Sony Computer Entertainment America v. George Hotz
Encyclopedia
SCEA v. Hotz is a lawsuit in the United States
by Sony Computer Entertainment of America against George Hotz
and associates of the group fail0verflow for jailbreaking and reverse engineering
the Playstation 3
.
, computer fraud, and copyright infringement. The law firm used by Sony is Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
LLP. In response to the suit, Carnegie Mellon University
professor David S. Touretzky
mirrored Hotz's writings and issued a statement supporting that Hotz's publication is within his right to free speech.
On January 27, 2011, Sony's request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted by the US District Court for the Northern District of California. This forbade him from distributing the jailbreak, helping or encouraging others to jailbreak, and distributing information they've learned during the creation of the jailbreak. It also ordered him to turn over computers and storage media used in the creation of the jailbreak to Sony's lawyers. Professor Touretzky's mirror was voluntarily censored following issue of the TRO, but Hotz's writings and software have been mirrored elsewhere.
On February 12, 2011, Hotz posted a rap video on his official YouTube
page explaining his Sony
lawsuit.
On February 19, 2011, Hotz started a blog about the Sony
lawsuit.
On March 6, 2011, the court issued an approval that Sony's lawyers were allowed access to all the IP addresses of all the people who visited geohot's blog for the purposes of establishing jurisdiction. Sony said the server logs would demonstrate that many of those who downloaded Hotz’s hack reside in Northern California — thus making San Francisco a proper venue for the case.
On April 11, 2011, it was revealed that Hotz and Sony had reached a settlement out of court. This included a permanent injunction against Hotz doing any more hacking work on any Sony products. to prevent any future firmwares from being decrypted.
The claims (filed in United States district court
for Northern California, San Francisco):
announced their intent to attack Sony websites in response to Sony's lawsuit and, specifically due to Sony's gaining access to the IP addresses of all the people who visited geohot's blog, terming it an 'offensive against free speech and internet freedom'. The attack would be a form of Hacktivism
. Although Anonymous admitted responsibility to subsequent attacks on the Sony websites, much speculation has arisen concerning a sustained collapse of the Playstation Network in April. Anonymous has denied any involvement in the PlayStation Network outage
. However, Sony announced on May 4, 2011, "We discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of our Sony Online Entertainment servers named “Anonymous” with the words “We are Legion.”.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Sony Computer Entertainment of America against George Hotz
George Hotz
George Francis Hotz , alias geohot, million75 or simply mil, is an American hacker known for unlocking the iPhone, allowing the phone to be used with other wireless carriers, contrary to AT&T and Apple's intent...
and associates of the group fail0verflow for jailbreaking and reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
the Playstation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
Timeline
On January 11, 2011, Sony sued Hotz, Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter and Does 1 through 100, purportedly including members of fail0verflow on 8 claims, including violation of the DMCADigital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
, computer fraud, and copyright infringement. The law firm used by Sony is Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is an international law firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm has eighteen offices, including U.S. offices in Georgia, California, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Washington State, and the District of Columbia, and international offices in Dubai,...
LLP. In response to the suit, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
professor David S. Touretzky
David S. Touretzky
David S. Touretzky is a research professor in the Computer Science Department and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University. He received a BA in Computer Science at Rutgers University in 1978, and earned a Master's degree and a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Carnegie...
mirrored Hotz's writings and issued a statement supporting that Hotz's publication is within his right to free speech.
On January 27, 2011, Sony's request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted by the US District Court for the Northern District of California. This forbade him from distributing the jailbreak, helping or encouraging others to jailbreak, and distributing information they've learned during the creation of the jailbreak. It also ordered him to turn over computers and storage media used in the creation of the jailbreak to Sony's lawyers. Professor Touretzky's mirror was voluntarily censored following issue of the TRO, but Hotz's writings and software have been mirrored elsewhere.
On February 12, 2011, Hotz posted a rap video on his official YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
page explaining his Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
lawsuit.
On February 19, 2011, Hotz started a blog about the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
lawsuit.
On March 6, 2011, the court issued an approval that Sony's lawyers were allowed access to all the IP addresses of all the people who visited geohot's blog for the purposes of establishing jurisdiction. Sony said the server logs would demonstrate that many of those who downloaded Hotz’s hack reside in Northern California — thus making San Francisco a proper venue for the case.
On April 11, 2011, it was revealed that Hotz and Sony had reached a settlement out of court. This included a permanent injunction against Hotz doing any more hacking work on any Sony products. to prevent any future firmwares from being decrypted.
The claims (filed in United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
for Northern California, San Francisco):
- Violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
- Violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse ActComputer Fraud and Abuse ActThe Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 1986, intended to reduce cracking of computer systems and to address federal computer-related offenses...
- Contributory copyright infringement
- Violating California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud ActCalifornia Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud ActThe California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act is in §502 of the California Penal Code.According to the State Administrative Manual of California, the purposes is as follows:...
(§ 502) - Breach of ContractBreach of contractBreach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....
(related to the PlayStation Network User AgreementTerms of serviceTerms of service are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Unless in violation of consumer protection laws, such terms are usually legally binding...
) - Tortious interferenceTortious interferenceTortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, in the common law of tort, occurs when a person intentionally damages the plaintiff's contractual or other business relationships...
- MisappropriationMisappropriationIn law, misappropriation is the intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of a dead person's estate or by any person with a responsibility...
- TrespassTrespassTrespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...
Alleged Anonymous attacks in response to lawsuit
The activist group AnonymousAnonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
announced their intent to attack Sony websites in response to Sony's lawsuit and, specifically due to Sony's gaining access to the IP addresses of all the people who visited geohot's blog, terming it an 'offensive against free speech and internet freedom'. The attack would be a form of Hacktivism
Hacktivism
Hacktivism is the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends. The term was first coined in 1994 by a member of the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective named Omega...
. Although Anonymous admitted responsibility to subsequent attacks on the Sony websites, much speculation has arisen concerning a sustained collapse of the Playstation Network in April. Anonymous has denied any involvement in the PlayStation Network outage
PlayStation Network outage
The PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were stolen and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from playing online...
. However, Sony announced on May 4, 2011, "We discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of our Sony Online Entertainment servers named “Anonymous” with the words “We are Legion.”.
See also
- Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
- George HotzGeorge HotzGeorge Francis Hotz , alias geohot, million75 or simply mil, is an American hacker known for unlocking the iPhone, allowing the phone to be used with other wireless carriers, contrary to AT&T and Apple's intent...
- GroklawGroklawGroklaw is an award-winning website covering legal news of interest to the free and open source software community. Started as a law blog on May 16, 2003 by paralegal Pamela Jones at Radio UserLand, it has covered issues such as the SCO-Linux lawsuits, the EU anti-trust case against Microsoft, and...
- Illegal numberIllegal numberAn illegal number is a number that represents information which is illegal to possess, utter or propagate. Any information that can be represented in binary format is representable as a number, and therefore if the information itself is illegal in some way, the pure number itself may be...
- Strategic lawsuit against public participationStrategic lawsuit against public participationA strategic lawsuit against public participation is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition....
- Forum shoppingForum shoppingForum shopping is the informal name given to the practice adopted by some litigants to get their legal case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a favorable judgment...
External links
- http://ia700401.us.archive.org/35/items/gov.uscourts.cand.235965/gov.uscourts.cand.235965.docket.html
- http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=SonyHotz