Geohot And Sony Have Reached A Settlement
After months of various court meetings, the Geohot Vs Sony case has now been settled. We still do not know the outcome, but I think both Sony and Georgy have learnt a lot from each other regarding rights and we have yet to see the changes to Sony's way of treating it's consumers. A joint statement was made regarding the lawsuit which outlines the reasons behind the case.
In the past months, we've seen communities raging like Kratos, as well as Geohot's epic mic' skills and hackers destroying Sony. I think we'll all agree - It's been a pretty wild few months, but I for one am glad to see this ended in a positive way. The joint statement below shows an overview of what went down in that San Francisco court room.
Joint Statement
Sony Computer Entertainment America (“SCEA”) and George Hotz (“Hotz”) today announced the settlement of the lawsuit filed by SCEA against Hotz in federal court in San Francisco, California. The parties reached an agreement in principle on March 31, 2011. As part of the settlement, Hotz consented to a permanent injunction.
Both parties expressed satisfaction that litigation had been quickly resolved. “Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us,” said Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA. “Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal.”
“It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” said Hotz, “I’m happy to have the litigation behind me.” Hotz was not involved in the recent attacks on Sony’s internet services and websites.
In the action, SCEA accused Hotz of violating federal law by posting online information about the security system in the PlayStation 3 videogame console and software that SCEA claimed could be used to circumvent the security system in the console and allow the playing of pirated videogames. Hotz denies any wrongdoing on his part. Hotz’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was still pending before the federal court in San Francisco but a preliminary injunction was issued requiring Hotz to take down the postings challenged by SCEA.
“We want our consumers to be able to enjoy our devices and products in a safe and fun environment and we want to protect the hard work of the talented engineers, artists, musicians and game designers who make PlayStation games and support the PlayStation Network,” added Russell. “We appreciate Mr. Hotz’s willingness to address the legal issues involved in this case and work with us to quickly bring this matter to an early resolution.”
As for Geohot himself, he has nothing to say at this time and the outcome will apparently be made confidential. At least Hotz is safe! Once we know the outcome, we'll keep you posted!