South Africa busts pro PS3 jailbreaking operation
updated 12:45 pm EDT, Fri August 5, 2011
Raid is 1st arrest in the world for PS3 pirating
Police in South Africa have raided a residence in Parktown, Johannesburg after receiving criminal complaints from the South African Federation Against Copyright Theft (SAFACT). The police seized original PS3 games and numerous jailbreak USB devices, which are used to defeat security features and allow pirated games to be played. Authorities believe the games were used as master copies. The police also seized PS3 consoles, computers, hard drives, circumvention software packages, documentation and copies of PS2 games.
One suspect has been arrested. Bail was set at R10,000 ($1,446), with the next court appearance set for September 29. The suspect, who is of Pakistani origin, also was forced to surrender his passport.
The raid was conducted by the South African Police Service’s Commercial Crime Unit, with assistance from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Computer Forensics Lab. A spokesman for SAFACT said the raid was the first in the world for PS3 pirating. The spokesman said similar raids would be conducted across South Africa soon. [via TechSmart (South Africa)]
