PS3 Hacker GeoHot and Sony Agree to Lawsuit Settlement

Sony announced today that SCEA and George Hotz have reached a settlement in the high-profile case filed earlier this year. Details weren't shared except to say that Hotz has agreed to a permanent injunction.

Hotz was reportedly responsible for uncovering the PlayStation 3's root key or, as Sony puts it in the official statement, he was accused of "violating federal law by posting online information about the security system in the PlayStation 3 videogame console and software that SCEA claimed could be used to circumvent the security system in the console and allow the playing of pirated videogames." He denies that this is the case, and was clearly not worried (at least publicly) following the lawsuit being filed. Sony had been trying to get the case tried in California as opposed to his home state of New Jersey, which some claimed was an underhanded tactic meant to balloon Hotz's legal fees.

"Sony is glad to put this litigation behind us," said SCEA general counsel Riley Russell in a statement. "Our motivation for bringing this litigation was to protect our intellectual property and our consumers. We believe this settlement and the permanent injunction achieve this goal."

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