Sony cracks down on PSP hacks

[wraggster]

Source - Cnet

Sony is engaged in a tug-of-war with hackers who keep cracking its PlayStation Portable software to unlock the device and run their own applications on it.

The company is preparing another update to the PSP firmware to fix a recently disclosed bug that lets hackers downgrade the PSP system software and run their own, so-called homebrew code on the device, a Sony representative said Thursday.

"It is not...what the device was designed for," said Patrick Seybold, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We plan to deal with this issue with the next system update." He declined to say when that update would be ready.

Soon after Sony released the PSP earlier this year, hackers started hunting for bugs in the software that runs the device. Flaws were found and used to run homegrown applications, such as a PDF reader and an FTP client, on the device. The bugs were not used to attack PSP users.

Sony last month updated the PSP firmware to version 2.0. The update encompassed new features, including a Web browser, but also fixed the flaws that had been exploited by the hackers. The 2.0 update was made available on Sony's Web site and will be included in new PSP games, which will require the update, Seybold said.

Sony is not "actively going after the people doing it," Seybold said, but the company does not advise running homebrew code on the PSP. "Running unauthorized software will void the warranty," he said.

The PSP was released in the U.S. in March. Since then, more than 2 million units have been sold in the U.S., according to Sony. The device is sold primarily as a portable game machine, but users can also play movies and music, display digital photos and browse the Internet through its built-in wireless networking.

[xuphorz]

unauthorized code voids warrenty?

all you need to do is delete the homebrew completely, no one wil ever know
(or just don't send the psp to sony with a memory card)

[ShinSean]

seriously - I thought that was the stupidest thing I've ever read from Sony. How the heck would they know?

[jimjamjahaa]

i think it is simply to scare the lesser informed in to not doing it

[shadow77]

seriously - I thought that was the stupidest thing I've ever read from Sony. How the heck would they know?

they said it because people who aren't too smart will immediaty say "oh crap, this stuff voids my warranty" and then not run it.

[slayer2psp]

"Running unauthorized software will void the warranty," he said.
WTF how lame is sony oh know my warranty is void ever here of a product replacement plan sony? also they could never know any ways

[jimjamjahaa]

yeah i noticed that too. odd.

[xuphorz]

sony isn't good on the brain side, but good on the console side

[wraggster]

newspost changed but theres one thing thats been brought to my attention, PSP-Hacks.net were the original source(their forums) of the downgrader release so in reality all this weeks links should have gone to them and not other sites.

[Clay]

Lol, just delete the whole paragraph eh? good enough i guess wraggs.

oh and, MPH has his own website that we linked.

EDIT: Answer MSN for discussion of something totally off topic please >:E