Sony says hard drives were delievered with missing components.
March 23, 2011

Noted PlayStation 3 hacker George Hotz is currently enjoying his time in South America as Sony continues to build its case over the console's recent security breach.

New court documents reveal the hard drives Hotz was ordered to deliver were done so with key pieces missing. The Intelligence Group, the third-party group behind inspecting Hotz's hard drives for evidence, are now asking him to hand over the rest of the components.

"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," Sony says.

"Hotz's attempts to dodge this Court's authority raise very serious questions."

Sony also says he lied about having a registered PlayStation Network account, which establishes that Hotz agreed to the PSN User Agreement and is thus subject to personal jurisdiction in California. Sony says it traced serial numbers of PS3 consoles purchased by Hotz at GameStop.

"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.' The IP address associated with the registration is located in Glen Rock, New Jersey, where Hotz lives," the document says.

"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.'"

Update: Stewart Kellar, Hotz's attorney, has responded saying the missing hard drive parts have now been delivered.

"The 'integral components' SCEA is talking about are stock controller cards, not the hard drives themselves," Kellar told IGN in an e-mail. "The neutral subsequently had to explain to SCEA the form and function of hard drive controller cards. Those controller cards have since been provided to the neutral so the point is moot."

Kellar also states Hotz is using the donation money he received for the lawsuit only and will donate any leftover funds after the case has been resolved.

"You can never take a vacation from a lawsuit. Mr. Hotz has had to make himself available 24/7 for this litigation, which has been quite demanding on him," he said. "You have to remember that Mr. Hotz didn't choose to fight this battle, but now that he has been sued, he has put his heart into fighting this case that has enormous implications for consumers world-wide."

"As for any question as to whether Mr. Hotz has used donation money to take a trip to South America, that's pretty silly. Litigating against a massive company like Sony, who is represented by five attorneys, is very costly for a 21-year-old," Kellar added. "The donation money George has received is being used exclusively for his legal defense. If there are any funds left after the lawsuit, George is planning to donate the money to the EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation]."