PlayStation 3 Hacker George Hotz Donates $10k To EFF, Mocks Sony In Process
If you'll take the time to remember back a few days ago, a lawsuit between Sony and PlayStation 3 hacker George "Geohotz" Hotz ended in an agreement that Hotz would never again tinker with the game console or any other Sony product ever again. During the suit, Hotz had thousands of dollars donated to his name in order to hire legal defense so that he might have a fair shot at defending himself against the army of legal beans Sony had/has working for them. Now that the suit is over, what happens to the $10,000 or so left over? Only Hotz knows for sure.
Before we continue, I suggest you head back to our last post on this subject so you're fully up to date. In a nutshell, Hotz is a head of a team of hackers taking the time to break into the software on the PS3 so that people will be able to do what they wish with the hardware instead of having to rely on Sony-approved disks to play games. Hotz noted on his blog just yesterday on the outcome of the case: "At the end of the day, something I take comfort in. The PS3 got OWNED," Hotz wrote. "'Once the code works they'll never be able to take it away from us.'" He refers to the fact that others besides himself continue to work on cracking the latest firmware.
And what about the money? With the money not used in legal defense of Hotz, Hotz donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "This money goes to the EFF in hopes that America can one day again be a shining example of freedom, free of the DMCA and ACTA, and that private interest will never trump the ideas laid out in the constitution of privacy, ownership, and free speech," wrote Hotz. The EEF is a nonprofit digital rights advocacy and legal organization organization that survives solely on donations from people like you.
Hotz most sour quote from this entire case sticks mud in Sony's eye one last time: "If you piss them off enough for them to pull out the legal team and their million dollar checkbook, worst thing that happens is you have to super swear to never do it again." For those times that groups want MORE than that, there's the EEF. Stay safe, everyone!
[via geohotgotsued]