PS3 hack case: Sony says GeoHot lied to court, fled to South America [Updated]

A recent court document filed by Sony’s legal team in opposition of PS3 hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz’s motion to dismiss the case against him for lack of jurisdiction alleges that Hotz has been uncooperative during the investigation and may have fled the United States in an effort to avoid the legal action against him that began in January.

The motion, filed on March 18th by Sony attorney James Gilliland Jr. in the US District Court in Northern California accuses Hotz of not cooperating with multiple court orders to hand over the hard drive of his personal computer and fleeing to South America.

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“Over the last several weeks Hotz has engaged in a campaign to thwart jurisdictional discovery at every turn – regardless of whether the Court has ordered such discovery or not,” the motion claims. “Most seriously, after Magistrate Judge Spero ordered an inspection of Hotz’s devices and ordered Hotz to appear at a deposition in California, SCEA learned that Hotz had deliberately removed integral components of his impounded hard drives prior to delivering them to a third party neutral and that Hotz is now in South America, an excuse for why he will not immediately provide the components of his hard drives as requested by the neutral.  Hotz’s attempts to dodge this Court’s authority raise very serious questions.”

The motion also claims that Hotz lied to the court about having a PSN account.

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"Hotz identified four PS3 Systems in his possession. He explained that he had purchased one of these consoles new in February 2010 and provided the serial number for that console. SCEA used that serial number to determine that on February 25, 2010, Hotz purchased the PS3 System at a Gamestop store just miles from his home,” the motion alleges. “CEA's records show that the same PS3 System was used on March 10, 2010 to create a PSN account under the user name 'blickmanic.' The IP address associated with the registration is located in Glen Rock, New Jersey, where Hotz lives."

All of this really sounds too dramatic to be true, but then again Hotz isn’t exactly known for his subtlety. Check back with MyCE for more information on this saga as it develops.

*Update*

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Hotz posted to his personal blog Wednesday afternoon, claiming that he is simply on vacation and has not fled the country:

"Factually, it's true I'm in South America, on a vacation I've had planned and paid for since November. I mean, it is Spring break; hacking isn't my life. Rest assured that not a dime of legal defense money would ever go toward something like this. And of course Townsend loves the idea of painting me as an international fugitive. I have been in contact with my lawyers almost every day; I would not let the case suffer. That said, I also won't let this ridiculous lawsuit run my life either. Then the fearmongerers win."

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