Sony Computer Entertainment America has issued a statement saying it will “aggressively pursue legal action” against anyone attempting to crack the PlayStation 3’s anti-piracy software.
Hackers have already cracked the PlayStation 3 firmware versions 1.10 and 1.11, allowing the system to boot illegal copies of games; at this point, however, they have not been able to make copied games or homebrew software run on the cracked systems. The PSP has a strong homebrew community, and hackers are no doubt hoping to establish a comparable base on the PlayStation 3.
“Unfortunately, hackers will try to exploit any hardware system software,” said SCEA spokesman Dave Karraker. “The best we can do as a company is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner.”
Microsoft, when faced with a similar situation, responded by banning modified Xbox 360 consoles from its Xbox Live service; Sony could respond in a similar fashion with its PlayStation Network. Hackers also face the possibility of damaging their systems during their tinkering. “Naturally, any use of an exploit on the system software does void the warranty on the PS3 system, which could be a costly mistake to see if you can run an old Sega CD game on it,” said Karraker.
