Putting the past behind us: Sony and George Hotz reach a settlement

The PlayStation Blog has released a joint statement from Sony Computer Entertainment America and George “GeoHot” Hotz that the two parties in the recent litigation have settled their dispute out of court. The statement only discloses that Hotz has consented to a permanent injunction, presumably preventing him from further tinkering with the PS3’s security. Sony claimed it only sought to protect its intellectual property and maintain a secure environment for its consumers. Hotz commented, “It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” and that he’s happy to have the litigation behind him. The statement also puts forth that Hotz has not been involved in the recent attacks on the PlayStation Network and SCEA’s websites.

Hotz was trying to have the lawsuit dismissed, claiming that California did not have personal jurisdiction over him. That argument was made moot by the agreement all PSN users must consent to, which destroys any reasonable expectation that he could not be hailed to California courts.

Now that one of the two lawsuits they took action over has been taken care of, it’ll be interesting to see what “hacktivist” group Anonymous’ next move is.

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