Sony subpoenas PlayStation hacker's PayPal records
updated 11:40 pm EDT, Wed March 16, 2011
Company seeks records covering two years
Sony has moved to subpoena PlayStation hacker George Hotz' PayPal records, as the company continues to push for its anti-jailbreaking lawsuit to stay in California. Despite the focus on a PS3 jailbreak that only emerged several months ago, Judge Joseph Spero granted the company's request to gain access to all of Hotz' PayPal records spanning from 2009 to 2011.
The same judge recently granted a request that will allow Sony to view the IP addresses of all visitors to Hotz' jailbreaking website. Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have criticized the judge's compliance with requests that are criticized as overreaching and overly broad.
It remains unclear if PayPal will resist the subpoena, though such as move is thought to be unlikely. The case is still in its initial stages, as both of the recent subpoenas are focused on determining the jurisdiction. If some of the case is moved to Hotz' home state of New Jersey, Sony may no longer be able to push several of its claims that are based on California law. [via CrunchGear]
