Anonymous, the hacker group responsible for recent online attacks against PayPal and Amazon, announced its intention to attack Sony websites in retaliation for the company's legal actions against PlayStation 3 hackers.
In a statement published on open-posting site AnonNews.org, the group calls Sony Computer Entertainment America's lawsuits against George "GeoHot" Hotz and Alexander "Graf_Chokolo" Egorenkov, who spearheaded PS3 hacking efforts, "an unforgivable offense against free speech and internet freedom".
SCEA has aggressively pursued legal action against Hotz ever since December, when he publicly released details on an exploit that circumvents PS3 security protections and enables system owners to run unauthorized code, including pirated games.
Anonymous also accuses Sony of abusing the judicial system to censor information (e.g. details on PS3 exploits) about how their products work, victimizing their customers for possessing and sharing that information, and targeting those who seek that information.
The collective writes, "Your corrupt business practices are indicative of a corporate philosophy that would deny consumers the right to use products they have paid for, and rightfully own, in the manner of their choosing. Perhaps you should alert your customers to the fact that they are apparently only renting your products?"
"In light of this assault on both rights and free expression, Anonymous, the notoriously handsome rulers of the internet, would like to inform you that you have only been 'renting' your web domains. Having trodden upon Anonymous' rights, you must now be trodden on," the posting continues.
Anonymous reasons that because Sony purchased web domains, the promised attacks against those domains constitute as attacks on their private property and are a fitting punishment. The hacker group offered no information on when or how its attacks would occur.
Organizers behind the threats imply that they have spun off Operation Payback, a campaign to launch DDoS attacks against the websites of anti-piracy groups, law firms, and, more recently, companies acting against WikiLeaks' interests, such as MasterCard and Visa.
[UPDATE: A report by PlayStation Lifestyle suggests that hackers from the group are attempting to collect personal information about Sony employees for fraudulent activity.]
The sad part of this whole ordeal is that in the long run, this is likely to have very negligible impact, especially since a company like Sony has the resources to take it all, put a little spin on it, and shrug it off.
It's reassuring to know that there's a group of people out there not afraid to dish out some very real consequences to actions that are usually morally wrong, and at best, questionable.
I don't think Sony has the right to protect their hardware from modifications using their legal department. That's something engineering should handle. This you may or may not agree with.
But Sony is ruining the lives of these people because of something they enjoy doing. I think that's flat out wrong, and most people here would agree, including Anonymous.
Anonymous is notorious for being able to carry out attacks at much greater magnitude than people expect. If they continue to launch DDoS attacks on Playstation Network's website it could cause problems for PSN's accessibility.
These people ultimately make me sick. They think just cause you buy something, you should be able to use it to break the law with no penalty. How about we let people go around shooting people, just because they bought a gun. Most people that hack console's do so to steal games, don't give me crap about homebrew. They are stealing from the developers and thats against the law, grow up and deal with it.
I agree with this completely. If you have a problem with Sony's terms of use then don't buy a PS3, otherwise use it to play the games and other services Sony provide through the little black box. Homebrew software developers have plenty of legal alternatives to console hacking, so I don't see it as a legitimate reason for console hacking.
There is a difference between doing what you want with your property and breaking a law. Hacking a PS3, iPhone, Xbox, whatever is not illegal. Pirating games is. Just because you hack a computer does not mean you are going to pirate games. It is wrong to punish those who did no wrong just because others did do something wrong. In other words innocent until proven guilty.
I really wish that people would understand that "free speech" does not mean "the right to say anything at any time with no consequences". Counselling someone to commit a crime is a crime in most places, and it is not protected speech. We can debate whether what the hackers have done in this instance amounts to counselling people to commit crimes, but I really wish we could move past this silly idea that free speech is, or should be, absolute.
If free speech wasn't meant to be absolutely they should have included exceptions in the first amendment. The only way for it to not be absolute is to create a new amendment which has not happened, and will not happen any time soon. Sorry if some people want their rights back.
Has there even been a person hurt by a threat? No. I would say it gives a person the right to get a restraining order on that person, and increase the punishment 10 fold if the person actually acts on the threat. The threat itself though should not be illegal.
Why shouldn't it be absolute? If it isn't, where do you draw the line? What is amoral to you in your believe system may not be amoral in mine. People believe all kinds of crazy and harmful things, and are still allowed to talk about them. More to the point of your post, should Mythbusters be censored for their episode on circumventing physical security ( motion detectors, locks, etc. ), or making explosive things that people may want to make for themselves? Besides, you're going to quickly run afoul of the facts that one exception leads to another and another and another.
A restraining order is a legal intervention in the right to free speech if the only reason it's being implemented is on account of threats. So you actually *do* agree that some speech should be illegal.
@Sean
No, I was not saying that reverse engineering was the equivalent to incitement to violence. What I was saying is that incitement *to commit a crime* is illegal. For the record, I don't think that reverse engineering should be illegal unless it can clearly be linked to illegal behaviour. I just dislike the constaint refrain of "Free speech! Free speech!" in instances where it isn't really the relevant issue. This isn't a free speech issue, it's a consumer rights/private property issue.
I love that we're comparing reverse engineering to incitement to violence and (as above) murder.
No, children, hacking a PS3 is not a grave evil. It might be illegal but that is far from being declared immoral. You see, most of us live in these wonderful lands that subscribe to the ideals of democracy. This means that issues of legality can be freely debated and discussed. In fact, in most of these magical lands, potentially illegal acts that are intended to have a political point may even be excused under civil disobedience legislation.
The sad thing here is that there is a serious debate going on about what does (and what should) constitute intellectual property. Sony may claim legal rights via their terms of service (although the legitimacy of that from a legal perspective is open to debate) but we are allowed to debate whether that should be the case. It wasn't so long ago that reverse engineering a device you own was actually protected under the law (and it still is in many countries and jurisdictions). Right now the law, as it stands, is confusing, contradictory and needs serious re-assessment. Why, again, is it ok to reverse engineer a phone - according to the recent US copyright office decision - but not a games machine like a PS3? Does that not seem like an arbitrary rule?
But, no. I'm being silly. This debate isn't a real debate. It's just a clever ruse by the 28 billion pirates that cause companies to lose 600 trillion dollars every second. You know the recent financial crisis? All piracy. Remember fellow game developers, it's not a conspiracy if they really are all out to get you!
At this point, I really should expect these kinds of infantile exchanges whenever the subject of copyright comes up. Still, when it comes to Gamasutra, I generally expect its readers to be adults with fully formed critical thinking abilities.
That might be something else that needs re-assessment.
Whats the big deal? SoE is coming off slightly fascist and Anonymous is coming off slightly reactionary. The world would seem amiss if it were any other way.
@ Travis - great point. Thank heavens Sony is preventing hackers from killing people with their PS3s. Without efforts by corporations to restrict our rights to use their products only as they intended how would we -ever- keep from murdering each other??
"a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control."
What part is slightly fascist? trying to tell me how I can use my PS3 beyond prosecution of existing laws is fascist. By definition. Dictatorial [oppressive to or arrogantly overbearing toward others.]
Who do these hackers think they are? How dare they show the world how to turn PS3s into potential machines of unadulterated piracy comparable only to Robo-Blackbeard. But I'm glad this issue has finally been brought to the public arena, because it gives me an oportunity to bring up a much older and sinister product that has been responsible for greater profit losses than hacked PS3s and Robo-Blackbeard COMBINED! I am of course referring to pants with pockets.
For centuries, pants with pockets have tempted otherwise law-abiding citizens into the greatest depths of sin and degredation. The corner-shop and news stand industry reports an estimated $60 billion in losses every minute thanks to these pouched-pantalooned bastards. These reports are delived by specially trained couriers wearing leotards, lest the temption to steal the report by wearing pants with pockets become to great.
Some critics suggest that the fears of the corner store and news stand industry are greatly exaggerated, with the majority of theft being committed by individuals who couldn't afford or don't have access to the overpriced candy bars, hence no actual loss of sale has actually occurred, but these should be dismissed as the radical views of dissident anarchists.
Surely the only sensible course to prevent the loss of profits is, rather than persecute the actual thieves or to provide incentives to purchase candy bars through legitimate means, is to attack the pocket makers directly. Their insidious manipulation of cloth, sewing and scissors has cost our society too much for too long. Can you think of a more heinous crime than mutilating our beloved pants into pants with pockets (the perfect candy stealing weapon)? I can't...
My opinion about the subject relies on Research Investment vs Developing Time Schedules vs Expected Product Value.
I do think , even Sony , could implement a 512 bits DDD Encription Algorithm into their DRM , now this would have probably pushed back their PS3 launching date probably 3 to 5 years. Now , thier competition would have made bigger profits than them and Sony's Investor would have eaten them alive. Not to mention , it would have rised thier PS3 market price off scale. But , Sony would not be having this kind of "situation".
Quality can only be achieved through proper Research and Development , wich consumes Time and Resources againt Product Developing Milestone Goals dictated by Market Stock Vales and Shareholders , who dont care anything about product Quality. So , it becomes a vicious and infinite circle.
The problem is , no product is flawless. Even if you achive Top Notch Quality , its only throu sustaintable product gray hacking ( take it as a Product Development Lifecycle metaphore ) you can achieve better excellence in your hardware and software.
Now really , how many had their "Known - Shippable" bugs came back from the grave only to came revenge through a Hacker's doing?.
Defending the rights of those who bought the PS3 for the OtherOS (and I'm sympathetic to those people) by attacking the service of people who bought the PS3 for other reasons is still childish and counter-productive.
Adam, you should really start making more sense man, you're the biggest proponent of Sony's actions, and then you start talking about attacking the service of people who brought the PS3?
I don't know if you're mistaking the actions ANONYMOUS is taking against Sony with the hacks that GeoHot and others made, or if you're just confused as to what these hacks really are.
The only thing GeoHot made was a package installer so that people that own PS3s can install whatever on it, Other OSs, custom homebrew games, and yes, ISO loaders, and hacks for existing games. But that will always happen because hackers and smart people love cracking these things, it's fun for them, and Sony's reaction to their actions is wrong. Sony's ruining these peoples lives for doing something arguably harmless and inevitable (every console in existence has been hacked). They need to improve their damn security, or they need to embrace the fact that people want to mess with their systems and section off a piece of the hardware where they are allowed to mess around (like they did with the other OS feature, they just need to stick with it this time).
I was responding to this particular thread of comments, which is about Anonymous and not Geohot. I'm also not a proponent of Sony's actions - I think removing the Other OS support was wrong. I *also* think the response by Anonymous is wrong.
People think that it's something awful and disgusting, something that is capable of ripping an industry apart and destroying the lives of many. It's funny how, geographically speaking, matters can have such different weight in sight of other things.
Honestely, I think Sean got it half right. A great deal of people in America (and if you think you're not part of this great deal, congratulations) don't have to worry about a lot of things, so they turn their attention to futile things like: making more money by the minute, making sure people are working effectively and making sure people are not denying them the first two statements. Piracy being the latter of course.
The thing is: just as the body feeds on food, the soul feeds on culture. Be it from books, movies or games. If your body's starving, you'll probably find a way of eating, if it's your soul... You can probably understand what comes next. I'm not suggesting we should throw our arms up, say "What the heck!?" and start working for free. No. But there will always be a group of people who can't buy these things (books, movies and games), but still want to experience them. Just as there are a group of people who are brave and prepared enough to enable it to the first aforementioned group of people.
So, yeah, it's not going away. You can try and prevent people who CAN buy from pirating, making their lives harder, making it more of a nuisance than a benefit. But when you have nothing, and there's no other way to do something, you take whatever way you can get... Even if it's the hardest one.
It's reassuring to know that there's a group of people out there not afraid to dish out some very real consequences to actions that are usually morally wrong, and at best, questionable.
I don't think Sony has the right to protect their hardware from modifications using their legal department. That's something engineering should handle. This you may or may not agree with.
But Sony is ruining the lives of these people because of something they enjoy doing. I think that's flat out wrong, and most people here would agree, including Anonymous.
I think you might want to take a look at the DMCA.
A restraining order is a legal intervention in the right to free speech if the only reason it's being implemented is on account of threats. So you actually *do* agree that some speech should be illegal.
@Sean
No, I was not saying that reverse engineering was the equivalent to incitement to violence. What I was saying is that incitement *to commit a crime* is illegal. For the record, I don't think that reverse engineering should be illegal unless it can clearly be linked to illegal behaviour. I just dislike the constaint refrain of "Free speech! Free speech!" in instances where it isn't really the relevant issue. This isn't a free speech issue, it's a consumer rights/private property issue.
No, children, hacking a PS3 is not a grave evil. It might be illegal but that is far from being declared immoral. You see, most of us live in these wonderful lands that subscribe to the ideals of democracy. This means that issues of legality can be freely debated and discussed. In fact, in most of these magical lands, potentially illegal acts that are intended to have a political point may even be excused under civil disobedience legislation.
The sad thing here is that there is a serious debate going on about what does (and what should) constitute intellectual property. Sony may claim legal rights via their terms of service (although the legitimacy of that from a legal perspective is open to debate) but we are allowed to debate whether that should be the case. It wasn't so long ago that reverse engineering a device you own was actually protected under the law (and it still is in many countries and jurisdictions). Right now the law, as it stands, is confusing, contradictory and needs serious re-assessment. Why, again, is it ok to reverse engineer a phone - according to the recent US copyright office decision - but not a games machine like a PS3? Does that not seem like an arbitrary rule?
But, no. I'm being silly. This debate isn't a real debate. It's just a clever ruse by the 28 billion pirates that cause companies to lose 600 trillion dollars every second. You know the recent financial crisis? All piracy. Remember fellow game developers, it's not a conspiracy if they really are all out to get you!
At this point, I really should expect these kinds of infantile exchanges whenever the subject of copyright comes up. Still, when it comes to Gamasutra, I generally expect its readers to be adults with fully formed critical thinking abilities.
That might be something else that needs re-assessment.
@ Travis - great point. Thank heavens Sony is preventing hackers from killing people with their PS3s. Without efforts by corporations to restrict our rights to use their products only as they intended how would we -ever- keep from murdering each other??
srsly? I feel like I've been trolled.
"a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control."
What part is slightly fascist? trying to tell me how I can use my PS3 beyond prosecution of existing laws is fascist. By definition. Dictatorial [oppressive to or arrogantly overbearing toward others.]
Plus Anon could be anyone, I could be a member, or you, there are no "Anon" groups. It's just a bunch of bored nerds with nothing better to do.
He was only defending his right... He bought a PS3 to fiddle with OtherOS, Sony removed a advertised feature, he put it back.
So the reasoning of "we just want to bring back a feature that was there before" is without merit.
For centuries, pants with pockets have tempted otherwise law-abiding citizens into the greatest depths of sin and degredation. The corner-shop and news stand industry reports an estimated $60 billion in losses every minute thanks to these pouched-pantalooned bastards. These reports are delived by specially trained couriers wearing leotards, lest the temption to steal the report by wearing pants with pockets become to great.
Some critics suggest that the fears of the corner store and news stand industry are greatly exaggerated, with the majority of theft being committed by individuals who couldn't afford or don't have access to the overpriced candy bars, hence no actual loss of sale has actually occurred, but these should be dismissed as the radical views of dissident anarchists.
Surely the only sensible course to prevent the loss of profits is, rather than persecute the actual thieves or to provide incentives to purchase candy bars through legitimate means, is to attack the pocket makers directly. Their insidious manipulation of cloth, sewing and scissors has cost our society too much for too long. Can you think of a more heinous crime than mutilating our beloved pants into pants with pockets (the perfect candy stealing weapon)? I can't...
:D
I hope some people understand what you mean here.
I do think , even Sony , could implement a 512 bits DDD Encription Algorithm into their DRM , now this would have probably pushed back their PS3 launching date probably 3 to 5 years. Now , thier competition would have made bigger profits than them and Sony's Investor would have eaten them alive. Not to mention , it would have rised thier PS3 market price off scale. But , Sony would not be having this kind of "situation".
Quality can only be achieved through proper Research and Development , wich consumes Time and Resources againt Product Developing Milestone Goals dictated by Market Stock Vales and Shareholders , who dont care anything about product Quality. So , it becomes a vicious and infinite circle.
The problem is , no product is flawless. Even if you achive Top Notch Quality , its only throu sustaintable product gray hacking ( take it as a Product Development Lifecycle metaphore ) you can achieve better excellence in your hardware and software.
Now really , how many had their "Known - Shippable" bugs came back from the grave only to came revenge through a Hacker's doing?.
Am I the only one seeing the irony here or what ?
I don't know if you're mistaking the actions ANONYMOUS is taking against Sony with the hacks that GeoHot and others made, or if you're just confused as to what these hacks really are.
The only thing GeoHot made was a package installer so that people that own PS3s can install whatever on it, Other OSs, custom homebrew games, and yes, ISO loaders, and hacks for existing games. But that will always happen because hackers and smart people love cracking these things, it's fun for them, and Sony's reaction to their actions is wrong. Sony's ruining these peoples lives for doing something arguably harmless and inevitable (every console in existence has been hacked). They need to improve their damn security, or they need to embrace the fact that people want to mess with their systems and section off a piece of the hardware where they are allowed to mess around (like they did with the other OS feature, they just need to stick with it this time).
People think that it's something awful and disgusting, something that is capable of ripping an industry apart and destroying the lives of many. It's funny how, geographically speaking, matters can have such different weight in sight of other things.
Honestely, I think Sean got it half right. A great deal of people in America (and if you think you're not part of this great deal, congratulations) don't have to worry about a lot of things, so they turn their attention to futile things like: making more money by the minute, making sure people are working effectively and making sure people are not denying them the first two statements. Piracy being the latter of course.
The thing is: just as the body feeds on food, the soul feeds on culture. Be it from books, movies or games. If your body's starving, you'll probably find a way of eating, if it's your soul... You can probably understand what comes next. I'm not suggesting we should throw our arms up, say "What the heck!?" and start working for free. No. But there will always be a group of people who can't buy these things (books, movies and games), but still want to experience them. Just as there are a group of people who are brave and prepared enough to enable it to the first aforementioned group of people.
So, yeah, it's not going away. You can try and prevent people who CAN buy from pirating, making their lives harder, making it more of a nuisance than a benefit. But when you have nothing, and there's no other way to do something, you take whatever way you can get... Even if it's the hardest one.
Most of my opinions on this have already been spoken by far wiser people, so I'll leave it at this.