
Sony tries cutting off homebrew exploits, takes down Vita game downloads - shawndumas
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/03/sony-tries-cutting-off-homebrew-exploits-takes-down-vita-game-downloads.ars
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Karunamon

      >It is in Sony's interest's to keep pirated content off of their devices.
    

This isn't about piracy. This is about control and ego.

Look at the DS. Hell, look at the GBA.

Flashcards for every single Nintendo portable system ever released are being
commercially sold, piracy is as easy as downloading a rom and sticking it on
an SD card.. yet they outsell Sony like crazy on hardware and software. Could
it be that, like the MPAA, instead of concentrating on their content, they
prefer to childishly blame their flagging sales on a third party?

SCE continues to validate my decision to boycott them made back after the
Geohot fiasco. If I ever end up with a Vita, it will be used, and running
unofficial software. I refuse to give a single penny to this cavalcade of
assholes.

And I cheer the hackers every single time. For two reasons, because it opens
up closed hardware (which is always a Good Thing), and because some SCE exec
somewhere just got a little bit more annoyed.

~~~
JohnnyFlash
So you don't agree with this decision by Sony? Basically you would be happy if
Sony were complicit in allowing vulnerabilities to exist and be exploited on
their platform.

>> because it opens up closed hardware (which is always a Good Thing)

If you want open hardware buy something that supports it. Don't punish a
commercial company that just wants to do their own thing.

~~~
Karunamon

      >So you don't agree with this decision by Sony?
    

The decision less so as much as the handling of it. Sony is a company that
apparently has no concept of the word "tact". Any entertainment company out
there would patch holes as they're found. Sony does it, Nintendo does it,
Microsoft does it.

Sony acting like complete screeching dicks every time, is the difference. The
Geohot thing was the final straw for me.

    
    
      >Basically you would be happy if Sony were complicit in allowing vulnerabilities to exist and be exploited on their platform.
    

A "vulnerability" on a game platform is a sight different than a vulnerability
on anything else. So in this instance, yes. I'd wish they'd let it alone. What
are the implications? People who are going to pirate and break the DRM anyways
continue to break the DRM, Sony focuses their efforts on improving their
content and software, and nobody else (i.e. the average consumer) is the
wiser? Seems fine to me.

    
    
      >If you want open hardware buy something that supports it.
    

No. I will do what I wish with any hardware I purchase. Until such time as
Sony grows up a little bit, they remain on my "do not buy from, ever, no way"
list.

------
kstenerud
The best approach for the hackers now is to start releasing fake exploit
videos for every single game out there.

Once Sony cuts off enough games, the public outcry will be massive. And if
they don't cut them off, they'll potentially be leaving holes behind.

------
JohnnyFlash
Hasn't Apple been doing this for years? If an App is found to have an exploit
it is taken down. I would assume that these titles would go back into the Vita
store when the issue is patched.

It is in Sony's interest's to keep pirated content off of their devices. If an
exploit can let you run doom, I am sure it could let you run applications
which circumvent copyright protection. I wish Sony the best of luck.

~~~
getsat
I'd be worried if Apple _didn't_ remove apps with known exploits. Those apps
run on a device that could have a list of your contacts, call history, and
other personal data on it. On a handheld gaming system, that stuff doesn't
exist.

~~~
caw
But it runs on a device with an account that potentially has your credit card
linked to it. It has an email address, and like 99% of the population, the
same password as something else associated with that email. Handhelds aren't
like the Gameboys of yesteryear.

~~~
getsat
Huh, interesting. I didn't know it had all that stuff. Thanks for the info.

------
msie
I wish Sony would have a developer program like Apple's for the iOS. That was
successful for Apple. There are some old fogies at Sony preventing it from
succeeding.

~~~
edandersen
They are working on it - Playstation Suite with have Vita support soon
apparently. <http://www.playstation.com/pss/developer/>

