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Sony Sues Hacker for Selling Jailbroken PS4s on eBay

Sony bought two of the jailbroken consoles sold via eBay, allegedly by a California man. Bundled with one of the consoles was instructions on how to run the 'exploit' software code to break Sony's anti-piracy protections, the company's lawsuit claims.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Sony is suing a California man for allegedly selling hacked PlayStation 4 consoles that can run pirated games.

The company's lawsuit, first spotted by TorrentFreak, claims that Eric David Scales is a game pirate who's been offering the jailbroken PS4 consoles on eBay under the handle "Blackcloak13." Sony investigated the sales, and alleges that Scales modified the game systems to beat the company's anti-piracy measures.

Jailbroken PS4 EBay

To investigate, Sony bought two of the jailbroken consoles on eBay, both of which were pre-loaded with more than 60 pirated PS4 game titles as advertised, the lawsuit said. Bundled with one of the consoles was instructions on how to run the "exploit" software code to break the Sony's anti-piracy protections and directions on how to download more pirated games.

Sony's lawsuit didn't go into technical details about the exploit code, but the company claims it allowed the jailbroken console to play any games copied over to the PS4's hard drive.

How did Sony link Blackcloak13 to Scales? When Sony received the jailbroken packages, they had a return address bearing the name Eric Sales of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Blackcloak13 also wasn't quiet about his activities. The game pirate had his own website promoting the hacked PS4 consoles. On the website, Blackcloak13 claims that he's been a modding since 2006. "I do this for the gamers," the hacker writes. "Why keep giving money to these big companys [sic] for games. They only take from you and give nothing back."

Blackcloak13

Sony is demanding Scales pay damages for the copyright and intellectual property rights' infringement. Scales could not be immediately reached for comment.

This is not the first time Sony has sued someone for hacking a PlayStation console. In 2011, the company took American hacker George Hotz to court for releasing code to modify a PS3 to dual boot another operating system. In fighting the legal battle, Sony argued it was protecting its intellectual property. The two parties later agreed to a settlement.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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