What’s the real motive behind cracking Sony’s PS3 console with hacks such as PSJailbreak and PSGroove? It actually has a lot more to do with innovation than piracy, according to modders who have been working on such projects.
In response to a society that automatically equates homebrew applications with illegal activity, the owner of OzModChips, one of the retailers who sold the PSJailbreak USB dongle, has spoken up to denounce the assertions that the devices should be outlawed.
“It’s the media’s narrow-minded view that modchips/hacking = piracy. This is not the case. It’s all about getting more out of your console. If unlocking homebrew on your console is piracy then you can say the same thing about jailbreaking an iPhone, which is now legal in the US,” he told nowgamer.com. “The fact that we have a homebrew-enabled console without opening it up is massive. It will take a while for all the good stuff to filter through, but it will be great to see which areas [of the PS3 hardware] are accessible.”
Indeed, some modders enjoy exploring the homebrew possibilities of a device just to see what it’s capable of, an arguably ethical use for PS3 & game console hacking. However, there is also the subcultures that are either in it just to make money or to figure out how to get games for free, and Sony would much rather have that cash going into its own coffers – as would the developers of the applications that are licensed for the PS3.
It’s arguable that those originally involved with the PSJailbreak were primarily in it for their own financial gain. Recent analysis shows that the components used to manufacture the device don’t come anywhere close to adding up to the product’s $150+ price tag, leading some to denounce it as a “snatch & grab” scam. That is, getting as many people to dork over their cash as quickly as possible until Sony shuts it all down.
But now that the PSGroove code has been released as an open-source tool, there are plenty of ways for people to experiment with the mod on their PS3 without shelling out over a hundred dollars for something that might not work tomorrow. And now the real innovation begins.
Someone has already figured out how to run homebrew applications on the PS3 by running a version of the PSGroove code on a smartphone connected to the console. And this is likely just the tip of the iceberg … again, until Sony shuts it all down.
And Sony will shut it down, despite the millions that they spend on security measures, because any innovation that takes place with homebrew isn’t occurring under Sony’s roof or on their payroll. This means that all of the control they enjoyed over the past 4 years since the console’s introduction is lost, and Sony is a corporation that values control as is demonstrated by their history of marketing proprietary hardware and inventing their own file formats. But it’s natural for a company to want to assert control over their inventions and “intellectual property”, isn’t it?
Striking a balance between corporate interests and personal interests in innovation is a seemingly eternal struggle.
I say that if you want to try these homebrew apps in order to explore what your PS3 console could be capable of, then have at it while you still can. And keep sharing that knowledge online with your peers who can take it and make it into something even bigger and better. After all, that’s the way great inventions happen.
