A law on PSP firmware updates and homebrews?

Just recently, Birdman ran an article concerning the legality of firmware updates for the Sony PlayStation Portable console. The post by hey u at the Sony forums, generated lots of comments. He argued that updating firmwares can be considered a legal transaction and since minors are not allowed to enter in a contract, the update is void. With this, hey u claimed that Sony has the responsibility to downgrade the minor’s PSP firmware to its original conditions.

In his words, hey u said, “Well, it seems I may be on to something. I was thinking, that since a minor may not enter into a contract, which is what an update is, sony would have to restore it to its original condition if a minor updated it. Now the problem is, how do you prove that a minor updated it?  It sux, because I would definately pull this on them if I could prove I updated. Any thoughts, I mean someone should video tape themself with their Photo ID in the pic, and update, thenget sony in court and see if they would comply. They would have to…… Its The Law!!!”

hey u has a point in his post, but then we don’t think Sony would honor such a claim. In the first place, you must first prove in court that the person is indeed a minor. Someone even commented, “Homebrew is already completely legal under the Fair Use act. Sony cannot legally bind ANYONE to an illegal contract, which is what they’re trying to do when they make you update.” But we haven’t checked if this is true.

Just a quick tour down memory lane, the 1.00 version of the first launch Japanese-only PSP allows homebrews to run in its system. When it was upgraded to 1.5 firmware, also called the golden firmware, hackers were able to hack the codes to allow homebrews like DevHook to run. DevHook allows PSP users to emulate up to 2.71 firmwares so you could opt not to upgrade your current 1.5 firmware.

Sony has tried to entice PSP users to upgrade their firmwares by adding new features in new firmwares. Take for example the current firmware which is in 2.81. It allows the PSP to download videos and images from RSS content and a 3.0 firmware is already rumored to be on its way which will be able to host PS1 games on your PSP.

Via Sony PlayStation forum

Just recently, Birdman ran an article concerning the legality of firmware updates for the Sony PlayStation Portable console. The post by hey u at the Sony forums, generated lots of comments. He argued that updating firmwares can be considered a legal transaction and since minors are not allowed to enter in a contract, the update is void. With this, hey u claimed that Sony has the responsibility to downgrade the minor’s PSP firmware to its original conditions.

In his words, hey u said, “Well, it seems I may be on to something. I was thinking, that since a minor may not enter into a contract, which is what an update is, sony would have to restore it to its original condition if a minor updated it. Now the problem is, how do you prove that a minor updated it?  It sux, because I would definately pull this on them if I could prove I updated. Any thoughts, I mean someone should video tape themself with their Photo ID in the pic, and update, thenget sony in court and see if they would comply. They would have to…… Its The Law!!!”

hey u has a point in his post, but then we don’t think Sony would honor such a claim. In the first place, you must first prove in court that the person is indeed a minor. Someone even commented, “Homebrew is already completely legal under the Fair Use act. Sony cannot legally bind ANYONE to an illegal contract, which is what they’re trying to do when they make you update.” But we haven’t checked if this is true.

Just a quick tour down memory lane, the 1.00 version of the first launch Japanese-only PSP allows homebrews to run in its system. When it was upgraded to 1.5 firmware, also called the golden firmware, hackers were able to hack the codes to allow homebrews like DevHook to run. DevHook allows PSP users to emulate up to 2.71 firmwares so you could opt not to upgrade your current 1.5 firmware.

Sony has tried to entice PSP users to upgrade their firmwares by adding new features in new firmwares. Take for example the current firmware which is in 2.81. It allows the PSP to download videos and images from RSS content and a 3.0 firmware is already rumored to be on its way which will be able to host PS1 games on your PSP.

Via Sony PlayStation forum