Official Statement Regarding PS3 Circumvention Devices and Pirated Software

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Today, Sony Computer Entertainment released the following statement:

Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the “System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.

To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

What this means to you

Circumvention devices and game piracy damage our industry and can potentially injure the online experience for you, our loyal PlayStation customers, via hacks and cheats.

Many PlayStation.Blog readers have asked how we intend to deal with these incidents that they have been reading about in the gaming press, and this is our initial response.

By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network, we are protecting our business and preserving the honest gameplay experiences that you expect and deserve.

Rest assured, this message does not apply to the overwhelming majority of our users who enjoy the world of entertainment PlayStation 3 has to offer without breaching the guidelines detailed above, and we urge you to continue doing so without fear.

Comments are closed.

737 Comments

  • @#300 You’re right. The iphone use to be a big hacked product. But now that people can do pretty much whatever without hacking they don’t really do it except those that want the free software, which is wrong. Some people actually hack just for the customization that comes with it. Sony needs to bring us some content like that. They could even charge like the iphone. I would love nothing more than to have a new in-game xmb and a better profile card. That won’t happen with Sony and their closed minds.

  • Find em and hang em I say.

  • It’s not going to change anything. There will always be Hackers. Having Homebrew is just expanding the functions of the PS3 which are limited.

  • It’s like 360’s piracy.
    I just hope you don’t ban innocent people…

  • As an adult, it is quite sickening to read all of the ignorant, senseless, uneducated statements people make.

    Sony, thank you for your hard work. Many, like myself, have spent thousands on playstation consoles ans software since PS1. Hacking is a virus to the online gaming community and I 100% support your efforts in permanent bans.

  • I hope Sony joins Sega after this gen. They price gouged on the PS3 at launch, they’re continuing to price gouge on peripherals now and their exclusives really aren’t all that hot if you ask me.

  • @IceCold

    0/10 Troll post, try again.

  • Sooo ummm … “access to qiuriosity services ” … is there any way SCEA can get on that for U.S consumers ? more particularly the MUSIC ON DEMAND . i swear if geoshotz has anything to do with keeping this from U. S I’m gonna sue him as welll … i don’t know what for , but i’ll figure something out …LOL . the deal is though that it is good SCEA came out with this official statement … even though none of it is new , be prepared for “WTH !!! MY PS3 WONT CONNECT!!!! what’s wrong ??? ” posts .

  • @302

    Yes, hang people for wanting do what they want with what they buy.

    Idiot.

  • @Madhatter31:

    Oh, I understand perfectly what an EULA is (and if you’ll do some research, you’ll find that legal enforcement of the EULA in many cases is questionable at best), but the EULA in this case only applies to usage of the PlayStation Network — NOT to the PS3 itself. Tell me, did you have to agree to an EULA the first time you opened the box for your PS3, hooked it up and turned it on? No? Then any claim Sony makes to the contrary is not legally binding.

    Try again.

  • @ Nitroid

    I live in Canada, so you probably don’t want to know my (liberal) opinion on gun control and the idiots who run around shooting themselves and each other.

    Its cute how you bring the “adult” card into an argument to obfuscate your own misdirection. Are you really that clueless? Do you honestly not pay attention to torrent site downloads, piracy statistics and just information in general? You musn’t.

    Pulled up hundreds of hits off Google in one second:

    http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=126902

    About a quarter of all copies of this game (probably in a leak prior to release even) were pirated. This was in 2008, so likely the issue is WORSE now. Some STATISTICS for ya.

  • (continued)

    And no, it’s not like Sony taking away electricity. YOU CAN STILL USE THE MACHINE, IT IS 100% FUNCTIONAL IF YOU HACK IT, BUT YOU CAN NOT LOG ONTO THEIR PRIVATE NETWORK OR USE NETWORK ASSOCIATED FEATURES. HOMEBREW AND WHATEVER TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT.

    I’m not screaming, but you seem dense, so I’ve used caps for emphasis. Stop acting like this is some presaging of a totalitarian government information conspiracy. Take off the tin-foil hat (wake up people! lol, that was classic)

  • Edit: Sorry, pulled 2008 outta my as$ :) Must’ve misread something. Do note the 5 MILLION ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS OF PHANTASY STAR PORTABLE 2 AND DISSIDIA… EACH (APPROXIMATELY).

    Is that enough data for you Nitroid? This isn’t an argument you can win with facts, so might want to fall back on your conspiracy theories and persecution act.

  • Since when the Homebrew Enabled PS3 needs a PSN access?

    Seriously people, grow up.

  • Oh, i think only kid can say that: “yeah hacking is not good”, “homebrew is not good”.

    Watch this video, this is for you:

    http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2653-Piracy

  • @Sony : this iste is the mother lode of Piracy, hacking and sale of trophies.http://www.nextgenupdate.com/forums/trophies/

  • Take it too them Sony! I own 5 PS3s and not one of them uses pirated software. If I can handle buying my games to play on my PS3, then they can too!

    I hope you find every single hacked PS3 and ban the systems permanently! Kudos to you Sony for stepping it up. :)

  • @Christian399:

    If you think this is about modified systems being denied access to the PSN or piracy, then you’re very obviously uninformed on what’s actually going on. This is going to result in a pretty heavy rewriting of property ownership laws in the U.S. — if you think I’m talking conspiracy, read up on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and how the recent trials surrounding iPhone jailbreaking have amended the guidelines (PROTIP: if a similar judgment isn’t passed for a more general range of consumer devices, you may as well take your personal freedoms and shove them where the sun don’t shine). I suggest you quit being selective about what you read and do some more research on -why- the people who are upset about this are so to begin with before you ignorantly spout off again about unrelated issues.

    Oh, and do me a favor — if you’re going to misrepresent what I’ve said with your own pedantic interpretation, at least make it sound credible by first figuring out what I’m actually talking about first.

    Kids these days.

  • This would have been stopped if you hadn’t removed a feature that had resided on “OUR” systems. You took what wasn’t yours through fear of forward progress in hardware/software reversing through Linux and it bit you in the end. You sped up the process ten fold. Put back OtherOS and this will at least slow down. Right your wrong and save face.

  • Its About time Sony! Go get those hackers!

  • That’s the way Sony. Show the Jailbreakers a thing or two that you DON’T MESS WITH THE PLAYSTATION’S POWER.

  • @278 they never said you couldnt . they just said if your ps3 has a circumventing device , you wont be able to connect to psn . NOW whether your running homebrew or pirated games ???? that’s between YOU and INTERNATIONAL LAW . i suppose if you dont mind sharing cell space with an angry guy named bubba because your one of those who claim to love gaming , but think that the industry runs off warm fuzzies instead of cash … more power 2 ya . just don’t cry to much when the inevitable happens … bubba takes a liking to the emotional type .

  • People need to learn the facts. Not all Pirates are Hackers/Cheaters in games. Most of the hackers/cheaters are the stupid 13 year olds who think its cool to cheat to win and show off how “PWNSOME” they are. And some people only use the modded systems for Homebrew such as Emulators and whatnot.

    And before you accuse me of being a pirate, I’m on 3.56. Everyone here sounds like Sony fanboys just like at the modding forums everyone sounds like Sony haters. You have a console, You do with it what you want. If you get caught, its your fault. Thats your bad.

  • @ Nitroid

    Naturally, you completely ignored the link I gave you and then resorted to calling me (a 33 y/o with two mortgages) a “kid”, for the second time, because you can not produce any reputable evidence to support your claims other than a website with an agenda similar to yours.

    Hopeless.

    At least you’ll probably get caught in the banwave, judging by your furious uproar. Nite.

  • Awesome news! Start banning consoles not just usernames Sony. No more messing around

  • If you’d just give back OtherOS, you’d probably get a quarter of the people to drop this issue. I’d be one of them.

    Give me what I paid for, and I’ll forgive you for your stupidity.

  • Sony has every right to ban hackers from a service they provide and maintain. However, it is MY PS3, and I will do whatever I want with it. Produce a game worth supporting, and I’ll buy it. Any game I’ve thoroughly enjoyed is sitting on my shelves. I support games I want to see more of. If you make a great game, people will buy it regardless. I don’t care how much work was put into a game, if it isn’t good, it’s not worth my money that I worked equally hard for. The developers did their job and got paid, so I’m not losing any sleep. Nor will I about losing my PSN account.

    And, Sony, your techs will work as hard as their paycheck is. You can’t win against people like Hotz who do this out of passion.

  • Good work Sony. Keep it up.

  • i agree on Sony on this case, but they should really upgrade their PSN services and limit their PSN login id to only the one that has the PS3, Blizzard use this nice method for their gaming, maybe they can learn from that

  • oh yes please sony get all those idiot hackers and pirates

  • I don’t even understand why people would do this. Are they THAT poor that they’ll pirate games?

  • Drop that ban hammer hard and often

    Thank you

  • Geez, you guys are still complaining about ‘Other OS’??? Wasn’t that like a year ago? Get over it…

    talk about holding a grudge…

    *PROUD PS+ MEMBER*

  • Make them suffer!

  • My friend came to my house and did something to my PS3, and then said it is hacked. After that, I was wondering what he did, and tried to delete all the things he installed. Im guessing I didnt uninstall it properly, because I got an email saying I have unauthorized software on my PS3. Please can someone tell me how to delete this/these things off of my PS3, because I am NOT a fan of hacking and seriously do not want to get banned off of PSN. Please PlayStation or a helpful person help me. Thanks so so much.

  • Yes, I’m glad Sony is banning those annoying filthy hackers. GO SONY!!!

  • Great Sony, while your at it saving the planet with all this why don’t you actually upgrade the PS3’s firmware with something useful. There hasn’t been a single good update since 3.0 about 1 1/2 years ago meanwhile your competition is blowing you out of the water.

    Where is PS3 firmware 4.0?

  • I do have a question about this, though (and sorry if you have already talked about this).

    I’m concerned that Sony is actively trying to squash the “homebrew” market (really, is anyone going to put homebrew on something when the system in question is made by a company hellbent on taking them completely out of the picture?), and that concerns me because some of these people that make them are those that are trying to get noticed. I know that the 360 has something that budding developers can download and use to make their own games to put on XBox Live, and because HB seems to be in high demand for devs to be able to do, I thought perhaps Sony should show some love and tell those HB devs that Sony isn’t trying to kill their hopes of getting noticed by a bigger dev.

    I’m concerned that this is not just about hackers and pirates (and by all means, go after them), but also Sony trying to control absolutely everything that gets onto the PS3, which they did with the PSP, too.

    Basically, what I’m asking is if this thing was not able to allow piracy or cheating, would you still be fighting it, Sony, and if so, why?

  • @stingger how is the music industry crippled just ask sony how much they made in 2010 from just there music department.

  • Very good news, buuut, I will only believe when I see banned consoles and PSN accounts for real.

    By the way SONY: will you ban the PSN accounts that used hacked savegames to unlock trophies???

  • oh Sony grow the F up. first off i will take up any software that gives me what i want from my ps3 that you wont. for example OTHER OS.

    I don’t play copied games so don’t worry about that. but i want to see games from other consoles on ps3. i mean come on? is it so hard to say “hey Sega can we put a stand alone sonic game on the psn?” yes i know about sonic adventure with all the bugs it has.

    its simple Sony.give us what we want. job done. it cant be any easier.

  • I find it funny how uneducated so many people are these days. They read a comment of a blog that says GeoHot hack the system for pirating software or some stupid reason. If you do your research you will find that he dove into it after Sony removed OtherOS… a feature that all of us paid for when we bought our PS3. Granted few used it but it was still a paid feature. Like if you bought Microsoft Office and then a year later Microsoft came back and said oh by the way were going to delete OneNote off your computer or you cant go online anymore. Now not a lot of people use OneNote, but the very idea sounds crazy. The same thing happened hear. If Sony where to add back OtherOS and allow some sort of Homebrew submission, the number of people using “Unauthorized circumvention devices” would decrease lots. Then go and enable a ban hammer. I agree with people you should buy your games, and I for sure do not want some punk who thinks its funny cheating in the game. But everyone place the blame in the right area and dont forget there are people who have used these “Unauthorized circumvention devices” to add back OtherOS and Homebrew that have no need for Piracy. That being said I haven’t hacked my PS3.

  • Its war sony. Starting a petition now.

  • Cheaters suck.

    This is the primary reason why the only good online gameplay is cooperative online gameplay.

    More coop games, less competitive multiplayer.

    kthxbye

  • Off with their heads!

  • @soopergooman187 You Can Tell Your Friend That Sony Will Have No Problem Fixing His Ps3 That They Broke Just Have Him Send It To Them With A Blank Cheek And They Will Gladly Send Him A Refurbished One

  • Yeah! woohoo! Sony! Sony! Sony! :D
    stupid hackers! >:(

  • Nobody understands that they are banning the account not the person from creating a new account and cheating more. Not against the banning for pirated games but banning a person’s account wont accomplish anything. The person will simply create a new account and continue in cheating. You guys homebrew is not bad. Homebrew is bad when used in the way that would interfere with the Playstation Network.

  • My friend has Pirated Software on his PS3. Will formatting delete it?

  • @347
    No. “By identifying PlayStation 3 systems that breach our guidelines and terminating their ability to connect to PlayStation Network.”
    They are completely stopping you from connecting to PSN.

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