The whole thing about OtherOS being removed centers around
security updates for PS3, and it even said that in the
v3.21 update information which I'll detail below.
PlayStation v3.21 Update Information said:
The next system software update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) system will be released on April 1, 2010 (JST), and will disable the “Install Other OS” feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models, launched in September 2009. This feature enabled users to install an operating system, but due to security concerns, Sony Computer Entertainment will remove the functionality through the 3.21 system software update.
In addition, disabling the “Other OS” feature will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system.
Consumers and organizations that currently use the “Other OS” feature can choose not to upgrade their PS3 systems, although the following features will no longer be available;
•Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network and use network features that require signing in to PlayStation Network, such as online features of PS3 games and chat
•Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later
•Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
•Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later
Essentially, it's been said that GeoHotz was trying to get back a feature that Sony has outright said they're removing for security concerns. That in and of itself is good reason for a company to get nervous about people finding a way to impliment it, because it could potentially threaten the services that they're providing to their customers. I think that proof enough is that OtherOS was one of the things that was
used by him to hack the PS3.
Now, if for whatever reason, he felt that he
"needed" to still be able to use Linux, he should have done so through a custom firmware, because you could make a custom firmware that gives you access to OtherOS and other things like PS2 backwards compatibility, and has things in place to prevent using it for piracy. Like with all custom firmware, Sony would still have the rights to boot your console off PSN, just like Xbox does for modded systems, since it's in voilation of the EULA, but you can't get in (much) trouble for just
making a custom firmware version, similiarly to jailbreaking an iPhone (which he's famous for). If you're not using it illicitly, but you're still subject to whatever information they put in the EULA that you chose to violate by doing so, and they have full rights to do that. I would have been fine if he chose to go about that route, but he didn't. He basically opened it up to anything, and basically said,
Have at it anyone. It's not my fault what you do with it.
Cutting back to fact, and away from analogy,
this article on Joystiq has a good bit on specifically what he did.
GeoHotz released the PS3's METLDR root key to the public, which allows access to the PS3's loaders, and reportedly could be used to allow any unsigned code to be run on the system. "This is the coveted PS3 exploit," Hotz writes on his blog, linking to the exploit while noting that it "gives full memory access and therefore ring 0 access from OtherOS. I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor. In other words, I have hacked the PS3."
But here's what really bugs me about him.
He said his motivation was "curiosity" and "opening up the platform." "To tell you the truth, I've never really played a PS3," he said. "I have one game, but I've never really played it." He admitted that it could also allow people to run pirated games. "I'm not going to personally have anything to do with that," he told BBC News.
He doesn't have ANY REASON to complain about not being able to use OtherOS on a PS3, because he doesn't use it for it's primarily intended purpose. Aside from MAYBE BluRay capabilities, basically nothing he 'uses' his PS3 for was affected by the update AT ALL. For all that matters, he could just sit on an outdated firmware version. Plus, he made something available that he acknowledged would lead to piracy, and didn't care,
because it doesn't directly affect him, since he doesn't use it as a gaming device. He can cry "opening up the platform" all day, but what it comes down to is that these things end up negatively effecting playing games online, the developers who make the games, and the services that I bought my PlayStation for, so that a bunch of hackers can play with Sony Hardware in the name of "opening up the platform."
Really, he was still in the wrong, and I'm glad Sony stepped up to the plate and took him to court over it. He didn't directly cause Sony monetary damage, and that's likely why they settled by essentially telling him to fuck off, or else. As someone who uses my PS3 as a PS3 quite a bit, I appreciate that sort of action by a company, because just because you bought something doesn't meant that you have the automatic rights to do whatever the fuck you want with it, especially when it's potentially at the expense of people who actually USE it.
Again - speculation, but I wouldn't doubt that his hacks, and the way he chose to release the information lead to what we're currently seeing with the PSN outage over the security breach. The main reason I hope that Sony finds the PSN hacker is that we've seen how seriously they took what Geohotz did, and I'd
love to see them get to do the same thing to someone they could make accountable.
