On Wednesday, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe along with German police raided the home of graf_chokolo, a renowned hacker. They seized computer equipment and a PlayStation 3 console. The unexpected visit did not dissuade the rebellious man known in real life as Alexander Egorenkov, however. He still uploaded his work on reverse engineering the console's hypervisor and re-implementing Linux capabilities Sony originally included in the machine, but later removed.
According to the hacker, he will never stop - even as Sony sues him for 1 million Euros.
Despite a judge's order and police raid, Egorenkov released his works into the wilds of the internet. It popped up on sites like PS3Crunch, who willingly linked to the files. The site was then hit with a legal ultimatum of its own: remove the links to Egorenkov's work, or risk being counted as cohorts.
The legal notice - which can be viewed here - describes the files posted by the site as in violation of international copyright law. It concludes with a request to remove the offending material or face "all available legal and equitable remedies." The site complied, noting "don't worry though, you can find the file elsewhere."
In the interest of not receiving a nice little letter ourselves, we will leave the internet sleuthing to you.
Egorenkov blogged defiantly that it doesn't matter how much Sony wants out of him. If anything, the hacker proclaimed, a bigger fine would only motivate him that much more. He dramatically wrote, "If you want me to stop then you should just kill me."
This is likely only the beginning of the latest anti-hacking case being pursued by Sony. And if Egorenkov's comments are any indication, this story might give the Sony v. Hotz et al lawsuit a run for its money.
