Sony and PS3 hacker George "Geohot" Hotz recently came to a settlement concerning the lawsuit that the former brought against the latter for cracking the PS3's security. The settlement involved Hotz not being able to do anything that Sony allows him to do to any Sony product, including of course the PS3. It also bars him from helping others crack the security on all present and future Sony products.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter thinks that the settlement is a huge win for Sony. So, is it? Yes, of course it is.

Since the case was settled, it doesn't set a legal precedent for any future lawsuits of a similar nature. What it does do is put the fear of litigation into hackers who want to take a crack at Sony products. Sony is a big company, and it can easily bring a lot of resources to bear on whichever hacker poses a target and overwhelm them.

But what about Sony's image? There's a Sony boycott going around, and even Geohot has pledged his support to it. Will that really make Sony take notice and loosen its draconian product policies? I don't think so.

Does anybody still remember a little import shop called Lik Sang? Legal action from Sony forced it to shut down in October 2006 for selling Japanese PSPs to European gamers. It sounds totally contrary to what Sony wants to happen, which is sell more PSPs, and the fallout from the extensive coverage that the Lik Sang debacle got surely had a hand in the mere 9M+ sales that the PSP got that year. The PSP bounced back the next year wih 12M+ sales, however, and it continued into 2008.

My point is, people forget. A lot of the more casual gamers will likely have never heard of the Sony vs. Geohot case, not to mention the boycott. PS3 sales might take a bit of a dip in the near future, but with time they'll climb back up again.

Do you agree or disagree? What do you think this means for the common consumer? Sound off in the comments below or discuss this on the QJ.NET forums.

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