Sony says it CAN disable jailbroken PS3's

[ToyfareMark]

www.1up.com/news/report-sony-capable-disabling-jailbroken

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In the wake of the PlayStation 3's software security measures being broken wide open, supposedly irreversibly, the question has been exactly what Sony will (or can) do in response. Evidently one option at its disposal: completely disabling any jailbroken PS3s remotely.

As Digital Foundry reports, when any PS3 is booted up, it communicates with a string of Sony servers even if you don't have a PlayStation Network account. This is what allows the console to upload error logs when need-be, or to update the "What's New" module, or -- the key point here -- to "almost certainly" send Sony a log of recently run applications on your console. This could allow Sony to detect when a console is running illegitimate software, and Digital Foundry reports that "the company even has the means to irrevocably disable your console should it so wish, and if that happens, it will remain non-functional whether you're online or offline."

Of course, that's a hell of an extreme measure, and one not likely to happen any time soon -- as the report also goes on to explain, Sony has been wary of even issuing PlayStation Network bans so far, instead addressing security concerns with new patches. The problem is the latest PS3 security compromise is unlike any the console has faced before -- hackers insist it can't be fixed with a patch (and Digital Foundry reports that the nature of the PS3's security being dismantled so thoroughly means hackers could simply get around any new patches designed to block jailbroken PS3s anyway).

So will Sony eventually resort to more drastic measures, doing full PSN account bans and possibly even disabling jailbroken consoles? It's hard to say, because right now neither option seems ideal: disabling consoles without necessarily having concrete proof of misbehavior could mean risking consumer backlash (especially if some innocent consoles are accidentally disabled in the process), but doing nothing will almost certainly lead to more widespread piracy.

For now, Sony has only officially said it's aware of the security compromises and will take measure to fix them "through network updates."

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Well this should certainly inspire healthy debate. Better look over that EULA for PSN ASAP! lol

[Deleted]

So what exactly does a jail broken PS3 do anyway?

[sryans]

Well I am assuming it changes its identity and moves into a friend in another state's basement for a little while.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

My PS3 doesn't play games anymore. It loads them up fine, you start to go and as soon as the gaming starts, it shuts her down. Everytime. Can't get past the main screen on all games.

How about they fix that?

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Jan 11, 2011 18:55:20 GMT -5 @slickrickstyles said:

So what exactly does a jail broken PS3 do anyway?

Means people can pirate games and other bad things.

[default]

Jan 11, 2011 18:55:20 GMT -5 @slickrickstyles said:

So what exactly does a jail broken PS3 do anyway?

Well, the one I saw was a Crash Commando unit that was sent to prison by a military court for a crime it didn't commit. It promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the L.A. Noire underground. Today, still Wanted by the Weapons of Fate, it survives as a soldier of Drake's Fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find it, maybe you can hire... The Jail Broken PS3.

[Michael Coello]

Honestly, with hacking and jail breaking stuff, does anyone just buy games anymore?

Well, I can't jailbreak a muffin, and I'm not looking to learn, so I'm in no risk to do something illegal.

[AFN: Judge Shred]

Jan 11, 2011 19:17:49 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

My PS3 doesn't play games anymore. It loads them up fine, you start to go and as soon as the gaming starts, it shuts her down. Everytime. Can't get past the main screen on all games.

How about they fix that?

And they will, if you ship it off to them, and if you are in warranty it will be for free.

[Jay Peas 42]

Here's the economics. The primary consumer of games are the 25 and under crowd. For that demographic, the scarcest resource, after sex, is money. For everyone over 25, it is time. So, since an under 25 year old has plenty of time, but no money, they are willing to go through silly tricks to get free stuff, whereas everyone over 25, could just buy it, but doesn’t have the time to enjoy it. Thus, there is an incentive to steal for the primary consumer. I mean, hacking and jail breaking seems like more trouble then its worth to me, but then again, my time is more valuable than it was ten years ago.

[CM Dazz]

I spent $300 on my PS3. The LAST thing I want to do (besides breaking it into a bunch of pieces) is open it up and start f***ing with it. This has no effect on me at all.

[N E O G E O B O Y S]

I always thought than in North America Piracy was something very small, while in latin america, europe and china was very big

At least in the USA there is some kind of ''videogames culture''

Even though prices there are better than the rest of the world

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Jan 11, 2011 22:04:41 GMT -5 N E O G E O B O Y S said:

I always thought than in North America Piracy was something very small, while in latin america, europe and china was very big

At least in the USA there is some kind of ''videogames culture''

Even though prices there are better than the rest of the world

Nope, piracy is pretty high in the good ole U S of A.

[thwak is T.hawk]

This is all damage control.

The way the PS3 is jail broken they can't do a damn thing.

[76flyingeagles]

Yup and if people are desperate enough they will learn a way around Sony system of stopping it.

Like everything nothing is "Chipped", "Jailbreak" proof completely in my opinion.

[thwak is T.hawk]

Jan 11, 2011 22:40:05 GMT -5 @76flyingeagles said:

Yup and if people are desperate enough they will learn a way around Sony system of stopping it.

Like everything nothing is "Chipped", "Jailbreak" proof completely in my opinion.

The Xbox 360 is actually pretty good about stopping hackers.

Mainly because it physically changes it's hardware when they issue new updates to it. That's why you need a mod chip to pirate on the damn thing.

[AFN: Judge Shred]

Jan 11, 2011 22:44:14 GMT -5 thwak is T.hawk said:

Jan 11, 2011 22:40:05 GMT -5 @76flyingeagles said:

Yup and if people are desperate enough they will learn a way around Sony system of stopping it.

Like everything nothing is "Chipped", "Jailbreak" proof completely in my opinion.

The Xbox 360 is actually pretty good about stopping hackers.

Mainly because it physically changes it's hardware when they issue new updates to it. That's why you need a mod chip to pirate on the damn thing.

Which Sony will likely do, but it took what, 4 years? To break the ps3, 360 was broken before the damned thing came out it seemed like.

And yeah, US piracy is huge, it it worst on PC, DS, and PSP. Though Wii is catching up.

[thwak is T.hawk]

Jan 11, 2011 23:08:15 GMT -5 AFN: Judge Shred said:

Jan 11, 2011 22:44:14 GMT -5 thwak is T.hawk said:

The Xbox 360 is actually pretty good about stopping hackers.

Mainly because it physically changes it's hardware when they issue new updates to it. That's why you need a mod chip to pirate on the damn thing.

Which Sony will likely do, but it took what, 4 years? To break the ps3, 360 was broken before the damned thing came out it seemed like.

No, the ps3 won't change it.

The reason the ps3 took so long to hack is because they put in the "other os" feature which allowed you to run linux on it. Because all hackers want to do is run linux on everything the ps3 didn't get hacked.

Once sony removed it from ps3's, this pissed off the hacker community who promptly went to work breaking down the ps3 security system.

Now the ps3 can be hacked with out even opening the thing up (hell to pirate games all you needed was a usb key before this). And now hackers can do all kinds of weird crap with linux on their PS3s.

But back to why you need a modchip on the xbox 360 in order to pirate games or hack the console. The xbox 360 Uses eFuses as a security feature.

What are eFuses you may ask, well thankfully someone has written a detailed article on what they do. Basically they allow microsoft to stop the device from being downgraded, and this stops most hackers from tinkering with the damn thing (unless you have a mod chip which is a work around, but that's another story).

So as far as I know (and I could be wrong) the cpus in the ps3 don't actually have any eFuses, so hackers can mess with the damn thing as much as they want.

[Joe Neglia]

I'm not a gamer, but I don't see how some of this would be legal on Sony's part. You bought the console, you own it. You can do whatever you want with it after that (that's legal on your side, of course). The way I'm reading it, it's akin to finding the guy that stole your car, and burning his house down for doing it. At MOST, they can legally do something to not allow it to interact with their own system online, but to actually sabotage it beyond that is something I don't think their lawyers have fully considered.

[The Tank]

Jan 12, 2011 1:32:21 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

I'm not a gamer, but I don't see how some of this would be legal on Sony's part. You bought the console, you own it. You can do whatever you want with it after that (that's legal on your side, of course). The way I'm reading it, it's akin to finding the guy that stole your car, and burning his house down for doing it. At MOST, they can legally do something to not allow it to interact with their own system online, but to actually sabotage it beyond that is something I don't think their lawyers have fully considered.

That's pretty much exactly right.

What would be "better" (for lack of a more fitting term) would be cutting that PS3 off from the PlayStation Network. Not shutting down the entire console completely and permanently.

[AFN: Judge Shred]

Jan 12, 2011 1:32:21 GMT -5 Joe Neglia said:

I'm not a gamer, but I don't see how some of this would be legal on Sony's part. You bought the console, you own it. You can do whatever you want with it after that (that's legal on your side, of course). The way I'm reading it, it's akin to finding the guy that stole your car, and burning his house down for doing it. At MOST, they can legally do something to not allow it to interact with their own system online, but to actually sabotage it beyond that is something I don't think their lawyers have fully considered.

If it goes against the End User License Agreement (EULA), where it basically states your are leasing the product to be used within Sony's parameters, they sure as hell can disable you. However EULA's haven't been all that tested in court, so it might not hold up. But Sony can damn well do that if they want to until some one calls them on it.