or posting any SCEA or SCEA Affiliates' confidential or proprietary information relating to any SONY PRODUCT;

F. Knowingly assisting or inducing others to engage in any of the conduct set forth in A-E above solely directed at any SONY PRODUCT or that otherwise constitutes contributory liabilty under the law.

Now add this:

1. For purposes of the Order below, SCEA AFFILIATES shall mean Sony Corporation and all companies owned or controlled by Sony Corporation or SCEA, including but not limited to, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sony Network Entertainment America, and Sony Ericsson. To the extent that a company is an SCEA Affiliate but is not listed in this definition and does not have Sony in its name, SCEA will provide Hotz with notice of the name of that company.

2. For purposes of the Order below, SONY PRODUCT shall mean any product or service of SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES that bears the Sony, PlayStation or PlayStation Network ("PSN") name, mark or brand. SONY PRODUCT does not include those products or services created or sold by companies which have been acquired by SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES, which products or services were on the market prior to acquisition by SCEA or SCEA AFFILIATES. However, once SCEA, SCEA AFFILIATES or the acquired company rebrands the product or service with the Sony, PlayStation or PSN name, mark or brand, then the product or service that bears the Sony, PlayStation or PSN name, mark or brand shall thereafter constitute a SONY PRODUCT. To the extent that there are any Sony products or services that do not bear the Sony, PlayStation or PSN name, mark or brand and that SCEA wishes to be treated as a Sony Product for purposes of this Permanent Injunction and Consent Judgment, SCEA wil specifically identify those products or services and provide notice to Hotz.

In short: All Sony products. That's Hotz sewn up pretty tightly.

My thoughts exactly. They've come out of this very well, I think.