PS3 Hacker George Hotz Flees To South America

Filed under: Industry News

George Hotz who is accused by Sony of hacking the PS3 has reportedly fled the country to South America to evade prosecution and acquisition of his hard drives.

Hotz is said to have overridden Sony’s software and re-enabled the ability for PS3 owners to dual boot their devices with operating systems such as linux.

Previously he tried to have his case heard in New Jersey but Sony wanted it held in California which would be more favorable to the company. Now to evade prosecution it seems he has taken off to South America.

Isn’t this a little harsh?

On the one hand Sony has the duty to defend their property whether it is the hardware or software but on the other hand if all the guy did was allow additional functionality to a device people bought is it right to treat him like a terrorist?

Personally I have never owned an XBox or PS3 or any dedicated gaming device. I just could never justify dumping that much money into a box that only plays games and takes time away from my work on my computer… yea says the guy who is on twitter and IRC 24/7…

On the other hand if some kids or young adults that are into gaming want to install linux and maybe learn a bit about what makes a computer work rather then shoot flying monkeys all day … maybe that is not a bad idea.. after all who knows mom and dad may not have got the kid a real computer just the game box to baby sit them all day.

Well it’s not my battle to fight and if the guy was causing harm to Sony they need to defend their rights even with an individual or it could lead to a professional company breaking their patents…

Hopefully Sony will see their way to giving the guy a consent decree where he won’t be fully prosecuted if he agrees and never does it again… its not like the guy is Steve Jobs or something.. he is a guy living in his parents basement probably.

Usually these hacks not hacks PATCHES are released for free.. if the guy and his friends didn’t make money maybe Sony should just hire the guys and let them improve their systems.

Just seems sad… but then again i’m not a gamer.