We got a news tip from one of our readers this morning which contains some alarming news, if true. The link we were provided with took us to a forum post (we won’t be linking to them from here) which claims to have “Jailbroken” the PlayStation 3.
The modchip seems to come as a USB dongle, claims to be completely compatible with original and slim versions of the console and allow the playing of “backups” from either the internal hard disk or an external, USB disk. They claim that it supports all current software, although they won’t guarantee online functionality for future titles.
Homebrew is also supported but it won’t allow the playing of software from previous consoles (no backwards compatibility). The page they link to for retail of this device (which we’re also not giving any publicity to) wouldn’t load when we tried it but there are claims that the retailer will be ready to go within 48 hours.
Essentially, this is a device which (regardless of the claims made) voids your warranty and makes your console unstable and unsupported by the manufacturer. The site in question makes cursory mentions of homebrew and naive attempts to sidestep the illegality of the device by saying that it’s for playing “backup” software.
Make no mistake: this device, if real, will mostly be used to pirate software and steal from creative individuals. That’s something that we never condone. We hope that, if this device turns out to be real, Sony’s lawyers are all over it.
arodmell
I don’t see the point in doing this to the PS3. Once upon a time I would have in a heartbeat but the quality of the games is such now that I appreciate all the work that goes into them and I am happy to buy or rent the game.
besidavi
Sounds like you grew up though, plenty haven’t and will want it unfortunately. Your point is indicative of the PS3 user base to some extent though – I don’t think piracy would be as high as on the 360 just because of the demographic.
DJ-Katy
Having made my first industry break by hacking Sky cards, posting stuff online and then being hired to fix it, I know quite a bit about how the piracy industry works. I am sceptical for a number of technical and logistical reasons I won’t go into here – but I’ll wait and see.
DJ-Katy
But Peter, plugging a USB dongle into your PS3 doesn’t void the warranty. It just doesn’t. The exception is if the dongle downloads software modifications into the PS3 which remain there when it is removed – in which case you have modified a non-user-serviceable part, then the warranty is indeed void.
cc_star
There is of course the unlawful (illegal in most of the developed world) activities of circumventing copy protection to be considered.
I suppose its just a case of waiting and seeing how the fallout from this goes now.
squashme
the copy protection on PS3BD is the same as BDMV which is several encryption keys and certificates which are said to be by the BDA and Sony non modifiable or something so this so called dongle would have to get around that as soon as you use the dongle you are breaking the law by removing the encryption and security certificates from the PS3BD’s
DJ-Katy
Breaking encryption is a breach of the EULA, not the law, at least where I live. In any case there is nothing to say that it breaks the encryption anyway, it could simply use the standard firmware to stream the contents of the entire Bluray disk and intercept the unencrypted traffic on the data bus – no decryption required.
We can’t say until we know how it works, if it even works at all. I have severe doubts that anything you can plug into a USB port on a non-debug PS3 will enable user mode execution of unsigned code, which will be the first thing that has to happen before you even think about the Bluray. One thought that crossed my mind is that if the original device was leaked from Sony they may have found a way to sign their modified code, especially if there is a bug in the signing algorithm (which happened with one iteration of Sky cards), but I still don’t see how you get code to run just by plugging a USB stick in.
cc_star
This is a modchip in a USB stick, AFAIK.
Modchips and their primary use of circumventing copy protection are illegal throughout practically the whole developed world, aren’t they?
Various laws both in individual countries and the EU-wide EUDC makes them illegal, there are also laws that would apply for the rest of the world.
Some people are saying its just a debug console which has USB in the boot sequence, I don’t know if the addition of a modchip in the USB port would enable something similar on retail PS3’s.
I doubt Sony would leave such a glaring hole considering their actions so far.
squashme
breaking copy protection even on DVD’s and blu-rays is illegal the BDA considers it very serious where BD’s are concerned and Sony your right though Katy until we know it works for sure we’ll never know and theyll have to Sony as they’ll demand to know then theyll proberbly take action against for modifiying the PS3 and breaking the BD copy protection and security the BDA will obviously take action against them
DJ-Katy
I worked in cryptography at NDS for years. Show me a law that says breaking encryption is illegal and I’ll listen. You won’t find one.
The issues are what happens afterwards: is the decrypted material or signal stolen (recording. copying, re-distributing – these are against the law in _some_ countries, not including Norway where I live where recording and copying are covered under copyright fair use law, such law explicitly permits the circumvention of copy protection mechanisms for personal use only). Is the material modified or reverse-engineered? Is the decryption method itself re-distributed so that other people can repeat it? These are the issues a court would look at.
Breaking decryption legality and modchip legality are two different subjects with different laws applying in each case, and again depending on the territory. In essence, in most of the world, installing a modchip is not illegal but it voids the warranty. Please don’t quite Wikipedia as an authoritative source.
DJ-Katy
Two additional points:
1. The modchip-on-a-USB-stick concept seems pretty stupid to me and unlikely to be real, because a modchip has to sit at a certain point in the bus architecture to work, and the USB ports do not provide an adequate point of entry.
2. Norway is not an EU member state. EU laws do not apply here. Thank God.
cc_star
Modchips are illegal not just unlawful or against EULA in most places, Norway is obviously very special then, so unfortunately what you’re quoting from your vast experience seemingly isn’t relevant outside of Norway.
In the UK specifically (but also plenty of other countries) not only are mod chips illegal but also the manufacture, import, distribution and advertising of is also illegal.
So anyone who buys one isn’t just breaking some unenforceable EULA but is actively breaking the law by importing it.
squashme
just cos breaking copy protection is (or even might be) legal in norway doesnt mean its legal all over the world Katy in most parts of the world breaking copy preotection is illegal breaking it on BD’s youll have the BDA after you not to mention Sony if you caught doing it
DJ-Katy
Fortunately then my vast experience does extend outside Norway because I was working in the UK at the time. The following applies to the EU:
1. Buying a modchip is not illegal
2. Owning a modchip is not illegal
3. Intalling a modchip is not illegal but voids the warranty and breaks the EULA
4. Using a modchip is not illegal if you own original copies of the games you are playing, but it does break the EULA
5. Creating a modchip is not illegal as long as you don’t sell it, but the processes involved in creating it will break the EULA
6. Selling a modchip is illegal (it falls under the laws of facilitating copyright infringement and disclosure of commercial secrets)
7. Creating a copy of your own purchased content for personal use is not illegal (falls under copyright fair use laws)
8. Selling a copy of your own purchased content, or giving it away, is illegal (copyright infringement)
9. Using a modchip to play content you don’t own an original copy of is illegal (it comes under the signal theft laws)
The law does not prohibit people from modifying things they bought and therefore own. The manufacturers do not like this so they make EULAs which generally don’t stand up in EU courts anyway.
The manufacturers hate modchips, but the sad fact for them is they do not have the right to prevent customers from adapting products they have purchased. If you need any proof of this, think back to 1999 when it was demonstrated in the UK courts that it was legal to add modchips to DVD players – then suddenly the shelves of all electronics chains were awash with region-free modded players. The difference between that scenario and this one is that those modchips did not infringe copyrights, and console ones do, so while they are still not illegal in the contexts I listed above, you cannot sell machines pre-modded with them installed on the high street.
Like any media propaganda, it will be pushed home to you that modchips are bad and therefore owning one is illegal. It’s not. They can’t be: it’s just a chip with a piece of software.
Phily50
Here’s some more info…
It seems the software uses bd_emu features to manage the backups. The HDD to use, should have a modified bd emu format, which sets all backups on first position, so the PS3 detects ’em all. Then you can choose the image to boot via the manager.
To directly copy and boot a game, the software would need to decrypt all layers on the fly. Meaning it decrypts all executables somehow, else it won’t run. Even on a debug unit.
The hardware look like a copy of the original PS3 jigstick, used in SONY service centers to repair broken PlayStation3 SKU’s. Someone internal leaked or sold a stick, so they had the chance to reverse and clone the hardware.
The stick should boot before the normal firmware does, so it’s hard to patch it. Maybe SONY could update the bootcode to prevent it, set it to a revoke list.
By the way, in all videos they use debug PS3’s to run the software. There is no video showing the actual process booting on a retail PS3 afaik.
DJ-Katy
I read it before, but thanks. It is extremely unlikely they would allow firmware to run from a USB stick before the internal firmware on a production PS3, as that would be a massive security loophole.
Even if it’s true, this would have to be modified firmware and not just some little patch or piece of software, because nothing else can function on the machine until the firmware is loaded, including – ironically – the USB ports (on a production PS3). See the dilemma?
ghost5
I have to say the 2 videos posted, do look real.
They could of used 2 consoles each with a copy of the selected game in and a simple HDMI switch when the PS3 reboots but I don’t know how they got the game dumper screen on there
homerjnick
It seems the software uses bd_emu features to manage the backups. The HDD to use, should have a modified bd emu format, which sets all backups on first position, so the PS3 detects ’em all. Then you can choose the image to boot via the manager.
To directly copy and boot a game, the software would need to decrypt all layers on the fly. Meaning it decrypts all executables somehow, else it won’t run. Even on a debug unit.
The hardware look like a copy of the original PS3 jigstick, used in SONY service centers to repair broken PlayStation3 SKU’s. Someone internal leaked or sold a stick, so they had the chance to reverse and clone the hardware.
The stick should boot before the normal firmware does, so it’s hard to patch it. Maybe SONY could update the bootcode to prevent it, set it to a revoke list.
By the way, in all videos they use debug PS3’s to run the software. There is no video showing the actual process booting on a retail PS3 afaik.
ad456m
How does this dongle make the ps3 unstable?
squashme
by puttin unsigned code on the PS3 from the dongle or making the unsigned code on the dongle work woith the PS3OS (XMB) that would make the PS3 unstable but they only use debug PS3’s not actual retail units so no one knows for a fact if its gonna work as retail PS3’s get updated debug units get update months before obviously but there only using debug units and debug software on them but proberly the only way to it on the final released software update is through Linux and Linux dont exist anymore on PS3 no one knows if the PS3OS will actually be able to read the code on the USB stcik
squashme
but the thing is they would to get it to work in a stable manner on the final cunsumer version of the software and not debug software with the Cell Broadband Processor even some devs are still saying there strugglin to code for the cell so what are the chances that its actually guna work ?
DJ-Katy
The ‘unstable’ argument is a common excuse used by all vendors and media outlets to scare people into not using devices. It is a standard ‘cover our ass’ tactic. Remember how the unofficial PS1 memory cards ‘made the PS1 unstable’? Or how jailbreaking your iPhone ‘made it unstable’? The stability of a reverse engineered device is entirely dependent on the quality of the software that is injected into it.
ad456m
That’s exactly why I was askin, more of a “is there proof” opposed to the usual scaremonger reason
bigdon_23
for 1 am glad, it may take the heat off those of us who buy preowned for a while, and although i dont want to play copied games on my ps3 im happy that someone is sticking 2 fingers up at the greedy publishers
cc_star
Just to further the debate
Will this hasten the demise of console games released on disc?
Wonder if it can be combated by enhancing the online pass, and turn it into an offline pass? Sure you won’t be able to sell to people with no online access but devs/pubs will just cut their cloth accordingly and adjust game budgets to suit.
AG2297
Until someone finds a way to hack that, and starts digitally spreading/selling hacked didgital content. I think the hackers will always find a way eventually.
DJ-Katy
To answer a question with a question:
Has it hastened the demise of Xbox 360 games released on disc?
Half the people I know with a 360 pirate, if not more, and quite a few of those say the only reason they chose a 360 over a PS3 is because of cheaper (free) availability of games.
Food for thought.
Awayze
I considered buying a 360 for the ability to play pirated games on it but in the end I didn’t bother and just kept playing on my PS3.
Phily50
I love the bandying about of the words law and illegal, it’s not illegal in any way to mess about with things that you bought.
Certainly no more illegal than Sony removing features from the PS3.
icuyesido
Hmm, thats strange because when I went to a carboot last year a guy said that he could do it, the funny thing was, he had a Halo T-Shirt on lol
grogy86
How much would this cost sony, not much its the developers losing out at the end of the day. Also how does this work wot way are the games saved to the ps3. Surly youd be limited to the amount of space everyone has on their harddrives.