Sony Can Detect PS3 Hackers; Ban Their Punk Asses

Kovacs 112 Comments

Forewarning potential digital pirates of possible repercussions from using the new PSJailbreak dongle as a way to illegally back-up PS3 games, hacking website PS3Hax.net are claiming that Sony will be able to dish out PSN bannings to those who choose to steal games. The site states:

“The Backup manager game ID could be logged/recorded by Sony when logged into PSN (when online). This would obviously allow Sony to see who would be using the illegal PSjb/clone and we could very well see ban waves similar to the Xbox 360.”

The news hardly comes as a shock, with Sony sure to be working around the clock on a response to combat what is viewed as the biggest threat to their previously impervious PS3 software library. The tit-for-tat dance between Sony and hackers is sure to continue, however, with likely future firmware updates and possible banhammers on the horizon as both camps attempt to best one another.

We abhor piracy here at TheSixthAxis and highlight such potential bannings as a warning to those who may be contemplating using the device. Don’t. If not for your own enjoyment of games, then for the wider gaming industry which undoubtedly suffers from piracy.

Source: MCV

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112 Comments

  1. All aboard the Banmobile!

  2. Good. Well done Sony!

  3. At this point in time i still regard this whole jailbreak as the biggest money grabbing scam in modchip history.

    if i’m right many people will find out what it means to be “pirated” :-D

    • I second this ;), the fact alone that it is not a retail ps3 shown in the clip.

      And I learned a new word: abhor

      (transitive) To regard with horror or detestation; to shrink back with shuddering from; to feel excessive repugnance toward; to detest to extremity; to loathe.

  4. I am tempted just to see it working , like a “Hello world” in coding.
    Just discount from the net and try it out! Will they still know when you connect afterwords.

    • This is what i was thinking. Banning people from PSN means nothing….You just set up a new user on the PS3, then play the games on that user. never connecting your normal PSN with the pirate game. Unless you do nothing but play online, this is hardly a punishment!?!?!

      • I am fairly certain in addition to your User ID you have a permanent fixed console ID. They would ban the console ID from ever using online features.

      • Yep, every user account is linked to the motherboard, so once you get caught you won’t be able to go online with your PS3

      • It certainly would be your console as well as your ID to be banned, just like MS does with the 360.

        And having you ID alone banned would be a big deal to poeple who care about their trophies. That in it self would be enough to discourage me. I’ve worked way to hard and spent too much time getting my trophies and achievements to just throw them away.

      • Does that mean there will soon be an influx of used ps3s on ebay, which have all been banned from online play o.O

      • Which is one of the reasons for such high 360 sales as many people have two , one for online and one for singleplayer pirated games such as Alan Wake . (and thats not including people who are on their 12th unit due to hardware failure)

      • ah, makes more sense i guess. so you just need to make sure your console is disconnected from the net and all is fine?!?! So its not really fixing the problem. Someone could go out and buy a PS3, use it with pirate games for a few years, and nothing will happen to them as its not connected to the net.

    • You’d think they would be able to detect if you used the Backup Manager, even if you did it while offline. Sony can already store and sync trophy information, and that backup manager is just another app as far as the PS3 knows. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if recently played game information also syncs, in which case, easy job for Sony to look for the Backup Manager app ID and drop the banhammer.

      They’d probably need to make a firmware modification to get around that… which Sony could probably detect.

  5. Good. Anyone who buys this should be burned alive.

    • Thats Sony’s plan B

    • I agree. Although I was once into the whole CFW on PSP and being able to use ISOs, I’ve since changed my perspective on the whole homebrew scene. Anyone who even thinks to use this should be banned.

      • Yeah, I hate the justification so many people use that they just want to play their homebrew games, or use unsigned applications to do what they want.

        Most if not all of these people also download legitimate games and screw over the developers and even just themselves by making developers less likely to want to develop games for that console (e.g., PSP).

    • Seems a little lenient really. They should burn them and all their families so their dirty, cheating hacking/pirating genes don’t get passed on to the next generation.

      (N.B. sarcasm)

  6. We abhor piracy here at TheSixthAxis and highlight such potential bannings as a warning to those who may be contemplating using the device. Don’t. If not for your own enjoyment of games, then for the wider gaming industry which undoubtedly suffers from piracy.

    Hear, hear Kovacs
    Great article.
    I’m glad that SONY are working around the clock.

    • Yeah I agree and I am glad Sony is taking steps but that does not change the fact that it has been hacked and that we will se plenty of “backup” games online.

      This is a serious blow for Sony no matter how much they ban people
      And it worries me that we who stays on the legal side of things might be affected drm etc etc.

  7. About time. Piracy on a scale like this is sickening. Anyone that’s involved in this derserves to be thrown out of a plane without a parachute.

    • I agree. How far would the plane be from the ground?

      • I’d recommend 12,000 feet high.

      • Better make sure the person(s) involved doesn’t have a Just Cause 2 type grappling hook on them, because otherwise it won’t matter how far up you go.

      • Then tranquailize the tosser when’s he’s in the plane.

  8. Good on you Sony. However most pirates i know generally have to consoles. One to play online with proper games and another to play pirated games.

    • But thats where Sony have the upperhand. Sony, just like banning MAC addresses, can also ban the use of every console that has been used on your broadbands IP address.

      • The console used to play pirated games wouldn’t be connected to the net, I assume.

      • yea, but just don’t connect to web.

      • No they can’t. Otherwise there would be alot of annoyed people with dynamic IPs…

    • That doesn’t make much sense.

      Pirates don’t want to pay for games because it costs them extra $$$. Why buy two consoles then? If they’re so desperate for $$ they can at least buy the game from retail and then sell the game to someone else.

      • Not condoning it but assuming they have one already:
        Extra console – £225
        The USB stick – £120
        Total = £345
        That’s about 10 games. I can easily think of at least 10 games I’d have if it weren’t for the cost and that is only to break even.

      • Exactly.

        And then if you buy games and sell them, you probably lose 0-10 pounds per game maximum (assuming you buy them cheaply on eBay and sell them on eBay again). For that price, you could buy and play well over 30 games for the same price. :|

      • @3shirts

        You’ve hit the nail on the head there.

        But you also need to add in games rental service.

        I rent games it cost me £15/month and I get through a bout 4 a month (I also get through about 8-10 Blu-ray movies but that’s not relevant here)

        What I find is that if I rent the game and keep it a week before posting it back, I’ve either completed it or tired of it… There is no point in me copying it and that is where the argument in favour of piracy falls down.

        Of course it’s possible to download stuff, but I’m pretty sure Sony’s lawyers will be writing to everyone who torrents a game.

        So given the cost of a new console, plus the cost of the device, plus the annual cost of a rental service and add in the fact you can never go online, you can never play online, if they game has a bug you can never patch it (what if all big games have a game-breaking bug in them after the first level which requires a launch day patch?) and the fact you are running the gauntlet of the law.
        It’s far easier to just run your standard console and avoid all of the above hassles.

      • @3shirts, and don’t forget the extra HDDs you’ll need for those 10 games.

  9. Fine work Sony. An unhackable console is a good console. Next up: Create a new “Recovery manager” with a diferent ID, and make the actual stolen one stop working.

  10. actually not surprised by this and as someone who is happy-ish to legally spend my hard earned income on my hobby, i’m happy that thieves will be banned. But suspect that most will just stay offline for this like they do on live.

    • Same i don’t mind paying to purchase a game as i would most probably get more enjoyment as i would want to get my moneys worth.

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