2011 started out pretty badly for Sony, with a group of hackers known as failOverflow announcing that they had cracked open the PS3’s security routines using Sony’s own authorisation keys. As it turned out, infamous hacker George “Geohot” Hotz was behind the breakthrough.

“Every PS3 executable file is encrypted, or signed, using private ciphers only available (in theory) to Sony itself. Fail0verflow are now in possessionvof all of the encryption keys Sony uses,” said Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry experts. With the security keys out in the wild, pretty much anyone can create software for the PS3. The hack essentially opens the PS3 up to the world of Homebrew software, allowing hobbyists to code and release all sorts of custom software for the PS3.

Of course, this means that it is possible to not only run pirated games on the PS3, but it is also easier than ever to use hacks in online games. Hacking has become so prevalent on the Modern Warfare 2 PS3 servers that an Activision employee suggested shutting them down altogether as a viable solution.

Sony has since taken Geohot to court over the matter, and today marks the company’s first notable stride forward in the case. The court has granted Sony a temporary restraining order against the hackers responsible for the security breach in order to prevent “immediate and irreparable damage to SCEA”. Of course this is just a temporary measure until the court case gets properly underway.

The court papers suggest that Sony has a strong case going into proceedings, stating that Sony “has shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims for violation of the DMCA and CFAA, and that it will suffer irreparable harm unless Defendant Hotz’s violations are enjoined.”

Specifically,  Geohot and his team of hackers are legally prevented from doing the following:

1. Offering to the public, creating, posting online, marketing, advertising, promoting, installing, distributing, providing, or otherwise trafficking in any circumvention technology, products, services, methods, codes, software tools, devices, component or part thereof, including but not limited to the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (“ECDSA”) Keys, encryption and/or decryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter program, Signing Tools, 3.55 Firmware Jailbreak, root keys, and/or any other technologies that enable unauthorised access to and/or copying of PS3 Systems and other copyrighted works (hereinafter, “Circumvention Devices”).

2. Providing links from any website to any other website selling, offering for sale, marketing, advertising, promoting, installing, importing, exporting, offering to the public, distributing, providing, posting, or otherwise trafficking in any Circumvention Devices.

3. Engaging in acts of circumvention of TPMs in the PS3 System to access, obtain, remove, or traffic in copyrighted works.

4. Engaging in unauthorised access to the PS3 System or the PlayStation Network in order to obtain, access, or transmit any program, code, information or command therein.

5. Publishing, posting, or distributing any information, code, program, instructions, video, or other mateiral obtained by circumventing TPMs in the PS3 System or by engaging in unauthorised access to the PS3 Sysytem or the PSN.

6. Assisting, facilitating or encouraging others to engage in the conduct set forth above in Nos. 1-5.
Furthermore, Geohot has been given 10 days to hand over an storage devices containing his hack software.