A red-faced and clearly panicked Sony has launched a full-on witch hunt by threatening to sue anyone posting or “distributing” Playstation 3 jailbreak patches.
According to Wired, the obviously clueless corporation is also demanding that a federal judge order Google to “surrender” the IP addresses and other data of individuals who viewed or commented about the (George Hotz) jailbreak video on a private YouTube page.
Sounds pretty bad, right? But wait, there’s even more.
Yes, Sony is now asking Twitter to hand over the identities of (fail0verflow) “hackers” accused of publicly detailing a preliminary version of the crack in December.
“[We want] to determine the identities of third parties hosting and distributing the circumvention devices,” the company claimed in an official legal document.
“And, if necessary, seek appropriate relief from this court.”
My take on all this?
Yes, the legal system may frown upon George Hotz and level some form of punitive action against the talented coder.
Yet, it is highly unlikely that any judge or court will order Google to turn over data on people who simply watched or commented on a video.
Really, just think about the implications of such a ruling, and what it would mean for YouTube, the Internet in general and online freedom.
