

PlayStation 3 Hacker Must Allow Sony to Inspect His Hard Drive - ssclafani
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/playstation3-hacker-files/

======
shii
Streisand effect[1] for the win.

Top comments on both this wired article and other linked ones has the code[2].

This judge is sorely out of touch with what's going on.

Also, _"Sony is also asking Judge Illston to order Google to surrender the IP
addresses [.pdf] and other identifying information of those who have viewed or
commented about the jailbreak video on Hotz’ private YouTube page. The game
maker is also demanding that Twitter provide the identities of a host of
hackers who first unveiled a limited version of the hack in December."_
...take from that what you will.

Searching[3] for the strings in question[4] yields 11k+ results.

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect>

[2]:
[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/playstation3-hacker...](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/playstation3-hacker-
files/#comment-144418485)

[3]:
[http://www.google.com/search?&q=erk:+C0+CE+FE+84+C2+27+F...](http://www.google.com/search?&q=erk:+C0+CE+FE+84+C2+27+F7+5B+D0+7A+7E+B8+46+50+9F+93+B2+38+E7+70+DA+CB+9F+F4+A3+88+F8+12+48+2B+E2+1Briv:+47+EE+74+54+E4+77+4C+C9+B8+96+0C+7B+59+F4+C1+4Dpub:+C2+D4+AA+F3+19+35+50+19+AF+99+D4+4E+2B+58+CA+29+25+2C+89+12+3D+11+D6+21+8F+40+B1+38+CA+B2+9B+71+01+F3+AE+B7+2A+97+50+19R:+80+6E+07+8F+A1+52+97+90+CE+1A+AE+02+BA+DD+6F+AA+A6+AF+74+17n:+E1+3A+7E+BC+3A+CC+EB+1C+B5+6C+C8+60+FC+AB+DB+6A+04+8C+55+E1K:+BA+90+55+91+68+61+B9+77+ED+CB+ED+92+00+50+92+F6+6C+7A+3D+8DDa:+C5+B2+BF+A1+A4+13+DD+16+F2+6D+31+C0+F2+ED+47+20+DC+FB+06+70)

[4]:

erk: C0 CE FE 84 C2 27 F7 5B D0 7A 7E B8 46 50 9F 93 B2 38 E7 70 DA CB 9F F4
A3 88 F8 12 48 2B E2 1B

riv: 47 EE 74 54 E4 77 4C C9 B8 96 0C 7B 59 F4 C1 4D

pub: C2 D4 AA F3 19 35 50 19 AF 99 D4 4E 2B 58 CA 29 25 2C 89 12 3D 11 D6 21
8F 40 B1 38 CA B2 9B 71 01 F3 AE B7 2A 97 50 19

R: 80 6E 07 8F A1 52 97 90 CE 1A AE 02 BA DD 6F AA A6 AF 74 17

n: E1 3A 7E BC 3A CC EB 1C B5 6C C8 60 FC AB DB 6A 04 8C 55 E1

K: BA 90 55 91 68 61 B9 77 ED CB ED 92 00 50 92 F6 6C 7A 3D 8D

Da: C5 B2 BF A1 A4 13 DD 16 F2 6D 31 C0 F2 ED 47 20 DC FB 06 70

~~~
sp332
Even Kevin Butler, VP at PlayStation, retweeted the PS3 dongle key:
<http://twitpic.com/3xwe6h>

Edit: OK, he's not really a VP. He's a character played by Jerry Lambert. The
advertising company Deutsch/LA controls his Twitter feed. And check out the
titles he gives himself in their ads:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgwNyb80L0s&playnext=1...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgwNyb80L0s&playnext=1&list=PLA42396DF11854E22)

~~~
ptomato
Fake VP, I should note. He's an advertising construct.

------
tptacek
This is discovery for a trial, right? What's newsworthy about this? You don't
have a right to be free from search and seizure _period_ , only to be free
from _unreasonable_ search and seizure, which is to say: (1) demands to
compromise your privacy and security have to be mitigate by due process, and
(2) Congress can't in the long run be allowed to enact laws that unduly
compromise that due process.

It isn't the DMCA _per se_ that's allowing Sony to search the guy's drive, is
it? It's civil law procedure. Companies routinely have to fork over years and
years worth of mail spools for similar reasons.

~~~
voxmatt
This was exactly what I dove into the comments to say. You're 100% correct;
this is routine discovery.

Look, do I like the merits of Sony's arguments? Absolutely not. Do I hope this
kid wins? Yes. But there's nothing that nuts going on so far; save your anger
for the verdict.

As an aside, who ever is advising Sony is an idiot. The bad publicity this is
getting Sony has already far outweighed the value of any verdict they get (in
both monetary and deterrent value), and anyone could have seen that before
they even filed the lawsuit.

~~~
jrockway
_As an aside, who ever is advising Sony is an idiot. The bad publicity this is
getting Sony has already far outweighed the value of any verdict they get (in
both monetary and deterrent value), and anyone could have seen that before
they even filed the lawsuit._

Not sure I agree. Who is not buying a PS3 because of this? Who has stopped
buying games? Nearly nobody, and the lawyers are on salary anyway.

The risk that Sony takes by allowing "hacking" to happen is that nobody will
write software for their platform, and then the platform dies. Content-
creating megacorps want uber-strict DRM, or they take their ball and go home
(or to Microsoft). It's stupid of them, but Sony doesn't want to go to a
meeting with a content house and say, "anyone can pirate your stuff if they
want to".

Hence all the DRM schemes that don't work. They are not to prevent you from
copying things, they are so Sony (or Amazon, or Hulu, or...) can tell the
content creators "oh yeah, your shit will be secure". It's not, but they made
the bean counters happy.

So really, this seems like the right action for a psychopathic corporation to
take. Maximize BS and maximize profits.

It's a shame someone with a clue is caught in the middle.

~~~
Natsu
> Not sure I agree. Who is not buying a PS3 because of this? Who has stopped
> buying games?

I've boycotted Sony since the rootkit. I guess I might be "nearly nobody" but
I have put Sony products back on the shelf several times in the past few
years.

~~~
dereg
With almost 50 million units sold, I can assure you that the consumers that a
fraction of a fraction of those consumers know what a "rootkit" is. The costs
of the lawsuit are likely much greater than the opportunity cost in lost sales
due to bad publicity, so they are well aware of the costs involved. I don't
agree with their stance regarding this issue, but you can't blame them for
wanting to protect their platform.

------
kleiba
Ah kids, gather here by the fire with me, and let me tell you a story of the
olden times when you bought a car and could do whatever the hell you wanted
with it. Because when you bought the car, you made it your property. You could
modify it in whatever way you want. Sure, there were rules if you wanted to
take it our for a ride, because others could get hurt. But if you were doing
it just for the fun at home, no-one could stop you. You could even go over to
your neighbor's house and help him change his car, too. Those were the times.

~~~
jonhohle
Not only that, but you could run a business where all you did was modify cars
for other people!

------
gisenberg
> The judge also backed off on an order that Hotz “retrieve” the code from
> anybody who he may have forwarded it to.

Good to see the judge is knowledgeable in this area! I'm sure this will end
well.

~~~
tptacek
If, by "end well", you mean "the judge readily conceded that there was no
practical way for this to happen and apologized for the ill-thought-out
demand", then know (by reading just a few sentences further) that this already
happened.

~~~
jerf
It's a little disturbing the order was ever made, though, because the fact
that information can't be retrieved isn't some unique computer complication,
it's just generally true. There aren't any media in which you can
uncommunicate. (A couple of computer media try to hack it in but they can't
recover copies either.) If I were being tried by a judge who did that, I would
realize that I've basically already lost, pretty much no matter what happens
next.

(Which in this case is probably a null issue. This is an open-and-shut DMCA
violation. I disagree with the DMCA but that doesn't change the fact that it's
an open-and-shut DMCA violation.)

~~~
tptacek
I'm not even a little bit disturbed the order was made. I'm thrilled that the
judge backed off and apologized for making the request. Tells me that she's
actually listening to the defendant; will be helpful down the road.

------
aw3c2
The accused has to led the accuser inspect his data? Scary!

I sure hope they use forensic standards such as not the actual hard drive but
an image of it. Otherwise the chances to plant some evidence are truly
disturbing.

~~~
m0nastic
Sony won't be involved directly with any part of the forensics.

Their attorneys will contract with a forensics firm who will make an image of
the drives (using a write-blocked device like the ones made by Wiebetech or an
Encase Fastbloc).

Analysis will not be performed on the actual drive, but on the image.

The defendant's attorney will also receive a copy of this image, ensuring that
chain of custody was followed (or else they can sure to try and argue that the
evidence has been tampered with).

The images will be checksummed, and I would argue that the odds of evidence
being tampered are pretty slim in this instance.

~~~
ErrantX
> I would argue that the odds of evidence being tampered are pretty slim in
> this instance.

Very slim. Not least because if the defendant's legal team get wind of it
that's it for any evidence from the drive, period.

Too much risk.

------
squeezingswirls
What a f* initiative from The Master of Rootkits Company.

Never ever again I'm going to purchase a Sony product.

~~~
jrockway
Not much of a compromise. Who wants a computer that can't run Linux, an MP3
player that only plays ATRAC, and a digital camera that can't take SD cards?

Sony is an evil company, and their products don't make up for it.

~~~
danudey
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

------
pig
52 comments. tptacek has made 48 of them.

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mmb
Sounds like a use case for a TrueCrypt hidden volume.

------
daimyoyo
And if he encrypts the data behind true crypt and refuses to give the key,
what then? Will he be thrown in jail?

