Jailbreak Your PS3? Sony Says No And Sues Geohot

If, like me, you jailbreak your iphone a lot, the name geohot may sound familiar. It’s an online alias for George Hotz, who has been a regular contributor to efforts to jailbreak the iPhone. In 2010, he hacked the PS3, releasing a jailbreak for it, much to the dismay of Sony. Eventually, Sony sent a team of lawyers after geohot, seeking a Temporary Restraining Order and asking for his hard drive to be handed over. And their wish was granted.

Unhappy with the ruling, geohot posted the following rap to his YouTube channel this weekend, dissing Sony in a style that would make Eminem proud.

The video ends with “Exhibit this in the court room. Go on, do it. I dare you.” In the video’s description, among links and other information, George taunted:

“Sony you got some rappers signed, right? Come at me bro”

If I ever meet George Hotz in person, I’m buying him a drink. Not that I dislike Sony, but his response to their law suit is drink-worthy.

Personally, I think Sony is unnecessarily bullying Hotz. Sure, people will pirate games for the PS3, but going after Hotz isn’t going to stop it and ordering him to hand over his hard drive and other personal hardware is just wrong. We had the same problem with Apple at first. They didn’t want people controlling the software on the iPhone and people like me argued, “I bought it, so let me install whatever I want on it.” I hope Sony takes a step back and asks themselves what they’ll really have accomplished when the dust settles.