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  • Geohot in Legal Hot Water - Seeking Donations to Fund His Fight

    As we all know, George Hotz (geohot) is facing a serious uphill legal battle against the mega electronics company known as the Sony Corporation. Up until this point, he has been fending for himself and not asking for any help from the public. However, today he has made a public plea to gamers around the world and anyone that supports his cause. He is asking for whatever the public can spare to donate, in an effort to help with his legal costs. Geohot states that he doesn't want to lose this precedent setting case, due to lack of sufficient legal counsel. If you'd like to help his cause, he has set up a new blog and donation buttons at the links below.

    If you can't afford to donate, then help spread the word by re-tweeting this, via twitter or with our buttons above.


    Donate Link: Geohot.com
    Geohot's New Blog: GeohotGotSued.Blogspot.com

    Media, I need your help. This is the first time I have ever asked. Please, if you support this cause, help me out and spread the word.
    I want, by the time this goes to trial, to have Sony facing some of the hardest hitting lawyers in the business.
    Together, we can help fix the system

    Donations here are for legal defense ONLY
    I checked with my lawyers before setting this up
    If you have another substantial way to donate aside from money, let me know

    tl;dr
    Sony is lame, and is suing me for hacking MY OWN PS3. Help me own them in court

    Sony are bullies
    Sony doesn't care if what you did was legal, if they don't like it, they sue. Sony tried to sue a guy for getting his AIBO to do non Sony approved tricks, making it apparent that they don't really care about piracy, they care about control. In (Sony v Bleem), Bleem was the winner on all counts, but the high cost of a legal defense shut them down. Fortunately, that suit helped set precedent on the legality of emulators. I would hate to lose this case due to resource starvation, and with the support of the masses, I won't. Lets turn the bully back on itself. This case has the ability to set a huge precedent for consoles and all closed systems to come. The other two should be begging Sony to back off.

    Sony sued the wrong guy
    I am an advocate against mass piracy, do not distribute anyone's copyrighted work but my own, do not take crap lying down, and am even pro DRM in a sense. For example, I believe Apple has every right to lock down their iPhone in the factory as much as they want, but once it's paid for and mine, I have the right to unlock it, smash it, jailbreak it, look at it, and hack on it. Fortunately, the courts agree with me on this point.
    My PS3 goal has been to provide users a legitimate path to homebrew, which by the standards of all previous cases (or, in reverse), is 100% legal. Sony does not even try to allege piracy or copyright infringement in this case, they allege I did things like play "super mario world, an unauthorized game" on MY PS3. And access MY PS3 in an unauthorized way. Who are they to authorize what I do with my taxed and paid for property?
    fail0verflow's goal was even nobler than mine. They wanted to give you back a feature Sony illegally stole, Linux on your PS3. It's shameful on Sony's part that they are being sued at all. If you have a problem with pirates, sue them, don't sue people who point out your shortcomings.

    Why should I care about your personal legal troubles?
    You shouldn't. For example, if I was taken to court for sex crimes in Sweden, I would never ask for donations. But this case isn't about me. Clearly I am not being sued because of something I have that Sony wants, I am being sued in order to send a message that Sony is not to be messed with. But if I(and all codefendants likewise) actually win this, we have the power to send a much stronger message back. That consumers have rights, and we aren't afraid to stand up for them.

    Why should I trust you? I just saw you trying to rap battle Sony
    My attempts at humor aside, I do take this whole matter very seriously. Again, it's not about me, I was on the verge of quitting this stuff last June, and I would hate to be the one who sets a reputation for hackers that all a company has to do is sue us and we back down. In fact, I want the opposite reputation set, that the more a company tries to abuse the legal system, the harder we rally back. I will be the first person in line on the launch date of the Xperia Play, and itching to get my hands on the Next GEOHOT Project.

    Why did you wait until now to set this up?
    I didn't want to be trigger happy, and thought the suit might go away quickly. Also, I had to consult with my lawyers about how to do this. It's been over a month, and it looks like this is going to be a drawn out case. I am in this for the long haul. I am very serious ethically when I take donations, for all iPhone work I only accepted after the fact, here after the fact is too late. Now I am pot committed so to say.

    How much should I donate?
    Put it this way, Sony has 5 lawyers, I have 2. I'd like to level the playing field, and really get some hard hitters in there. I have already racked up over 10k in legal bills; donate whatever you feel like. Leftover donations at the end of all this will be donated to the EFF.

    What if I want to donate more than I feel comfortable sending through PayPal?
    I'm excited! Email me, we'll figure it out.

    Why doesn't the EFF fund this?
    Ask them. They have offered to provide some legal help though, which is much appreciated.

    Donate to help you, you're the reason I can't play Modern Warfare now…
    No, I'm not. Kakaroto explains this really well here. I have never played PS3 online ever. Frankly I'm amazed by the apparent ease with which these cheats were created, security 101, why is the security in the client anyway? I had no idea this would happen, and am in full support of the cheaters being permabanned from PSN.

    I'm a poor college student, what can I do to help?
    I feel you, don't worry. Spread the word. Let people know how you feel about what Sony is doing. Let Sony know how you feel about what Sony is doing.

    What if SCEA tries to settle?
    Lets just say, I want the settlement terms to include OtherOS on all PS3s and an apology on the PlayStation blog for ever removing it. It'd be good PR for Sony too, lord knows they could use it. I'm also willing to accept a trade, a legit path to homebrew for knowledge of how to stop new firmwares from being decrypted.

    Why isn't SCEA trying to settle?
    RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE...THEY POINTED OUT OUR SECURITY FLAWS...IM SO MADDDDDDDD...WAHHHHHH
    Source: PSX-Scene.com
    Comments 90 Comments
    1. Hkas's Avatar
      Hkas -
      will do my part when i can but 1st
    1. gsharpshooter80's Avatar
      gsharpshooter80 -
      Hmmm you know I wish I didn't buy the ps3 my money would have went to Geohot instead of Sony for this but now I'm thinking why not copy all my ps3 games then sell my games to Sony fansuckers so that they technically support Geohot loool !!
    1. A-Dude-PSG's Avatar
      A-Dude-PSG -
      @gsharpshooter80 great idea!!!

      i will do a donte too. geohot did great work for us all.
    1. CryonicCore's Avatar
      CryonicCore -
      Quote Originally Posted by gsharpshooter80 View Post
      Hmmm you know I wish I didn't buy the ps3 my money would have went to Geohot instead of Sony for this but now I'm thinking why not copy all my ps3 games then sell my games to Sony fansuckers so that they technically support Geohot loool !!
      LMFAO sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll do the same f.u.k $ony!! Anybody who cares should support GEO for the work he has put into this and for stepping up to the plate and fight for our god given freedom! $ony has not won and even if they do it will not stop the PS3 from being jailbroken and tools being made to support that so in my eyes $ony has LOST.
    1. ch13696's Avatar
      ch13696 -
      I did what I could. Posted it on Facebook and Twitter. Can't post it on any gaming site because those retards believe that Geohot is the one that allowed the Call of Duty hackers.
    1. hemmer's Avatar
      hemmer -
      donated you deserve the help stand up and fight the man!
    1. daboijordan's Avatar
    1. medalcue's Avatar
      medalcue -
      I thought Geohot was getting a job with Google or something. Whatever happened with that?
    1. Davinat's Avatar
      Davinat -
      i think im gonna donate, i want geohot to win against this sony bully
    1. One2thr456svn's Avatar
      One2thr456svn -
      I made my donation, and I hope he kicks there azz, everyone who is using the geohot CFW should Donate to this cause, as his stated this is not just about him, he is trying to set a new standard for consumers... copy it your twitter and facebook pages (maybe even myspace if you still use) but get the word out, But hell if everyone who is using CFW just gave 25.00 he could get a lawyer as good as the one who got O.J off or maybe even made the whole R Kelly tape of him peeing on a 15 years girl just go away....

      Good Luck Geo
    1. NEO117-PSG's Avatar
      NEO117-PSG -
      I dislike geohot, I really do. I think he's an egotistical, self-centered asshole, who not only tried to hide information related to the scene, but also tried to take control of it. Instead of releasing the whole thing to the public, he just went on and released unfinished information, making impossible for people to really take advantage of the EPIC FAIL. "I'll keep the NPDRM to avoid piracy derp derp" well thanks to that, the new firm 3.56 came out and screwed over many (not me included, thanks) and now REAL hackers had to reverse-engineer Sony's firmware, plus geohot's stuff. But, as much I don't like to say it.... he's fighting for the right cause. And even if I believe he's doing this for recognition more than actually caring about the scene, he's right in everything he's saying and I will donate to the cause. For the time being and just for the time being, I stand behind Geohot. May he win this bullshit lawsuit.
    1. LSTR's Avatar
      LSTR -
      donated good luck GEOHOT
    1. unlimited497's Avatar
      unlimited497 -
      I donated, I hope he win.
    1. phoenixtamarisk's Avatar
      phoenixtamarisk -
      I donated and i don't own a PS3. I hope you win GEOHOT.
    1. cmptrblder-PSG's Avatar
      cmptrblder-PSG -
      Geohot as well as MANY other DEV's really do deserve our thanks and occasionally our help when truly needed. These guys (and gals) bring to light security issues, holes and problems that the big companies get careless about and ignore when it comes to our private info, cc info and security. There are many people out there that blame the DEV's and hackers for the problems but the problem is the companies like Sony, who have ignored the security issues with there products with no regard to customer security and information safety. Everyone of us deserve to feel confident that the products we buy are safe, secure and as a paying customer not have things taken from us AFTER we pay for them. I personally do NOT agree with piracy but I agree 100% with homebrew as this adds functionality and features to a product that we paid for and leads to future innovation. A perfect example is the original apple tv, apples "hobby" with lackluster features modded to a fully functional mediacenter. This is MY personal 2 cents and as an added thank you for all the hard work these guys do, I'm going to donate $69.99 (the cost of a Sony game) to Geohot. I know its not much but it's what I can give.........CMPTRBLDER
    1. edmunddantes2-PSG's Avatar
      edmunddantes2-PSG -
      donating 22 USD for GEOHOT, I know it maybe not that much but when you all put it together it will be a great help.

      God Bless GEOs Fight!

      Proud to be Pinoy! Donair and Pacman Rules!
    1. SPOOKMAN-PSG's Avatar
      SPOOKMAN-PSG -
      I hope you win GEOHOT:o
    1. One2thr456svn's Avatar
      One2thr456svn -
      Quote Originally Posted by cmptrblder View Post
      I'm going to donate $69.99 (the cost of a Sony game) to Geohot. I know its not much but it's what I can give.........CMPTRBLDER
      I like that, the price of a $ony game,......"PRICELESS"
    1. CryonicCore's Avatar
      CryonicCore -
      @CMPTRBLDER, I strongly aggree.

      To ALL,

      It gives me a warm feeling that people is contributing to a good cause. Deffinatly need to draw a line in the sand and say "hey $ony! If u cross this line then we will make sure u regret it." $1,$2 or even $3 dollars will help. Anything u can spare will give Geohot a fighting chance to success and to plant a page in history for the individuals that stood for our rights and took down a money hungry conglomerate! When I get paid which will be soon I will contribute as much as half of my cheque if not more to this cause. GO GEOHOT!!
    1. Das_Wort's Avatar
      Das_Wort -
      I won't even donate 1 Euro because I really think that it is Geohots own fault he got in that situation.

      He really is something like the Julian Assange of hackers who really cares more for being in the press than hacking.
      You don't believe me? Well, there are two examples, first his iPhone bootrom hack limera1n. He released that hack when the release of another hack from Dev-Team called SHAtter was almost ready for release without telling anyone before. Dev-Team tried to preserve their hack after that for later but it got leaked to Apple by now so this one is lost forever.

      For the recent PS3 hacks, the real work was done by Team fail0verflow, they found out about the error Sony made with the public key encryption and made it public end of December.
      It was trivial after that getting the key and Geohot was careless (and in my opinion stupid enough) to put it on his website and making fun of Sony.

      I also don't like Sonys behavior and would prefer them losing but I also wouldn't mind seeing Geohot getting his ass kicked, at least I won't support him with my money for his stupidness, he brought himself in that situation and should try to get out himself.