SCEA, Alleged Hacker Settle Lawsuit

Sony Computer Entertainment America and George Hotz settled the lawsuit that SCEA had filed against Hotz and more than 100 other alleged hackers Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco (CED Jan 14 p6), SCEA and Hotz said in a joint statement posted Monday on the PlayStation Blog. The parties reached agreement in principle March 31, under which Hotz agreed to a permanent injunction, the statement said. A court document filed Monday said SCEA also “voluntarily and without prejudice dismisses this action against” all the other alleged hackers who were named in the same suit. It didn’t say why and the company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

SCEA and Hotz waived the right to appeal, and each party will pay its own legal fees and costs, said another court document filed Monday. They also agreed that any violation by Hotz of the agreement “would cause irreparable harm to SCEA and, if such a violation occurs, SCEA will be entitled to immediate relief,” the document said.

Hotz and SCEA “expressed satisfaction that litigation had been quickly resolved,” the joint statement said. SCEA was “glad to put this litigation behind us,” said General Counsel Riley Russell. “Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal,” he said. Hotz said it was “never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier.” He said he was “happy to have the litigation behind” him. Hotz wasn’t involved in recent attacks on Sony’s Internet services and websites, the statement said.

But Hotz sounded a different note at his blog. There, Hotz said he was “joining” a Sony “boycott,” and “will never purchase another SONY product.” He encouraged readers “to do the same” and to return any Sony products recently purchased. He said there was “much more to come on this blog."

SCEA had accused Hotz of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other laws by posting online information about the PS3’s security system and software that the company claimed could be used to circumvent the console’s security system and allow the playing of pirated videogames. Hotz denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Any violation by Hotz of the permanent injunction and order “will result in his payment of stipulated liquidated damages in the amount of” $10,000 per violation at the election of SCEA or SCEA’s affiliates, the court document said. If the violation involves distribution or trafficking by Hotz of software, hardware, or any circumvention device, that would “constitute an independent violation, up to a cap of” $250,000, the document said.