EFF says Sony's hacking suit sends a "dangrous message to researchers"

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called Sony's lawsuit against GeoHot and fail0verflow an act which could negatively impact legitimate security research.

According to the EFF, if Sony is successful in its suit against the PS3 hackers, those who are pursuing research into hardware security could be punished for publishing the findings.

"For years, EFF has been warning that the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be used to chill speech, particularly security research, because legitimate researchers will be afraid to publish their results lest they be accused of circumventing a technological protection measure," wrote the EFF.  "We've also been concerned that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could be abused to try to make alleged contract violations into crimes."

"We've never been sorrier to be right. These two things are precisely what's happening in Sony v. Hotz.

"Sony is sending another dangerous message: that it has rights in the computer it sells you even after you buy it, and therefore can decide whether your tinkering with that computer is legal or not. We disagree. Once you buy a computer, it's yours. It shouldn't be a crime for you to access your own computer, regardless of whether Sony or any other company likes what you're doing."

A rumor from earlier in the week stated that Sony plans to implement a new security feature in PS3 discs, which would require consumers to enter a serial key into the console before the game can be played.

Sony has yet to comment on the rumor.

Thanks, Gamespot.