I was trawling the internet for podcast news this morning and came across this story.Sony has won a decision in it’s never ending case against hacker George Hotz. While the decision is a little scary, that isn’t why the story caused me to post. I saw a commenter make a claim that I just couldn’t pass on talking about. So instead of trying to force feed the Wonderpod audience information I think is important, I will write about it. Makes me the nicest man on the planet and I deserve a cookie for it.

Okay so now that Pat and most of our audience has gone back to facebook, I will tell you what the comment was. “I stand by the statement that if you buy hardware, you can do what you wish with it. Hacking should be encouraged.” That is my personal opinion.” The comment came from William Kavanagh and you can find it with the story. Here’s the deal, I have seen this same comment all over the internet and I agree with it to a point. Hacking and modding has resulted in a lot of innovations that eventually get’s incorporated into all kinds of hardware we use. So there is a constructive use for messing around and seeing what a piece of tech can do. There is a darker side to hacking and it is one hackers themselves either don’t think about or are actively participating in.

Let’s take the George Hotz case for example. The gentleman claimed he hacked the PS3 security in response to the other OS debacle. Basically he did it so five people could put Linux on the console. I refuse to debate if that was his actual intention because it doesn’t really matter. What matters is what happened after he unleashed it on the internet. On the positive side the Linux mob got what they wanted. On the negative side George just opened the door for the all kinds of cheating, hacking and piracy on the PS3. Which means people ruining online play for others, cheating developers out of cash and stealing info from other users of the console. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems the negatives far out weight the positives here. You can understand why Sony is going to insane lengths to hammer Pandora back in her box. The line in the sand for me is the internet.

See a hacker creating something by itself is harmless. As I stated previously, it could lead to future innovations if placed in the right hands. It is the hackers job to get his work in the right hands and let them take it from there. If nothing else just use what you created for you own personal enjoyment. Take comfort in the fact you have worked hard and created something cool. Problem is hackers are human beings and they have egos. So instead of doing what I just suggested, they unleash their creation on the internet. The minute they do that, they go from being basement tinkerer to complete and total asshole. Because the second it is loose on the internet the hacker then loses all control over how his creation is used. In my mind once that is done, hackers lose all right to complain about what happens to them.

Look I know it sucks to toil in obscurity and we all want our fifteen minutes of fame. So I can sympathize with how hard it is to keep something you worked on below the radar. We all strive for public recognition for the things we create. The problem is your creations are ultimately going to harm the very people you want to impress. How do I know this to be true? Because I am someone who has created and modded electronics in the past. I have always been fascinated by cool designs and creative thinking. It is why I agreed with the commentators statement to a certain extent. That said the minute these creations start ruining my fun I am ready to punch the creator in the balls with an axe. As Glasenator say’s “hackers going to be hacking.” I just wish hackers would be a little more thoughtful about what they are doing. While I am at it, I also wish for a billion dollars and a pony.