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Courts Order Seizure of PS3 Hacker's Computers

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PS3 hacker George Hotz has been ordered to hand over his computers as part of a temporary restraining order.

Sony has been granted a temporary restraining order against the PS3 hacker which will prevent him from publishing any more information about his hack online. As a part of the agreement, 21-year-old George Hotz must also hand over all of his computers and hard drives.

The Register cites U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of San Francisco who said Sony supplied substantial evidence showing the hack constituted a DMCA violation. Judge Illston also said that Sony was likely to “suffer irreparable harm” if the hacking continued.

The ruling comes as a disappointment to those who support Hotz, especially considering initial skepticism that the case could even be pursued in a California court because Hotz himself is from New Jersey.

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Jane McEntegart

Jane McEntegart works in marketing communications at Intel and was previously Manager of Content Marketing at ASUS North America. Before that, she worked for more than seven years at Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, holding such roles as Contributing Editor and Senior News Editor and writing about everything from smartphones to tablets and games consoles.

81 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kristoffe
    sony is shooting themself in the foot on this one. the hardware is too exotic and not selling well compared to the xb360, and they need to allow this geekdom to continue. no linux, now this. really? really bad pr.
    Reply
  • hahahaha 21 years old he bearly out of school
    Reply
  • dogman_1234
    Was he doing something legitimately illegal? I don't think Sony would go after the hack unless thee were things to harm Sony, and I don't think 'hacking' the unit constitutes as illegal. It seems he wanted to modify the unit for some other use. Let him be. If he screws up thousands of units....more money to Sony.
    Reply
  • TeKEffect
    wasnt it another group that caimed to figure out the key or whatever so they could sign their own software. What happened with that
    Reply
  • Let me give you guys an example. If you purchase a car, you can do whatever you wish to do with it. But guess what, the car has to pass emissions and inspections, meaning it can't be too low, or the lights can't be too bright, tint can't be too dark, exhaust can't be this or that or its too loud. Tires must have a specific line of wear, etc. You kids might think it's okay to do what you wish, and for the most part i agree, but "America" won't allow this too happen as free of a country you might believe you live in. It's not what it seems.
    Reply
  • lcbozo
    So, we will need to purchase a license, proof of insurance,and register our computers & game boxes? All this so we can operate game boxes (and PCs) on tax supported home networks, or use our government owned game cartridges. The comparison to a car that is used on tax supported, public represented streets and highways is out of context. This is called "context dropping," and is a form of evasive argument.
    Reply
  • webdev511
    Okay person in New Jearsy, we're going to send some California Highway Patrol officers over there to seize your computers, or you can just send us whatever you have laying around.
    Reply
  • dmk2000
    Dude, you are totally wrong comparing car to PS3. The right analogy would be new toaster to PS3.
    The reason you have to pass car inspection is due to safety reasons. You still can mod your car any way you want as long as you will not take it to the public roads.
    Got it?
    Reply
  • TheWhiteRose000
    Like giving anyone a restraining order has ever stopped a hacker's progress.
    It's human nature to overcome the challenge's we place in front of our self's.
    Reply
  • superjojo
    @ injected_metal
    Those world wide numbers don't include PS3's holiday sales... the PS3 sold 6.5 million last year during the holidays and its sales are this year are out pacing last years. If you put two and two together, the difference will be 2 million units or less. I don't think somebody is a fanboy for posting the facts.
    Reply