Hasta La Gadget!

We figured Sony would follow up last night’s temporary restraining order against Geohot and fail0verflow for distribution of the PS3 jailbreak with a copyright infringement lawsuit, and well, here it is. It’s actually pretty straightforward, as far as these things go — Sony alleges that George Hotz, Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter, and the rest of fail0verflow are:

• Violating §1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which forbids bypassing access control measures;
• Violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which forbids accessing computers without authorization;
• Guilty of contributory copyright infringement for encouraging and helping others to crack PS3s as well;
• Violating the California Computer Crime Law, which is the state computer fraud act (think of this as a backup fraud claim);
• Violating the PlayStation Network’s Terms of Service (which feels meaningless, really);
• Interfering with Sony’s relationships with other PSN customers (also meaningless);
• Trespassing on Sony’s ownership right to the PS3 (this one feels weak) and;
• Misappropriating Sony’s intellectual property (another weak argument, but there in case the copyright argument fails).

Sony’s asking the court to forbid Geohot and fail0verflow from distributing the jailbreak and turn over all computer hardware and software that contain the jailbreak code, as well as unspecified damages and attorneys’ fees. Yep, these boys done got sued — and we’re sure there’ll be some serious fireworks once they lawyer up and fight right back.

Update: And here we go — Carnegie Mellon professor David Touretzky has posted up the first mirror of Geohot’s code as a First Amendment protest, openly challenging Sony to take action. That’s moxie — we love it. [Thanks, Pedro G]

Sony follows up, officially sues Geohot and fail0verflow over PS3 jailbreak originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, here’s the dilemma — do you buy a lovely Bluetooth remote to control your PS3, or spring for a Bluetooth-to-IR adapter in order to better integrate your console into your overall home theater? How’s about neither? Snakebyte’s Premium Bluetooth Remote has just been unleashed here at CES, offering both Bluetooth and Infrared support, enabling it to dictate your PS3 as well as five other IR components. You’ll also get a backlit display, ingrained motion sensor, a built-in Li-ion battery and support for updatable firmware. We dropped by the company’s booth here in Vegas, but the only model on-hand was a non-functional mockup — too bad, but the real-deal is expected to ship this April for $49.99.

Continue reading Snakebyte PlayStation 3 remote touts IR and Bluetooth, $50 price tag

Snakebyte PlayStation 3 remote touts IR and Bluetooth, $50 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just saw how you can now add an Install Package Files option to the PS3 using some custom firmware, but that darn hacker George “Geohot” Hotz has taken it a step further by demonstrating homebrew in a quick, Mr. Blurrycam-approved video. It’s a barebones app that only says “sup dawg, it’s geohot,” but in reality it’s a pretty huge step. Geohot’s provided the file on his website along with a copy of the METLDR root key that enables the homebrew. Sony, meanwhile, has issued a statement saying it’ll “fix the issues through network updates, but because this is a security issue, we are not able to provide you with any more details.” This runs counter to what pytey from fail0verflow (the famed group that kickstarted this new round of hacking) just told the BBC, “the only way to fix this is to issue new hardware… Sony will have to accept this.” Hey, at least you’ll be in good company, eh Sony? Check out geohot’s proof of concept video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Geohot demos homebrew on ‘jailbroken’ PS3, Sony vows to ‘fix’ via software update (video)

Geohot demos homebrew on ‘jailbroken’ PS3, Sony vows to ‘fix’ via software update (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, that didn’t take long! Just one week after hacking collective (and chr0nic misspellers) fail0verflow revealed a hack that delivered the PS3’s private cryptography key on a platter, another hacker going by the MoNiKeR “KaKaRoToKS” has taken the next step, delivering tools that will convert your plain ol’ vanilla PS3 firmware (yup, even the latest security-minded 3.55 patch) into a fancy new custom firmware. One capable of running signed and encrypted executable .PKG files … not unlike the ones that Sony itself uses to distribute PSN games. But this custom firmware isn’t all about piracy. KaKaRoToKS writes, “Since the kernel is left unmodified, this means that this custom firmware is really meant for future homebrew installation, and it will not allow piracy. I plan on keeping it that way.” We suspect that myriad other, less scrupulous hackers don’t share that sentiment. If you want an “Install Package Files” option the Game section of your XMB, PS3-hacks.com has a guide just for you. Peep a video of a custom firmware installation after the break.

Continue reading PS3 custom firmware lets you ‘Install Package Files,’ piracy not allowed

PS3 custom firmware lets you ‘Install Package Files,’ piracy not allowed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 27th annual Chaos Communication Conference already hacked encrypted GSM calls with a $15 cellphone, but there was a second surprise in store this morn — the souls who unlocked the Nintendo Wii’s homebrew potential (and defended it time and again) claim to have broken into the PlayStation 3 as well. Last we left the black monolith, Sony had won a round, forcing the community to downgrade their firmware for any hope at hacking into the console. Well, the newly formed fail0verflow hacking squad says that won’t be a problem any longer, because they’ve found a way to get the PS3 to reveal its own private cryptography key — the magic password that could let the community sign its very own code.

So far, the team hasn’t provided any proof that the deed’s been done, but they have provided quite an extensive explanation of how they managed the feat: apparently, Sony didn’t bother generating any random numbers to secure the blasted thing. (We don’t really know how it works, but we have it on good authority that dead cryptography professors are rapidly spinning in their graves.) The group intends to generate a proof-of-concept video tomorrow, and release the tools sometime next month, which they claim should eventually enable the installation of Linux on every PS3 ever sold. Catch the whole presentation after the break in video form, or skip to 33:00 for the good stuff.

Update: The proof-of-concept vid is a bit underwhelming — fail0verflow had to SSH into a PS3 over ethernet — but it’s here nonetheless. See it after the break, and find the team’s full set of presentation slides at our more coverage link. [Thanks, Paolo S.]

Continue reading Hackers obtain PS3 private cryptography key due to epic programming fail? (update)

Hackers obtain PS3 private cryptography key due to epic programming fail? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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