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Sony Sues Datel Over PSP-3000 Hacking Tool
by David Jenkins
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January 14, 2009
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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has taken legal action against UK-based peripheral maker Datel over an accessory that would have allowed illegal and homebrew software to be run on the PSP-3000.
Encryption on the newest PSP model has proven much harder for homebrew enthusiasts to break, and Datel began advertising a battery-attached solution called the Lite Blue Tool in November.
The product was never released, but instead repurposed as a differently featured replacement battery called the Max Power Digital.
Since the device breaks the PSP-3000’s security encryption, Sony has continued to object to the Lite Blue Tool. A Datel spokesperson told website Portable Video Gamer that orders for the Lite Blue Tool could not be fulfilled "due to legal action by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe".
Legal challenges to reverse-engineered hardware products have been relatively commonplace throughout the history of the games industry, most notoriously in cases involving Nintendo and the original Atari, and between Nintendo and Codemasters’ Game Genie device.
Piracy and homebrew has been a particular problem for Sony on the PSP, whose strong hardware sales have never been matched by similarly-high software sales. When the PSP-3000 model first launched in October 2008, Sony described piracy on the on the hardware as 'trending downwards' shortly thereafter.
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