Hackers are comedians

Today I was browsing the web and some known games sites. Amongst my browsing, I usually visit hacking sites in order to figure out what’s been going on the PS3 in regards of piracy and other stuff. By touching this subject, and to not be mistaken or regarded as a pirate of some sorts, I do not approve the modification of PS3´s firmware to enable it to run custom applications. I visit these sites to gain information of the situation and out of my own curiosity. For example, I knew the PSN Store was compromised 2 weeks before the network went down. And I got to say I enjoy watching these so called “hackers” behaving like some kind of Robin Hood in the forums.  Which lead to make this blog. I will separate this in 2 topics to expose my thoughts on them.

1: Jack Tretton´s interview on NY Times.com – Kakaroto gave a response to that interview:

Kakaroto sent a response to the NYTimes.com regarding Jack Tretton´s interview over the hack subject that plagued Sony. In this response, Kakaroto called Jack Tretton a liar in regards of his answer to this question:

Q:_“Some hackers say Sony wants to deter customers from modifying the PlayStation3. Is that true?
A:_No, there’s a real misnomer there, we embrace independent game development; if you call that hacking, then we embrace that. We give people tools that let them create new experiences. What I don’t think we are in support of is someone trying to hack our device to pirate software and possibly collapse the platform.”

Kakaroto went on to say, amongst other things, this:

“While Apple has the App Store, Google has the Android Market and Microsoft has the XBox Live Indie Games program, Sony are the only ones who have not embraced the homebrew community and who are not allowing us to use our consoles the way we want to.”

After this response, I lolled! I mean, really?! Ever heard of Minis?! No?! I thought so! Best part is, those game on XBLIG require a fee to get the XNA club and to let developers run the games on Xbox360. One other aspect of the issue is that games on those markets are being charged MONEY. And Microsoft and Apple get a cut from it too. So they are not in it to “help” the community and share free software as you philosophically preach. It’s about the money! Sony are just protecting themselves, protecting their business. It’s all about the money for them too. Kakaroto went on saying that PS3 is “our property” and I agree with him. I can paint my PS3 pink and put a toaster case in it. It’s mine, I agree. What’s not mine is the OS. The Operating System in Sony´s intellectual property and specially a hacker should know, or at least understand, this. This has been common sense ever since software copyrights were imposed. You have to respect that. People spent time and money to develop it, it’s their “baby”, it’s their business and so they want recognition and subsequent profit from it. I see no wrong in that.
To end this subject, Kakaroto formed "The Humble Homebrew Collection" that consists in a petition to allow Sony to put these games on the PS3 with lower development costs. I believe this is a good move. I´m not particularly interested in buying homebrew games but I believe some people would like it. But… looking further down the page of the website, I see this Donation button. Uhm… I thought you guys were just in it for freedom and the all share stuff. So, you want money? What if Sony allowed you to put these games on the PSN Store? Will you want money from your games? Yes you do! Or would you go the “No, we just want money if ou like the game and donate to us.” So, it’s not about the money or is it???

2: shagratt71 indignation
In the same website kakaroto´s statement resides, scrolling down some lines, I found a user that goes by the name of shagratt71 who is a little bit upset about something. He released a type of media cabinet for Custom Firmware PS3´s. Here is a few quotes from his post:

“Originally Posted by shagratt71
The Media Cabinet Construction Kit v1.5 + Star Wars Expansion:

To obtain this package please make a minimum of a US $2.00 donation here: CLOSED

Download Package from here: CLOSED

Your PASSKEY will be sent within 24hours and all updates to the Media Cabinet and StarWars will be free after one donation upto v1.9. Please make sure you leave a message with your donation of where you would like the PASSKEY sent. - Thankyou.”

Seems harmless enough! New features for CFW and… a donation? So! You want money, right? You didn’t do this out of a hobby of free time in your hands? Or out o curiosity? You did this with the intent of getting money but you mask it by saying donation. Funny thing is, the community didn’t like the fact he blatantly asked for money and so he was forced to make a statement. Quote:

"Originally Posted by shagratt71
I will be making a statement in regard to all this contraversy as soon as time allows. In the mean time I have issued refunds to everyone who has sent donations. Sorry for any inconvenience.