A federal judge has ruled that talented Playstation 3 jailbreaker George Hotz must submit to Sony and allow the electronics giant to unceremoniously inspect his rig’s hard drive and copy data “related to [PS3] hacking.”
Hotz attorney Stewart Kellar strenuously objected to the order and noted Sony would be able to “observe” the contents of all his client’s files.
However, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston remained unimpressed by Kellar’s argument, reiterating that the (rather intrusive) inspection would proceed as planned.
“That’s the breaks. [Now], I find probable cause that your client has got these things on his computer,” said Illston.
“It’s a problem when more than one thing is kept on the computer. I’ll make sure the order is and will be that Sony is only entitled to isolate … the information on the computer that relates to the hacking of the [PS3].”
Nevertheless, Illston did at least concede that an earlier order for Hotz to “retrieve” the jailbreak code from anyone he may have forwarded it to was quite unrealistic.
“It’s information. It can’t be retrieved. It’s just not practical. What would they do, Xerox it and mail it back?”
(Via Wired)
