I would like to elaborate on the "hacks" some bore witness to and most have seen pics

[Reigast]

That's not cool. =/ Why not mail them directly via the player support page? I'm sure they'd really apprieciate it if you helped them out. Might even get a reward, however menial it may be.

EDIT: and you might wanna edit out the sentence in that post concerning how the problem comes about. The staff may see that as information pertaining to the execution of reverse engineering/hacking (sorry if I used the wrong terminology, I don't claim to be a pro at this kinda thing.)

[<<Snowfox>>]

That's not cool. =/ Why not mail them directly via the player support page? I'm sure they'd really apprieciate it if you helped them out. Might even get a reward, however menial it may be.

Goes to clumsy. I'd have to find a way to somehow direcly contact someone with a brain thats not on an ego trip.

[Reigast]

That's definately not cool. Especially as if you did help to fix the error, it'd probably calm a lot of people down about "h4x".

Ah well, sorry I couldn't help =[

[jarl]

kudo's to not releasing it. Pity i can't get online, i'd be interested to see what all the fuss is about.

[<<Snowfox>>]

i just picked up my car, going to drive it around a bit see how it handles, i plan on being on psu around 8 mountain standard usa time. probably universe 3. first floor. i also have no problem with helping out sega, its the fact they try to cover everything up and ban me that pisses me off. claiming a game is unhackable is just asking for it to get thrashed anyways.

[Anti Hacker]

Your definition of "hacking" could not be more far from the actual than it is now. Hacking is gaining accesses to illegal or unauthorized content through computer prgramming. Guessing passwords would be cracking. Reverse engineering is exactly that reverse engineering, no more

Hacking is defined as:

"Unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system."

A game is a system of information. Information for entertainment, yes, but still it contains information. Some of that information should have been restricted to you, and you reverse engineered it. Which is, in fact, hacking. Cracking IS also hacking.

And It wasn't just the game you hacked, it was also XBOX live. Yes, you guessed it, that is a huge information system!

I have seen many hackers justify certain types of hacking by labelling them as different things. There have been many electronic sub-terms used by people to make illegal acts seem legal. Anyone heard of "Abandonware"? That was another good one. Abandonware is not legally recognised. Neither is claiming you cracked or reverse engineered instead of hacked an information system of any kind.

And you are right, SEGA do cover things up an insane amount.

[Reigast]

i just picked up my car, going to drive it around a bit see how it handles, i plan on being on psu around 8 mountain standard usa time. probably universe 3. first floor. i also have no problem with helping out sega, its the fact they try to cover everything up and ban me that pisses me off. claiming a game is unhackable is just asking for it to get thrashed anyways.

I just had an idea! Maybe you could go straight to microsoft or Sonic Team Japan and tell them?

[Lee Xao Vue]

Yeah especially as these boards are no longer 100% unofficial. We're kinda sponsored by SEGA now, so we're probably bound to communicate whatever we find here.

Also, reverse engineering is hacking. Hacking is gaining access to areas of software which should be restricted from your reach. Yes, Snowfox, even though you may not believe this; something as simple as guessing the password to a friends user log-on as a practical joke through trial and error is actually hacking. Fact. There is no disputing it.

And also allow me to point you towards section 3 of the computer misuse act of 1990 (Headed - "Unauthorised modification of computer material").



You're lucky you don't live in Europe or the UK Snowfox. I'm pretty sure you don't, and it's all a lot more relaxed in terms of the rules over there in the USA.

However, you could still have been caught out already. For a start you have posted about this on a UK board, and have offered to show UK or European players the hacking. If you have hacked and used that hacking on any of the servers or "Universes" that are actually physically stored in Europe or the UK you may already have a case against you. You do not need to be out of the US to be prosecuted under our widespread ICT legislation.

As section 4 of the computer misuse act states it is "immaterial" or "irrelivant" that you were outside this country as long as the effects of what you have done or taught to others in conspiracy are felt here.

If you ever appeared on an EU server on PSO Gamecube with hacks then you can probably already be prosecuted. If you have ever leaked hacking information (accidentally, intentionally or not - it doesn't really matter) to anyone who has caused trouble over here, again, you can already be prosecuted.

I'm not saying I hope you get screwed by the long arm of the ICT legislation law, I'm just saying... Watch your back. Especially as these boards are now affiliated with SEGA itself.

Also, SEGA of Europe will have had their own part to play in creating the actual game! If you hack even the US version of the game on an American system in the USA you can STILL be offending SEGA of Europe which would bring you under our legislation, probably. So be careful what you let slip, especially around here.

anti just owned you xD

[Phantom_RAcast]

Hacking is defined as:

"Unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system."

A game is a system of information. Information for entertainment, yes, but still it contains information. Some of that information should have been restricted to you, and you reverse engineered it. Which is, in fact, hacking. Cracking IS also hacking.

And It wasn't just the game you hacked, it was also XBOX live. Yes, you guessed it, that is a huge information system!

I have seen many hackers justify certain types of hacking by labelling them as different things. There have been many electronic sub-terms used by people to make illegal acts seem legal. Anyone heard of "Abandonware"? That was another good one. Abandonware is not legally recognised. Neither is claiming you cracked or reverse engineered instead of hacked an information system of any kind.

And you are right, SEGA do cover things up an insane amount.

The difference between the legality of reverse engineering and abandonware is that under US law reverse engineering is legal. Unless you're circumventing copy protection or DRM. UK law may different but he's not a UK citizen, he's not bound by UK laws.

As for reverse engineering being hacking it is not. Reverse engineering definitions:

The process of analysing an existing system to identify its components and their interrelationships and create representations of the system in another form or at a higher level of abstraction. Reverse engineering is usually undertaken in order to redesign the system for better maintainability or to produce a copy of a system without access to the design from which it was originally produced.

http://dictionary.reference.com/cite.htm...&ia=foldoc

With your own defintion of hacking, reverse engineering is not hacking. When you're reverse engineering you're merely looking at the program. You're not unauthorized to run the program are you?

[Anti Hacker]

You don't have to be bound by UK laws to be prosecuted by them in a roundabout way. I already explained that above.

Also, if you analyse something to identify invividual components they must be separated from the rest of the system. If you extract things, even just to view them, the system is still modified. If you redesign a system you again; have to modify it. Thus "ZOMG h4x!"

If that modification is un-authorised (and I'm pretty sure gaining access to a level 500+ character is restricted) then it's still illegal. If you engineer something, you don't merely look at it. Although looking and identifying may be mostly all there is, there is still modification. And also, what if you want to identify something you're un-authorised to view? To get into a position of viewing it would indeed, be hacking.