Not to be outdone by Microsoft, Sony has also made an announcement recently about some behavior it will readily and quickly wield the perma-ban-hammer against. However, while Microsoft was doing the considerably more noble thing of reducing it’s audience for the sake of keeping venomous and hateful speech out of it’s games and therefor improving the experience for everyone, Sony is just trying to protect its assets.

…so… yeah. Go team?

Anyway, last month a hacking group released an LV0 decryption key that would give software designers and fellow hackers a quick and easy way to subversively undercut any and all security codes within the Playstation 3 system, allowing for these hackers, software designers and firmware creators free reign to create as much firmware and custom software as they want for the system. Their intentions were even a little bit noble, as the creators of this LV0 decryption key only released it when a group of Chinese pirates were caught selling it. “You can be sure that if it wouldn’t have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day,” the group said in a statement. “Only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now.”

Naturally, Sony hasn’t taken too kindly to the idea that every single security measure it could potentially take being rendered useless. Therefor, it has recently announced that anyone found using any unauthorized software on their PS3 system will receive a permanent ban from ever using their PS3, on the grounds that it violates the license agreement. “Violation of the System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 system invalidates the consumer’s right to access that system. Consumers running unauthorized or pirated software may have their access to the PlayStation Network and access to Sony Entertainment Network services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.”

Let it never be said that your Sony Overlords are not without compassion, however. “To avoid permanent termination, consumers must immediately cease using and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems… to help provide a safe, fair, online environment.”

So it looks like Sony is giving you a chance to remove all your crap from your software before they start dishing out the pain, as it were. That, or you can just not connect to the Playstation Network, if the idea bothers you too much.

…my opinions on this news development will be withheld, for everyone’s sanity.