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[Deku]

During the French Revolution, yesterday's heroes were executed at the Guillotine.

It's amazing how fast the mob has turned.

 

[poppabk]

For whatever it's worth, I naturally assume legal counsel for a corporate entity will fight viciously for their client and will do whatever they can to paint the opposition in a bad light. That's what they do. Believing them wholesale speaks to such a level of sycophancy that I struggle to even put it in to words.

That said, if he took the donations and used them for things other than what he claimed, that is very illegal.

Does anyone actually have evidence he misappropriated donations or are people assuming that because he asked for donations, then went on vacation?

There legal counsel never said anything about him taking funds, it was his own counsel that stated that he was out of the country and they also confirmed that he had removed the hard drive controllers. The assumption that he misappropriated funds is because he took up a collection, my guess is that he didn't take any money, he just used his own money for a vacation rather than adding it to his defense fund. Not as egregious but still a dick move.
Unless the donations were specified as being solely to pay for defense lawyers then I doubt geohot is in any trouble if he did use them for a vacation. His biggest danger is probably the tax man.

 

[phosphor112]

Before this thread starts to die off, I wonder why people hate Sony so much, when they are just protecting their product... You buy the hardware, not the design, not the firmware. You buy games on the other hand, you don't own any part of it. So why not sue the guys that actually are "renting" games out to you? Sony isn't doing that... well not as much as other companies.

 

[hyp]

this thread is now hilarious.

while everyone is bickering, geohot is banging brazilian brazzers using everyone's donation money and catchin' some rays.

i'm kinda jealous.

 

[Speevy]

I just received word that George Hotz has hacked the pyramids in Egypt. Don't ask me how, but expect a custom firmware in the coming weeks.

 

[Dambrosi]

I'm pleasantly surprised that there have been no bad car analogies yet.

Ah, phosphor112's arrived. Time to bail out. But first --

I just received word that George Hotz has hacked the pyramids in Egypt. Don't ask me how, but expect a custom firmware in the coming weeks.

Inb4 Geohot gets sued by Kaiba Corporation.

"Screw consumer rights, we have money!"

 

[ViolentP]

Absolutely, as long as he doesn't use any of the money donated to him to go on the vacation.

A lot of people who support geohot don't think this kid should have been sued in the first place. I'm sure they're more than happy to come out of pocket to cancel out his legal fees.

I really disagree but then I guess that's why I never considered donating.

 

[Gaz Pwnage]

It means he either had enough money to go on a vacation, or he used donated funds to take a vacation.

No, it does not

 

[mentalfloss]

Do you? Because as far as I'm concerned we've both done the exact same thing. The only major difference is that I'm standing on the side of what a logical adult would do, not what a spiteful arrogant child (age is irrelevant at this point) would do.

Mind you, the most logical adult would accept the burden of proof given to them for making the claim in first place.

 

[Jomjom]

When did he claim he had no money? He statement was that he had $10,000 in legal bills and was asking for assistance in paying them.

Because if you have $10,000 in legal bills, you should be "assisting" yourself with this wad of money you have set aside for a vacation before asking people to assist you. If we are to believe him that he needed assistance, we can only assume that he's already drained all funds other than those needed for the bare necessities. A vacation to South America is not a bare necessity.

 

[ha1f]

ugh nvm. im out.

 

[Angry Fork]

He has traveled to Sony's manufacturing plant, to hack consoles at the source.


It's the only way.

 

[Speevy]

No, it does not

Then he used his money from a South American drug cartel to finance this trip.

 

[Wazzim]

Poor Sony, is this what they have to do to win this useless case? For what we know, the guy is just on a short holiday to take a break from hacking.

 

[TheExodu5]

No, it does not

??

 

[Smo21]

Wouldn't he be fucking with the judge that ordered him to provide the hard drive to be copied by the neutral party? Seems like a bad idea.

I think that can also become a legal issue. If he really did tamper with evidence he is a damn fool.

Because if you have $10,000 in legal bills, you should be "assisting" yourself with this wad of money you have set aside for a vacation before asking people to assist you. If we are to believe him that he needed assistance, we can only assume that he's already drained all funds other than those needed for the bare necessities. A vacation to South America is not a bare necessity.

Its clear he just didnt want to pay for the court fee's himself.

 

[Evlar]

Poor Sony, is this what they have to do to win this useless case? For what we know, the guy is just on a short holiday to take a break from hacking.

They have to... ask him to show up for depositions? Yes, I guess they do have to do that...

 

[LiK]

HAHA, there goes the "lawyer fees"

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Poor Sony, is this what they have to do to win this useless case? For what we know, the guy is just on a short holiday to take a break from hacking.

Nothing in this thread is coming from Sony; just the courts and Geohot's lawyer.

 

[Gaz Pwnage]

??

He could of won that trip to SA for all we know

 

[TheHeretic]

Because if you have $10,000 in legal bills, you should be "assisting" yourself with this wad of money you have set aside for a vacation before asking people to assist you. If we are to believe him that he needed assistance, we can only assume that he's already drained all funds other than those needed for the bare necessities. A vacation to South America is not a bare necessity.

Again, show that the purpose of the trip was recreation and that it was paid for by himself.

 

[Speevy]

Maybe Sony paid for the trip to make him "disappear".

There are a lot of places to hide a body in South America.

 

[Zoe]

Do you have the request for evidence order handy? I'd love to give it a read.

I don't have the specific request, but his own lawyer said this:

Mr. Hotz was ordered to provide his hard drives and storage devices on which any circumvention devices were stored-- nothing more.

To which the TheIntelligenceGroup replied:

Your client has not provided a “hard drive” but rather parts of the hard drive.   A “hard drive” must contain all the parts that make it a working device which include the enclosure, platters, heads and attached controller card.   This controller card is  installed at the factory and not normally removed or handled by an end user.  

http://www.groklaw.net/pdf2/SonyvHotz-104-19.pdf

 

[alr1ght]

He could of won that trip to SA for all we know

Yeah I saw him on The Price Is Right last week.

 

[Curufinwe]

I recommend people read pages 22-23 of Sony's motion. Their description of the lengths geohot has gone to to frutstrate the court-ordered discovery is pretty interesting.

http://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...ifornia/candce/3:2011cv00167/235965/103/0.pdf

In light of Hotz’s failure to comply with his discovery obligations and the still outstanding third party jurisdictional discovery, SCEA proposed a two-week extension of all briefing and hearing deadlines relating to Hotz’s Motion to Dismiss. Bricker Decl., ¶5, Exh. D. Hotz refused, stating that SCEA would have its discovery by the time of the hearing. Id. He completely ignored the fact that SCEA’s opposition deadline was approaching. Hotz also rejected outright SCEA’s second attempt to arrange for an inspection of his PS3 Systems and tried to evade his court-ordered deposition, stating that it was unnecessary. Id.

Despite Judge Spero’s orders, Hotz continues to frustrate all attempts to complete jurisdictional discovery. In yet another attempt to avoid his deposition and a limited inspection of his impounded hard drives, on March 17, 2011, Hotz filed a motion for protective order on issues already decided by Judge Spero. (Docket No. 100.) On the same day, TIG discovered that prior to delivery, Hotz had removed integral components from his impounded hard drives, rendering them completely non-functional. Bricker Decl., ¶21, Exh. S. When SCEA echoed TIG’s request that the components of the hard drives be delivered immediately, Hotz’s counsel responded that Hotz was in South America.Id

 

[MrPliskin]

No, it does not

Did you stop reading there? Clearly I present another option that he could have pre-booked everything for the trip well in advance. However, even in that scenario, you cannot pre-book food, and other miscellaneous expenses. He is still spending money, despite pleading for it.

It is in poor form to go on a vacation where you will spend money (more than you would normally) after asking people to donate their hard earned money for your cause (in this case, it's simply his own ass, not any moral cause).

 

[qazqaNii]

MY AEUROS IS IN SOUTH (WHAT) DAMMIT.

Funny tough IF true, this guy will get even more lonely than he was, if he really ran away with the money. I mean he was on TV and shit, then he ran.

Dayum.

 

[MustacheBandit_]

this news made my day. it feels like it was just yesterday that i was making fun of the gafers that were saying they donated to him.

a fool and his money are parted easily.

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

Before this thread starts to die off, I wonder why people hate Sony so much, when they are just protecting their product... You buy the hardware, not the design, not the firmware. You buy games on the other hand, you don't own any part of it. So why not sue the guys that actually are "renting" games out to you? Sony isn't doing that... well not as much as other companies.

Owning a copyright is not the same as owning outright. I own the specific copy of the firmware on my PS3 and can change it however I want, I just cant make copy's and distribute them, even if they are modified. The DMCA made modification for the purpose of bypassing copyright protection illegal back when this type of protection was inside DVD players and on disk media. Any other modification is still legal, if geohot released a patch to the PS3 firmware that did anything but bypass its copyright protection Sony couldn't do a thing. Nowadays the same protection is used to lock out many legitimate uses, but as long as its also used to stop piracy it cant be touched. Companies are hiding behind the DMCA to take away rights so the law needs to be changed or interpreted differently.

 

[lifa-cobex]

He could of won that trip to SA for all we know

If that was the case, I'm sure HE would have said.

If that was the case, He should have sold it to pay for his fee's

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

Guys, I commented on this development before you all did.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=26663220&postcount=4072

Just got back in and will address further posts in a moment, but please don't say I'm avoiding the discussions when its a lie. We're better than that.

No one is saying you support his actions, you've made it clear that you're on the side of the rights violations more so than the "attack" on Geo. Still, surprised you haven't posted much in this thread.

 

[nib95]

Lol at the people who donated money! Bwhahaha!

 

[poppabk]

The evidence is the data, not the physical harddrive.

It would be tampering with evidence in the same way that, if you had to supply a briefcase full of papers to the DA, but did not give them the key combination to open the lock. They'd have to spend an extra step opening the lock.

Yeah, he's fucking with Sony. That's kind of childish. It's not evidence tampering.

No it would be tampering with evidence in the same way as taking a bunch of documents and cutting them into small pieces would be. The information is still there.

 

[Ozzykamikaze]

If true, at least Sony won't be wasting any more cash and time on him.

Spoiler

unless they put a contract out for his head lol

I bet that would discourage some hackers.... haha

 

[Mailenstein]

Lol at the people who donated money! Bwhahaha!

lol at you for not being up to date. LOL.

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

Not gonna lie, looks cute in that picture!

 

[Gaz Pwnage]

Did you stop reading there? Clearly I present another option that he could have pre-booked everything for the trip well in advance. However, even in that scenario, you cannot pre-book food, and other miscellaneous expenses. He is still spending money, despite pleading for it.

It is in poor form to go on a vacation where you will spend money (more than you would normally) after asking people to donate their hard earned money for your cause (in this case, it's simply his own ass, not any moral cause).

No I did not stop reading there, you just happened to be the person I responded too.

Yes, you are talking sense, yes it is in poor form... but the whole point is how do you know the holiday/trip was not paid for by a 3rd party and is all inclusive, everything paid for including food and travel. How do you know its not some kind of business trip?

Ofcourse the likeliness of each scenario varies but that does not mean we know why he's there.

Some of the posts in this thread are insane, and im just trying to point out that we dont actually know whats going on or why he is there, nothing more, nothing less

 

[Arpharmd B]

No one is saying you support his actions, you've made it clear that you're on the side of the rights violations more so than the "attack" on Geo. Still, surprised you haven't posted much in this thread.

I support his actions wholeheartedly.

 

[nib95]

No it would be tampering with evidence in the same way as taking a bunch of documents and cutting them into small pieces would be. The information is still there.

Erm, that would still be considered tampering with evidence lol. if you're innocent and have nothing to hide there's really no reason to do such a thing.

 

[Nairume]

Lol at the people who donated money! Bwhahaha!

I really don't see how people potentially being scammed is a laughing matter.

 

[darkwing]

I recommend people read pages 22-23 of Sony's motion. Their description of the lengths geohot has gone to to frutstrate the court-ordered discovery is pretty interesting.

http://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...ifornia/candce/3:2011cv00167/235965/103/0.pdf

In light of Hotz’s failure to comply with his discovery obligations and the still outstanding third party jurisdictional discovery, SCEA proposed a two-week extension of all briefing and hearing deadlines relating to Hotz’s Motion to Dismiss. Bricker Decl., ¶5, Exh. D. Hotz refused, stating that SCEA would have its discovery by the time of the hearing. Id. He completely ignored the fact that SCEA’s opposition deadline was approaching. Hotz also rejected outright SCEA’s second attempt to arrange for an inspection of his PS3 Systems and tried to evade his court-ordered deposition, stating that it was unnecessary. Id.

Despite Judge Spero’s orders, Hotz continues to frustrate all attempts to complete jurisdictional discovery. In yet another attempt to avoid his deposition and a limited inspection of his impounded hard drives, on March 17, 2011, Hotz filed a motion for protective order on issues already decided by Judge Spero. (Docket No. 100.) On the same day, TIG discovered that prior to delivery, Hotz had removed integral components from his impounded hard drives, rendering them completely non-functional. Bricker Decl., ¶21, Exh. S. When SCEA echoed TIG’s request that the components of the hard drives be delivered immediately, Hotz’s counsel responded that Hotz was in South America.Id

TIG is the third party data recovery company?

 

[TOAO_Cyrus]

No it would be tampering with evidence in the same way as taking a bunch of documents and cutting them into small pieces would be. The information is still there.

There are degrees to things, Sony just has to spend a hundred bucks or so on an identical drive and swap out the components.

 

[IchigoSharingan]

Did you stop reading there? Clearly I present another option that he could have pre-booked everything for the trip well in advance. However, even in that scenario, you cannot pre-book food, and other miscellaneous expenses. He is still spending money, despite pleading for it.

It is in poor form to go on a vacation where you will spend money (more than you would normally) after asking people to donate their hard earned money for your cause (in this case, it's simply his own ass, not any moral cause).

If he used the donation money, it is poor form. If he used his own personal funds, it is not.

 

[railGUN]

So he didn't actually "flee" - and there is not a single shred of evidence he spent a dime of legal fee donation money on this trip... and yet this thread is about him fleeing and spending donation money on this trip.

 

[bathala]

he can pursue his rap career in South Afrimerica

 

[Evlar]

The point is, the neutral third party is refusing to scan the hard drive parts as they are. The issue will go before the judge, who will have to determine whether hard drive parts sans controller meet the intent of the discovery order or not.

 

[Curufinwe]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I seem to think that most lawyers would recommend that you hand over the bare minimum of information in legal proceedings.

A decent lawyer would tell you that not cooperating in the discovery phase, especially doing something like physically modifying hard drives to make them unusable, will lead to an angry judge and sanctions.

TIG is the third party data recovery company?

Yeah. There's an email from them floating around in this thread somewhere.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Sony is really going after this kid? Just look at him! he's just a helpless nerd looking for attention.

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

I support his actions wholeheartedly.

YOU are not Mamarobotnick.

 

[Zoe]

Okay, this part is pretty funny:

http://www.groklaw.net/pdf2/SonyvHotz-104-4.pdf

With regard to the scope of the inspection, SCEA, through its technical experts, intends to:

..


(4) Connect to the PlayStation Network (by creating a new user account) using each PS3 console identified by Mr. Hotz

I'm interested in his lawyer's response to that. I wonder if they actually understand the implications and will blindly agree to it considering the difficulty they have with PC hardware.