Shortly after we published a speculative discussion article on whether Sony would be banning PlayStation 3 users who circumvent their console’s security via the recent ‘Jailbreak’ method, the evergreen Digital Foundry came up with a more comprehensive, detailed report.
He covers many of the same points, albeit with a decidely more educated vocabulary. However, one of the things we weren’t aware of was that Sony – according to the post – can remotely ‘disable’ your PS3 if they choose to, known as a ‘kill switch‘.
“The amount of access Sony has to your machine is greater than you probably suspect,” says the report. “The company even has the means to irrevocably disable your console should it so wish, and if that happens, it will remain non-functional whether you’re online or offline.”
This, to our understanding, wasn’t public knowledge, and assuming Digital Foundry is right (we have no reason to suspect otherwise) this could be crucial in Sony’s defence against those that choose to hack their PS3s – remember, it’s against the Terms of Service and you’re asking for trouble…
TheSixthAxis does not condone piracy and does not recommend the modification of your console – doing so is against the Terms of Use of the console and is possibly illegal.
boyinastairwell
Kill them! Kill them all!
KeRaSh
So people just go out and buy an offline only jailbroken PS3 to fool around and keep one clean for online games.
Jumping Monks
Exactly what I was thinking. Though it’d be more expensive that way, and a lot of people don’t even have the money for one PS3, let alone two.
minerwilly
Precisely one of the reasons for great xbox sales plus the high failure rate combined means a lot of sales . I know someone on his 11th 360 !! Why he persists i’ll never understand .
4lf13
I’m sure the hackers will inevitably find a way around it. I think Sony should just give them what they want and then charge them a small fee. Everybody wins.
mcphatty
Does a hacked PS3 void the TOS for the PSN or the PS3 itself?
BIGAL-1992
I think it’s the PS3 itself, but I could be wrong.
Grey_Ghost13
I think it’s both? Although it’s abit of a grey area in the law about what you can do to your own console.
trollmonster
I got a letter from Sony this morning. In said letter, they asked me if I’d got over the flu I had over Christmas. They also asked how the girl I pulled at my mates wedding was and gave me a detailed list of every meal I’ve eaten since 18th July 2007, strangely enough the date I plugged my PS3 in for the first time.
I’m down for them sorting out the pirates butI think it violates human rights that Sony can get so much information from a console. Sad thing is we have to accept the T&C’s or we can’t play the games we love so much.
TURRICAN-808
So there is someone , somewhere , that has his or her fingers hovering over a killswitch button? so tempting….
bigdon23
his name is… Kim Jong-il
Grey_Ghost13
After reading about the GT5 game save hack I’m all for the ban hammer in conjunction with the Kill Switch now! Come on Sony let it be true and do it! We don’t want the PSN diluted with these hacked PS3’s!
yzfmike
It all makes sense. About 2 years ago I had purchased the PSP 2000 series. I went to link it with my PS3, but I had already 5 different psp’s linked with it, from various friends. I called SECA Customer Service and I talk with a rep and he wiped the 5 previous PSP’s from my ps3 while it was offline. So Sony doing this is extremely possible.
Benyboyuk
At least we can all sleep safe in the knowledge that when Skynet takes over the world, the human race can be saved with a simple flick of a switch.
ervin
Too much talking and little effort, it’s time for Sony to show some counter-attack. Lawsuits won’t stop jailbreaking.
Push the damn red button!