Sony obtains Australia ban on PS3 hack chip

Published on 08-28-2010 03:06 PM Number of Views: 880

Sony has won a temporary ban to prevent Australian distributors selling a hardware hack for the PlayStation 3 (PS3).
The PS3Jailbreak "dongle" allows gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the game's console.
The ban prevents OzModChips, Mod Supplier and Quantronics from importing, distributing or selling the device.
Sony has until August 31 to makes its case to the court for a permanent ban.
If it fails, the chips could go on sale on 1 September.
The firm declined to comment on the proceedings. The Australian distributors could not be reached.

The court order also gives Sony control of all of the dongles in the firms' possession and allows the electronics giant to test the devices - including "destructive analysis" - to see how they work.
Homebrew games PS3Jailbreak is a dongle containing software that allows users to save games to the console's hard drive.
It is the first product to crack the security on the PS3.
It was met with scepticism when videos of the device - posted by OzModChips - first appeared online in early August.
At the time, a spokesperson for Console Pro, another distributor based in the Netherlands, told BBC News the "dongle converts a retail unit into a dev unit".
Dev units are used by developers to test code for the machine.
"Dev mode means it will run any - even unsigned - code," said the spokesperson. "Using a simple backup maker or player software, you can play backed-up [saved] games without the actual disc being in the PS3."
The legality of these products - commonly called modchips - differs by country.
In Australia they are legal, whilst in the UK a recent court case brought by Nintendo said that "game copiers" were illegal to import, advertise or sell.
Proponents of modchips say they are the only way to play homemade games, known as "homebrews".
It is not known whether distributors in other countries have been served similar notices.
But, a spokesperson for Console Pro told BBC News in the wake of Friday's ban that the firm had "not heard anything from Sony or any lawyer or court yet".
"I really doubt Sony has grounds to ban this dongle."

Source: BBC News

Categories:
Hardware

6 Comments

bobbintb - 08-28-2010, 05:04 PM
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doesnt really matter is the ban succeeds or not. in this day and age if its out, its out. you cant unring that bell.

duke0102 - 08-29-2010, 09:21 AM
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too true, itll end up on sites that cant be policed and itll just end up on market stalls or such

luisfigo7 - 08-30-2010, 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by bobbintb

doesnt really matter is the ban succeeds or not. in this day and age if its out, its out. you cant unring that bell.

I can´t agree more!

rdtphd - 08-30-2010, 06:19 PM
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Dear Sony,
I have been waiting for a modchip to come out or the new Gran Turismo. To me its almost not with it anymore to just get the console for Gran Turismo. The possibility of homebrew and being able to back games up to a harddrive so I dont have to mess with disks was a little exciting. (ya i kno this version you have to have some original disk in to play but that doesnt mean later versions couldnt eliminated that.) The perfect PS3 for me would be one that had a huge internal hdd with all my games on it. Disks are on the way out and have been for a long time. I want tbs not blu-rays. How about a PS3 system that has multiple HDDs in raid so even if one fails no data is lost. You can still sell me the game online and D/L it or at the store on disk and I just come home and load it onto my machine and never have to mess with the disk again. Sony, you can choose fight and claw at this but it is a loosing battle for you. Every system can be hacked/modded/cracked and will be if your is a market/want for it to happen. So waste money beating a dead horse or adapt to the game and evolve your business model to take advantage of what people want to. If people want to be able to run unsigned code and have a homebrew game let them. Sony did something big of themselves and made it pretty easy to install linux on the PS3 but its just a novelty. Think future Sony, do you believe you won't get hacked? You might say it but do you believe it?

/rant

Monteiro - 08-30-2010, 10:23 PM
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By my veil not see this not worth unlocking.
very costly and time to copy the game and very large and can still give error

kalel - 08-31-2010, 04:20 PM
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anyone know if sony was able to stop them, today is the court date so I am wondering what happened as I am sure Millions of other people are as well.