The legal battle between GeoHot and Sony had more than its fair share of twists and turns, but it’s now reached a surprisingly anticlimactic (if not unexpected) ending. Earlier today, Sony and GeoHot announced that they’d reached a settlement in the matter.
For those who haven’t been keeping up, Hotz hacked Sony’s PlayStation 3 jailbreaking it to run non-Sony-approved software and, potentially, pirated games.
The settlement itself was apparently reached on the March 31, but Sony only just made it public. Details of the settlement, however, weren’t made available.
Hotz maintains that he hasn’t done anything wrong, saying, according to the statement provided by Sony: “It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier.”
On his personal blog, Hotz hasn’t commented on the settlement itself, but he has announced that he’s joining the current boycott of Sony products that seems to be gaining momentum and enjoins his fans to follow suit.
Here is a portion of the statement:
“Both parties expressed satisfaction that litigation had been quickly resolved. “Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us,” said Riley Russell, General Counsel for SCEA. “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.””
GeoHot offered his own words as well:
“It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” said Hotz, “I’m happy to have the litigation behind me.” Hotz was not involved in the recent attacks on Sony’s internet services and websites.
The settlement comes as a shock with both parties seemingly intent on dragging the affair to court over the past months. With Sony apparently claiming the settlement as a victory, it appears the PS3 jailbreak community may need to find a new messiah.
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