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Hotz, the lawyers claimed, "re-enabled" OtherOS functionality, or the ability to dual-boot the PlayStation 3 using some other OS, such as Linux.
In a statement, the lawyers indicated that they will try to argue that a user has the right to use the PlayStation 3 has he or she sees fit, rather than be subject to the ongoing control of the manufacturer.
"Make no mistake," Stewart Kellar, intellectual property attorney stated, "This case is not about Sony attempting to protect its intellectual property or otherwise seek bona fide relief from the court. Rather, it's an attempt from Sony to send a message that any individual using Sony hardware in a way Sony does not deem appropriate will result in harsh legal consequences from a multi-billion dollar company, irrespective of any legal basis or authority for such action."
Kellar calls himself an "e-ttorney at law and specializes in representing defendants in copyright and peer-to-peer file-sharing cases, according to his Web site.
The Hotz case could hinge on several class-action suits that were filed last year after Sony removed the "OtherOS" functionality. Those suits, which have been consolidated in a collective class action, are currently involved in resolving disputes in the discovery phase, where evidence is collected. A hearing in a Northern California district court overseen by Judge Edward M. Chen is set for February.
The OtherOS functionality originally shipped as one of the core features of PlayStation 3, as well as the ability to run older PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 games. Over time, however, Sony began stripping out some of the functionality from its consoles; the latest "Slim" versions of the PS3 can neither run the PS2 games or enable OtherOS. Sony also disabled the OtherOS functionality from older consoles via the version 3.21 update in April 2010.
SCEA filed suit against George Hotz (AKA "geohot") as well as "Bushing," Hector Martin Cantero, Sven Peter, and others alleged to be part of the FAIL0VERFLOW group of hackers that contributed to the release of the PlayStation 3's root key.
SCEA charged Hotz and the others with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other violations. SCEA also asked the court for a temporary restraining order preventing the plaintiffs from posting any code, including the so-called Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm keys, encryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter, or other tools.
The latter pieces of code allowed users to run "homebrew" operating systems on the console. Sony, however, has argued that doing so facilitated piracy and undermined the quality controls that it had placed in the console. Still, Hotz's lawyers said that consumers had a right to the OtherOS functionality.
"While most companies issue firmware upgrades to increase a product's abilities over its life cycle, Sony has taken the unacceptable and draconian approach of decreasing the PS3's capabilities by actually destroying a core feature of the PS3," Yasha Heidari, managing partner with Heidari Power Law Group in Atlanta, said in a statement. "Imagine taking in your car for an oil change and having the manufacturer remove your car's air conditioner, radio, and half its horsepower because of fears that other hypothetical individuals might abuse their vehicles. It just doesn't make any sense, and it's a slap in the face to the consumers that put their support behind the product."
