In 2011, Sony decided to bring a lawsuit against individual gamers who jailbreaked their Playstation 3 consoles. This article is meant to ask questions and bring to light the significance of hackers in our society, with as little bias as possible between two sides who feel that they are justified.
Jailbreaking a console is the process of removing restrictions (whether hardware or software) from the console to allow it to play burned games. Gamers argue that jailbreaking is justified because the end user has a right to modify and tinker with their product after the purchase.
Game companies, such as the vocal Sony Company, say that jailbreaking is a violation of the Terms of Service agreement. Sony then jives that they have the right to kick jailbreakers off of the PSN network.
Both sides have good points. Where gamers feel that the line is crossed, however is when Sony chooses to go after jailbreakers. The accusation is that jailbreakers are breaking systems for profit, and may (or may not) be selling burned games for profit. Regardless of whether people feel this is ok, or it is wrong, it is illegal by law.
Certainly gamers must have the right to modify their own consoles. The question is, are they doing it for all of the right reasons? probably not. This is Sonys argument, and they are going after known jailbreakers to shut them down. Sony argues that the right to back up data is not legitimate, because when a copy of a game exists, it is up to the morals of the consumer to decide what to do with that backup: truly put it away, or give it to a friend.
Going across the pond real quick, Microsoft knows who its jailbreakers are, and has threatened legal action against thousands of them. I forget the exact statistic, but Microsoft claims that 30% of their Xbox 360s out there are hacked for playing burned games. If you attempt to connect to Microsoft's Xbox Live service with a hacked console, they know who you are, and they will promptly inform you of that fact by mail.
In response to the lawsuits by Sony, a group of loose hackers known as Anonymous have decided to attack PSN and shut it down. It occurred for one day, but now it has been occurring for a while. Anonymous has denied additional attacks, citing rogue hackers. Whatever the situation, Sony says that it is dire, and that they are rebuilding the PSN from scratch in order to better protect it from attack. Sony claims credit card files may have been stolen, but I don't see a reason for a rogue hacker to attack PSN for credit card numbers.
The game industry wants you to pay for games. The point of this article is not to debate why people hack, but reasons include a desire to try games, high game prices ($60 for software), and the legitimate "I hate paying for anything". Observing the troubles going on, indy game producers have made a living putting games up on PSN and Xbox Live. Hacking the PSN deprives these indy producers of sales.
On an interesting note, why is FOX NEWS the only media outlet reporting on the attacks?
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