Sony and Geohot Settle Court Battle, Hotz Consents to Permanent Injuction
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Posted April 11, 2011 at 12:53pm by iClarified
Sony and Geohot have settled a lawsuit over the jailbreak of the PS3 with Geohot consenting to a permanent injunction as part of the deal.
Here is the joint press release issued by Sony and George Hotz.
- Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") and George Hotz ("Hotz") today announced the settlement of the lawsuit filed by SCEA against Hotz in federal court in San Francisco, California. The parties reached an agreement in principle on March 31, 2011. As part of the settlement, Hotz consented to a permanent injunction.
Both parties expressed satisfaction that litigation had been quickly resolved. "Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us," said Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA. "Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal."
"It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier," said Hotz, I'm happy to have the litigation behind me." Hotz was not involved in the recent attacks on Sony's internet services and websites.
In the action, SCEA accused Hotz of violating federal law by posting online information about the security system in the PlayStation 3 videogame console and software that SCEA claimed could be used to circumvent the security system in the console and allow the playing of pirated videogames. Hotz denies any wrongdoing on his part. Hotz's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was still pending before the federal court in San Francisco but a preliminary injunction was issued requiring Hotz to take down the postings challenged by SCEA.
"We want our consumers to be able to enjoy our devices and products in a safe and fun environment and we want to protect the hard work of the talented engineers, artists, musicians and game designers who make PlayStation games and support the PlayStation Network," added Russell. "We appreciate Mr. Hotz's willingness to address the legal issues involved in this case and work with us to quickly bring this matter to an early resolution." -
Today Geohot made the following comments on his blog.
As of 4/11/11, I am joining the SONY boycott. I will never purchase another SONY product.
I encourage you to do the same.
Why would you not boycott a company who feels this way about you?
Honestly the last and only thing Sony I've ever bought was a Sony psp....and that was so I could run emulators on it
Guess Sony does not want me doing this....
Im just happy I didn't donate to this fraud... sure he's done a lot of good for the scene, but stealing a bunch of money from hard-working people in order to "fight the battle" and then throwing in the towel before the case ever even makes it to court..... I mean come on.... I say we boycott GeoHot, not Sony.
Don't be stupid. The people that donated to his legal fees were well aware of what they doing. And if you think settling with Sony, instead of a long, drawn out and enormously expensive trial is throwing in the towel, then maybe you should summon up your brain power to do what GeoHot has done, hope Sony will sue you for it, and then fight the good fight do the bitter end (and it will be bitter) - with your own funds, of course. Do let us know what you decide.
George CLEARLY stated on his website that if SCEA were to suggest a settlement, that the ONLY way he would settle is if they agreed to include OtherOS on all PS3s and made a public apology. People donated to him with the idea that he would FOLLOW THROUGH with his words, which he did not. Not by a long shot.
He threw in the towel. No ifs ands or buts about it. The settlement basically says that if he even touches a PS3 again they will sue his ass off. If you define that as anything other than throwing in the towel, I think you need to research the meaning of the term.
He must've a really VALID reason for doing the deal with Sony! I wouldn't judge because of that! Remember, in every battle, Sometimes you gotta give up 1 position in order to win another and eventually WIN the WAR!!
Well, since I already have my PS3. then ok - I'm not buying another Sony product. Unless you count PS3 games... Or any interesting addons to the PS3.
Ahhhhh... f@#$ it! I'm buying whatever is good. Period.
Welcome to the club Geohot. I have not bought Sony products in the past 10 years and will never buy one even if Sony is going to start offering everlasting life.
...I rather buy Sony than Mapple, then again, u must use common sense, when Hotz created the "jb" for the PS3 he knew what was coming, is like Mapple and the installous, on the other hand there is more at stake with the PS3 than the iPhone...