117w ago - Last week Sony officially addressed PS3 piracy and PSN bans, and today IGN (linked above) reports that they are forming a PlayStation 3 Anti-Piracy Program and hiring online investigators to assist in protecting their Intellectual Property and overseeing anti-piracy civil lawsuits.

To quote: "Two new job listings posted on SCEA's Web site reveal the company is getting serious about PlayStation 3 software piracy.

Sony is looking for a new Senior Corporate Counsel and a Senior Paralegal for Anti-Piracy and Brand Protection. The main responsibilities include "assessing annual SCEA corporate anti-piracy needs and addressing the needs through developing and implementing an anti-piracy program."

• Senior Corporate Counsel, Anti-Piracy and Brand Protection - Requisition ID 02289
United States - California - San Francisco Bay Area - Foster City

• Senior Paralegal, Anti-Piracy and Brand Protection - Requisition ID 02288
United States - California - San Francisco Bay Area - Foster City

"The program to be developed will require a strong strategic online...

118w ago - Update: As expected, countless users in our PS3 Forums have confirmed receiving e-mail notices from Sony followed by their PlayStation 3 consoles being banned.

According to Mathieulh if you get error 0x8002A227 Sony banned your PS3 from the PSN.

Today Social Media Manager Jeff Rubenstein has posted the following statement from Sony Computer Entertainment on PS3 circumvention devices, piracy and PSN bans:

Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software.

Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the "System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System" and the "Terms of Services and User Agreement" for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions.

Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates...

122w ago - Previously we reported on a PSN ban rumor which was followed by speculation on preventing bans, and today Dutch site PS3-Sense (linked above) claims that according to SKFU Sony plans to combat PS3 piracy with Blu-ray disc serial keys.

Similar to what's been done with PC games in the past, when you buy a PS3 or PSN game you'll get a serial key with it which you can use up to 5 times.

This gives Sony a signal that you are authorized to play the game and that you have a legal copy of the game, and the serial key only works with the same Blu-ray disc with the same serial number.

To quote, roughly translated: "From a very reliable source (SKFU) we have heard a striking new feature of the PS3. The feature would be present even at the PlayStation Network but is currently still hidden.

It is a serial system which Sony will soon start working on. Since the root keys are on the street you can see every homebrew tool (including backup...

149w ago - According to THQ's VP Ian Curran in a recent interview with CVG (linked above) new anti-piracy technology utilized in the 3DS will be foolproof to cracks from illegal downloaders alongside digital distribution.

He stated that the "problem with the DS market in the last few years, particulary with the DS Lite, is that it's just been attacked by piracy."

Plans also include using the 3DS to move Nintendo's digital distribution forward according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata via Siliconera.com, to quote:

"We are thinking the release of new hardware should be good timing for a dramatic improvement of this situation. In addition to the function of '3D graphics without 3D glasses,' Nintendo 3DS will have enhanced wireless communication function.

Nintendo 3DS will receive various pieces of information automatically if there is a chance of communication while a user carries it even when he or she does not try to start communication pro-actively by unfolding Nintendo 3DS. By combining Nintendo 3DS with such function, we are now planning to expand our digital-distribution type of business."

163w ago - Despite some refunds being granted, today Sony UK has officially apologized for the OtherOS removal in the recently released PS3 Firmware 3.21 update citing PS3 piracy concerns as the underlying factor.

To quote from Sony's official statement to Thinq.co.uk (linked above):

"We are sorry if users of Linux or other operating systems are disappointed by our decision to issue a firmware upgrade which when installed disables this operating system feature.

We have made the decision to protect the integrity of the console and whilst mindful of the impact on Linux or other operating system users we nevertheless felt it would be in the best interests of the majority of users to pursue this course of action.

As you will be aware we have upgraded and enhanced functionality and features of the console by numerous firmware upgrades over time and this is a very rare instance...