Sony and its pack of highly trained lawyers have won a temporary injunction banning the sale of a controversial Playstation 3 USB jailbreak hack.
“[Yes], Oz Modchips and Quantronics have been ordered not to sell or distribute PS Jailbreak,” confirmed “Pirate” of PS3 Hax.
“I’m not sure how this will affect the rest of the world, but I really hope the Australian courts vote in PS Jailbreaks favor…I really do feel sorry for the Oz Modchips guys, it is reported that the remortgaged their houses to get as much stock as possible.”
The Australian injunction – obtained by PS3 Hax – also ordered OzMod and Quantronics to transfer existing jailbreak units to Sony for analysis.
Meanwhile, Ben Kuchera of Ars Technia noted that the injunction left Sony in “complete control” of OzMod’s inventory – which would allow the company to tear the units apart and learn “everything there is to know” about them.
“Still, Mod chips are actually legal in Australia, on something of a technicality: by the time a mod chip allows a pirated game to be played, the copyright violation has already occurred,” explained Kuchera.
“It’s the act of distributing or copying games that courts are worried about; without the content, the chips themselves are useless. In the US and much of Europe, the act of circumventing protection measures is itself illegal, making it easier to keep circumvention technology away from the public.”
As TG Daily previously reported, the above-mentioned PS3 jailbreak is activated simply by plugging in a $170 (Australian) USB stick into the system.
Once cracked, “PS Jailbreak” allows PS3 owners to run back-up copies of games, pirated titles and Homebrew.
