Sony Making a Grave Mistake (Please Read)

Sony’s decision to remove OtherOS from the PlayStation 3 could change the future of all electronic devices as we know them. You may not agree with or even completely understand that statement yet, but if you own anything (even a computer or a phone) that connects to the Internet, I urge you to read today’s post.

Today’s story begins back in 2006 with Sony’s release of the PlayStation 3 (PS3). The PS3 was (and still is) the most advanced video game console ever released. In fact, the console was so powerful that not only could it also play both PS2 and PS1 games, but using a feature called OtherOS, you could actually install Linux on the PS3’s hard drive and use the gaming console like a computer. Due to built-in restrictions the end result isn’t a terribly powerful computer, but it does work, and it is useful. I use it.

Most video game consoles contain some type of internal copy protection, to prevent people from downloading/burning/copying games instead of buying them. This was obviously a much smaller problem back in the days of cartridges, as most gamers had no way of creating pirate circuit boards and/or EPROMS. In today’s world where every computer has a DVD burner installed, this is a much bigger problem. So, companies like Nintendo and Microsoft and Sony include copy protection inside their video game consoles that prevent copied games from working. Many console manufacturers lose money on each game console sold, but recoup those losses over time by selling games for a profit.

To circumvent copy protection, pirates develop custom chips (“mod chips”) that allow these consoles to play copied games. Installing a mod chip requires a certain amount of technical ability as well as a certain amount of courage — one wrong move can both void your warranty and destroy your console all at the same time.

In the old days, once a console was modded, it was game over for the manufacturer. For example, consider the original Sony PlayStation. Once a mod chip was released, there was little Sony could do but watch as pirates sold mod chips by the thousands on the Internet and games were freely distributed. Suing the sellers, distributors and even makers of mod chips turned out to be a fruitless game of whack-a-mole. Sony’s only recourse was to redesign the internals of the PlayStation so that old mod chips wouldn’t work on it; pirates quickly countered with new mod chips that worked on both old and new machines. These days, it’s not a matter of if a new gaming console’s security measures will get “cracked”, but when.

The ultimate nightmare, however, is when pirates find flaws that don’t require any sort of hardware modification at all. The most memorable example of this was Sega’s Dreamcast. Utopia (a pirate group) released a boot disc for the Dreamcast that allowed burned games to be loaded and played without physically modifying the machine. Eventually, the boot loader was included on copies of pirated games. Utopia released their boot loader in June of 2000; Sega announced the death of the Dreamcast in January of 2001. Piracy is often (unofficially) cited as one of the major causes of the death of the console.

Enter George Hotz, aka Geohot, who by all accounts is a teenage genius. Geohot made his name in iPhone circles by creating and publicly releasing software to jailbreak iPhones. “Jailbreaking” allows iPhones to run unsigned code and change settings (including carriers) that customers are not supposed to be able to change. The first time I jailbroke an iPod Touch, it took me about two hours of dumping, patching, and reapplying firmwares. With Geohot’s blackra1n utility, you can do it in about 10 seconds by clicking a single button.

The seventh generation of video game consoles include the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and Sony’s PlayStation 3. Two of those three — the Wii and the 360 — have already been cracked. Early Wii mod chips have since been replaced by a software exploit that anyone with access to Youtube can figure out and perform in about 10 minutes. The 360 is a bit more complicated and requires flashing a BIOS, but it’s still relatively easy and requires no soldering or real technical skill. To date, only the PS3 remains unmodded … which is why Geohot set his sights on it last November.

By January, the whiz kid announced that he had successfully rooted the console, but it wasn’t easy. Circumventing Sony’s security measures required not only opening the console and soldering wires to the machine’s internals, but also required using an exploit found, apparently, in the PS3’s OtherOS feature. According to Geohot’s blog posting, “Sony may have difficulty patching the exploit.”

In fact, Sony has found a very simple way to patch the exploit. Sony’s latest mandatory update removes OtherOS from the PS3. And by mandatory, I mean you will not be able to play online any longer without applying this update. PS3 owners have two options; apply the patch and lose the ability to use OtherOS, or stop playing online. It’s that simple.

I’m not a lawyer and I’ve not read every license agreement, but I’m guessing Sony has and that in some bizarre way, this must be legal. It sure doesn’t seem like it should be to me. I bought a PS3, and when I bought it, it came with the ability to run additional operating systems. And now, that option is being removed from a device that I bought, paid for, and is sitting in my living room. It just doesn’t seem right.

Geohot, for his part, has promised PS3 owners a custom firmware that will allow both the use of OtherOS and the ability to play online. More power to the guy should he release it, but installing a custom firmware would most definitely void my warranty, something I don’t want to do (and shouldn’t have to do) just to keep the functionality my PS3 had when I bought it new.

For the record, other companies have waged wars against pirates as well. Microsoft, for example, routinely bans gamers running modified BIOS versions or pirated games. I have no problem with this. What I have a problem with is the removal of features that I paid for after I paid for them.

To some, this may seem like an essay about video games, but it’s not. It’s a question: what does it mean to own something in this day and age? Could AT&T or Apple prevent my iPhone from dialing 1-800 numbers if people start prank calling 1-800 numbers? Could Chevrolet remotely lower the top speed of my truck if they decide I drive too fast? Can television manufacturers retroactively lock TV channels that they decide aren’t worth watching? Where is the line between consumers and manufacturers? I don’t know, anymore.

Amazon pissed off thousands of paying customers last year by quietly removing books people had already bought and paid for on their Kindles. It was a public relations nightmare that caused loud discontent from Kindle owners (an obviously web-friendly demographic — oops). It appears that Sony is about to commit two giant faux pas with one stroke. Simultaneously, Sony plans on screwing millions of customers that own launch PS3s by removing the OtherOS option, and drawing the ire of Geohot, a technical genius who really doesn’t need that kind of prodding in order to chew up Sony’s security and spit it back up at them. Prior to this last announcement I was content to sit by the sidelines and see how this all played out, but after Sony’s latest blunder, I’m actually rooting for Geohot.

C’mon kid, let’s see what you got.

6 comments to Sony Making a Grave Mistake (Please Read)

  • You know I can’t really say I fault Sony, when I think of the man-hours required to create, test, beta-test, and distribute a (not guaranteed) patch for this vs. simply removing the feature outright.

  • PapaStu

    Actually there was a Linux kit for the PS2 as well. It not only allowed the running of Linux, but it let people create games, save them and share them with other users who had the Linux HDD setup. Too bad it wasn’t sold anywhere but online, is rare as heck and forced specific linux builds.

    The current ‘Other O/S’ feature of the PS3 also hinders what flavors of Linux the system can run, runs them poorly and really doesn’t give the user who’s running them any good reason to continue to run them. Does it stink they are force removing it? Yes. Is it a loss to anyone but a hacker looking for exploitation? Doubtful.

  • Susan

    Wow, that’s crazy! I just heard some interesting stuff about that today as well. . Will have to tell you about it when I get home.

  • This irritates me on principle. I don’t own a PS3, but it just feels like if the iPhone removed eMail functionality ’cause someone figured out how to spam from it. I paid for that feature, now buy it back from me if you want it removed.

  • I’m big on owning the box and owning what’s in the box, so, as if I had ever been tempted to own a PS3, I’m certainly not going to bother now. I like Smack’s idea of buying a feature back from the user: if we bought it with that feature and Sony wants it back, let’s have a partial refund. And I don’t mean a credit that’s only good on their online service either.

  • Clint

    Very interesting. I’m certainly not a lawyer either, but I can see why Sony wouldn’t be concerned with legal repercussions since installing an “otherOS” isn’t an integral component of the gaming system. I mean, this option seems like it’s a feature outside the “reasonable expectations” of a component gaming system. It’s the way they’re enforcing it that surprises me. Forcing users to accept a soft/firmware update in order to keep playing online isn’t new…XBOX does it about once a quarter. But when that updates REMOVES existing functionality; well that would just plain piss me off. Give it some time, someone, somewhere will find away to get it back on there. Probably some pimply-faced 14 year-old out of the Netherlands.

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