Sony can detect PS3 mod chip dongle use

Reports are coming in that Sony can detect use of the PS Jailbreak USB dongle when a console that's using the device is connected to the PlayStation Network.

The PS Jailbreak dongle is claimed to allow PS3 owners to rip games to external hard drives from where the titles can subsequently be loaded and played without the original disc being present.

According to dongle seller OzModChips.com, the add-on "tricks your console into thinking that it is a developer unit", a version of the PS3 that is rather more flexible than the one sold to punters, especially when it comes to using third-party software.

The dongle has its own backup management software and it seems to be this that Sony will be able to detect via PSN, PS3hax.net notes. The fear among PS3 owners - especially those who hope the dongle will let them play games nicked off the internet - is that this will allow Sony to prevent their machines from accessing PSN.

Microsoft has already used such a trick to ban modified Xbox 360 consoles from Xbox Live.

The PS Jailbreak is said to work with the current PS3 firmware, 3.41, on both slim and old-style consoles. OzModChips.com says the dongle's own firmware is "claimed" to be updateable, allowing it to be revised should a future Sony update block the device. ®