Sony wins subpoena for PS3 hacker's PayPal records
Noose slowly tightens around GeoHot
A federal judge in San Francisco has given Sony permission to subpoena the PayPal records of George Hotz, the hacker being sued for jailbreaking the company's PlayStation 3 game console.
Tuesday's order by US Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero said the information subject to Sony's subpoena “shall be provided on an Attorneys' Eyes Only basis” and is limited to information relating to whether Hotz has enough ties to Northern California to be sued in federal court in that district. Hotz, who goes by the hacking moniker GeoHot, is a resident of New Jersey, and has argued that the court lacks the authority to try him.
The ruling comes in a copyright case Sony brought in January against Hotz and 100 other hackers believed to have also devised a way to run unauthorized games and apps on the PS3. Earlier this month, Sony got approval for a subpoena allowing it to obtain the IP addresses of everyone who visited Hotz's personal website for the past 26 months.
At the same time, Sony also received permission to subpoena Twitter, Google and another service for information related to accounts held by the 21-year-old Hotz.
In Tuesday's order, Spero went on to order Hotz to sign a consent form permitting Sony to obtain his Twitter posts from January 2009 to the present and to “appear in California for a deposition relating solely to the question of personal jurisdiction.”
Sony's lawsuit alleges that Hotz violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by posting videos and blog posts showing how to bypass technical measures Sony put into the PS3 so it would run only games and apps permitted by the console maker.
The PayPal subpoena covers “documents sufficient to identify the source of funds in California that went into any PayPal account associated with geohot@gmail.com for the period of January 1, 2009 to February 1, 2011.”
Sony has argued that such information will prove that he has ties to Northern California and therefore can be sued in San Francisco, which is about a half-hour's drive from headquarters for Sony Computer Entertainment America, the division that's suing the hacker. ®
COMMENTS
Well Done Sony - That Cost You A LCD TV and Blu-Ray Player...
I hope someone from Sony's reading this, because their sheer, utter bastardry in this matter actually changed my purchasing decision for a top of the line LCD TV and Blu=Ray player. I WAS going to get a Sony, but have opted for a SAMSUNG instead.
This is the only way large, idiotic companies like Sony learn. They act like prats, people don't buy their stuff. Sure, I'm only a single person and they wouldn't even miss my individual purchase as it probably doesn't even count as a rounding up error; but multiply my decision by, say, a thousand, and you have a six figure loss. Multiply it by more and then, and only (sadly) then, do companies like Sonly "get it".
Paris, because she has more brains than the whole board of executives of Sony.
PS3 Hacker sued by Sony for cracking their software
A federal judge just told Apple that it was not illegal to jailbreak your iphone in order to unlock features or download other apps. Judge said once you purchase the item you can do what ever you want with it, including the software.
Interesting to see how this works out. What is even more troubling is the judge allowing Sony to view his paypal records, twitter accounts, etc.
Forced him to sign a consent form.
As he obviously doesn't give his consent then how the fuck can he be forced to sign a consent form?
That elevates taking the piss to a whole new level.
Sir
So, troll-tard, by your reasoning, if I were to kick someone's head in with my trainers on, then Nike can sue me and obtain all my financial details and personal communications since I was born?
Please delete yourself and raise the average IQ of the site by several points will you?
What the fuck?
So in addition to getting the names and details of everyone that's visited his website, twitter feed, facebook page and heaven knows what else, they're now giving a company a free reign to go through his personal bank accounts?
I've never really cared too much about the whole jailbreaking thing (unless you count the unwarranted removal of OtherOS) but this has convinced me that I've bought my last Sony product, ever.
