George Hotz Runs Away to South America; Lies About Having PSN Account

[Chaos Raiden]

After the judge demanded George Hotz gives in his devices and hard drives, the PlayStation 3 hacker ran away to South America to avoid handing his possessions in and now has put his case in extreme jeopardy. The hacker also lied about having a PlayStation Network account. GeoHot has finally been caught out.

An official document (found here) filed by Sony from the Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC v. Hotz case recently detailed Hot’z recent actions. It said:

Though the evidence establishing personal jurisdiction is already overwhelming, SCEA has little doubt that there is much more. However, 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. 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.

Additionally, Sony said:

When SCEA echoed TIG’s request that the components of the hard drives be delivered immediately, Hotz’s counsel responded that Hotz was in South America.

The hacker also lied about having a PSN account:

On January 12, 2011, Hotz submitted a declaration to the Court (Docket No. 19-1) in which he made unequivocal statements on a number of topics. However, when it came to discussing the PSN account, Hotz equivocated, stating: “To the best of my knowledge and belief, I do not have a PlayStation Network account.” Hotz also provided interrogatory responses that he has refused to verify, stating that he has not accessed the PSN. Bricker Decl. ¶4.Hotz identified four PS3 Systems in his possession. Bricker Decl., ¶4, Exh. C. He explained that he had purchased one of these consoles new in February 2010 and provided the serial number for that console. Id. 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. Law Decl., ¶6; Bricker Decl., ¶6, Exh. E. SCEA’s records show that the same PS3 System was used on March 10, 2010 to create a PSN account under the user name “blickmanic.” Law Decl., ¶6, Exh. A. The IP address associated with the registration is located in Glen Rock, New Jersey, where Hotz lives.

Then, more evidence regarding his PSN account was discovered:

Hotz’s ownership of the “blickmanic” account is further supported by the fact that an Internet search of the user name “blickmanic” reveals a posting discussing the jailbreaking of cellular phones – Hotz’s original “claim to fame.” Bricker Decl., ¶7, Exh. F (“Just curious what people would pay for exclusive rights to this solution. [Motorola] Tracfone W175g unlocked and debranded. PM me.”) As discussed above, to create his PSN account, Hotz was required to first agree to the terms of the PSN User Agreement and thus he is clearly subject to personal jurisdiction in California. It is well established that a valid and enforceable forum selection clause operates as consent to personal jurisdiction in a designated forum.

Sony continued that even without his PSN account breach evidence, they already have enough evidence against him:

Although Hotz’s PSN account registration clearly establishes jurisdiction, even without it, SCEA has shown the necessary minimum contacts between Hotz and California.

Oh, boy; it’s going off big now.

Source: http://vghq.net/2011/03/23/george-hotz-runs-away-to-south-america-lies-about-having-psn-account/

 

[Darth Angelo]

This is like something out of a movie xD

 

[Esura]

Well, the idiot didn't actually flee. From what I've read from other fillings, he already told the judge ahead of time about going to South America.

 

[Angelo Credo]

Well, the idiot didn't actually flee. From what I've read from other fillings, he already told the judge ahead of time about going to South America.

Indeed, he didn't flee, turns out he went on holiday instead.
Though he claims none of the money donated for his legal fees went to funding the trip, and that he'd planned the holiday before the lawsuit even came up, it still doesn't exactly help his case in the eyes of the public, least of all in the eyes of the jury.
Will be interesting to see how this turns out in the end.

 

[Darth Angelo]

http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comme...hot.com-then-sony-is-getting-your-ip-address/

They want to be careful with the whole scaremongering thing, if they start pushing the little guy around they could learn another harsh lesson about the internet. ****ed off customers trigger mass boycotts, then they actually will start losing money. The jailbreak was supposedly specifically designed to not enable game piracy so this isn't even about losing money this is just "don't mess with us or else!" tactics.