Right. Sony's done this whole, "wag the lawyers around until you get your way," thing before. Worked with Lik-sang, sadly worked here. Next time somebody does something they don't like but can't really do anything about, they'll try the same...

Worked with Bleem! too - Sony has, can, and will spends millions upon millions bludgeoning people into the ground, even if they lose every ruling (like they did with Bleem)

He violated copyright and IP laws. He aided and abetted others to violated copyright and IP laws. He aided and abetted others in piracy.

Even if you want to stretch culpability to not sueing for aiding others in their criminal acts he broke laws all on his own.

That is the state of affairs in the industry. Even if id rather SONY had used the carrot instead of the stick (bought geohot off like MS did) doesn't change the fact that the current bussiness climate is a litigious nightmare the likes of which this world has never seen before.

You don't get to even touch someones intellectual property with a ten foot pole without lawyers coming out of every crack to bitch slap you with a lawsuit.

This really doesn't matter in any way.

1. This settlement does NOT create any legal basis for any future case, unless that case involves Sony and Geohot and the PS3.

2. Neither side lost or won in any way. Geohot can still do as he pleases and just release stuff underground through anonymous, tons of peer to peer, pirate bay, etc. He simply cannot take credit in any way. Sony can't be sure he won't do anything and based on #1 this sets no precedent for any potential litigation against any other hacker.

The fact is we've gotten nowhere. This just allows both sides to walk away from the table, saving face and money. Geohot couldn't afford to go on forever and Sony wasn't going to win what they really wanted in court in the long run. So, this allows Sony the illusion of security from being hacked by one single person on one single device.

Pointless excersize in litigation. I hope geohot has some money left and he follows through with his pledge to give it to whatever charity he stated earlier. Then at least something will come from this whole debacle.

Incorrect. The chance to set a precedent would be invaluable to all of our rights had Sony lost the case, minimizing the risk of similar cases breaking out in the future. Of course, looking at this judge's complete ignorance of how technology works, this may be for the best...

It's not clear that he did that either.

He released a guide detailing the security mechanism of the PS3 with reference to Sony code. To do this he circumvented the protection on his machine. However, both may have been covered by Fair Use. We don't know, it wasn't tested in court. In fact no court has ever definitively ruled that this behaviour is either legal or illegal.

Actually, we do have some precedent that's on-point with the iPhone and other mobile devices.

Sony hasn't really gained anything, and neither has Geohot.

Sony can only be sure that Geohot will not hack the PS3. The same does not apply to fail0verflow, who actually hacked the thing, rather than just saying it could be hacked. They have received no compensation for the damage caused.

Geohot has lost his ability to hack the PS3. He hasn't lost any money, so this isn't a loss for him.

If anything, Sony has "lost" here, because they started the case, and haven't gained anything from it.

LMAO!!! I laughen so hard I choked!!!