A PS3HaX member mallory released his tools to reactivate your legally purchased PSN games, here is a quote from his thread:

Here is v2. Now unself2 and readself2 have the NPDRM magic too. Trying to use unself2 on one of my game stops with an unknown section type error. That section is of type 3 and it looks like it is some kind if linking info. Look in the readme for more information.

And a quote from the Read Me:

Based off of gitbrew’s 215d8903bc86539ca1da53519e2ac10eeafc4c27
ps3tools. .git folder not included to protect senstive info about the author.
Sorry about the fucked up tabs, TAB = 4 SPACES 4 LYFE!!!
Add the files in the npdrm_keystuff folder to your ps3 keys folder. Create a
file with your console’s 16 byte IDPS in the ‘idps’ file in your ps3 keys
folder (e.g. ~/.ps3/idps).
Copy your PS3′s exdata folder containing your act.dat and rif files to your
ps3 keys dir (e.g. ~/.ps3/exdata/act.dat). Compile and have fun with your
LEGALLY purchased NPDRM games!

Also works on free games without exdata/idps.

Apologies for any existing bugs in unself. Adding these changes to
unself2 is left as an exercise for the reader.

v2 info:
Added npdrm magic to unself2 and readself2
unself2 doesn’t like the metadata section with type 3 in my game.
This section looks to be some kind of linking information. Here is a snippet:
crt0:p190002crt1:p190002libaudio_stub:p190002libaudio_stub:p190002

I haven’t yet looked around to see if this is type of section is documented anywhere.

Thanks:
fail0verflow for the orginal tools
JuanNadie for figuring out NPDRM
euss for his endless hours of work on the wiki

Why didn’t you beat me to the punch, Team PS360? I didn’t need to reverse a
single instruction! It isn’t that hard…

Source And Download

UPDATE
mallory has updated his work to v.3, here is a quote from his post:

unself2 now ignores metadata sections of type 3 instead of aborting. Additional help with any remaining bugs would be greatly appreciated.

I’m sorry if everyone got the impression that these unself/readself modifications can, by themselves, “reactivate” your NPDRM content. These are just the first steps in the process. To those who say this is useless because you need act.dat and rif files: unless you can get unencrypted (debug) or easily decrypted (free, demos) PSN content, the only way to get the unencrypted files is by decrypting it with act.dat and the content’s rif file. There are no “crypto fails” here, proper decryption with the true keys is the only way forward. Using the NPDRM algo with the right keys is the only way to decrypt unless you let GameOS do it for you and hook into GameOS to either grab intermediate keys or dump decrypted content. Using hacks to restore the NPDRM decryption info to jailbroken PS3s is only a partial fix. For instance, unless you patch vsh or set the SRTC to some time in the past, some content (even non-demos and non-trials!) expires until you log into PSN and reauthenticate.

Sorry about your “technical difficulties”, Team PS360. You should L2IRC.

Source And Download

And just when you thought all the fun stuff with PSN was over. According the the PSBlog, PSN incurred another minor attack which affects 0.1% of PSN accounts. The breach was minor but it did still occur. As a preemptive measure Sony is now “requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt”. Oh and just a reminder if you were affected, you waived your right to sue.

To quote:

We want to let you know that we have detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database. These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks. We have taken steps to mitigate the activity.

Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.

As a preventative measure, we are requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt. If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password.
Similarly, the SOE accounts that were matched have been temporarily turned off. If you are among the small group of affected SOE customers, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will advise you on next steps in order to validate your account credentials and have your account turned back on.

We want to take this opportunity to remind our consumers about the increasingly common threat of fraudulent activity online, as well as the importance of having a strong password and having a username/password combination that is not associated with other online services or sites. We encourage you to choose unique, hard-to-guess passwords and always look for unusual activity in your account.

A group of gamers have set up a website, and are offering to send Opt-Out letters to either Sony Or EA, which will break the mandatory binding arbitration, imposed on you by these two companies, here is a quote from the source:

Gamers Opt Out is a collective of gamers who are sick of absurd EULAs from game companies. These EULAs have clauses preventing class-action lawsuits, though you can opt out of the clauses by sending a letter. We want to make it easier for everyone to opt out because Sony, EA, et al, believe most people won’t bother to. Let’s show them they’re wrong.

We will make it easy for you to create the letter needed to send to these companies and can even send the letter on your behalf at no cost. All we ask is that if you like what we are doing, spread the word or donate to help with the cost of paper and postage.

Source

Whilst we do think that this is a good idea, we have to warn you, that you will have to fill in your personal details, such as PSN username and home address, if you are not comfortable with this DO NOT use the service, also we are no way affiliated with them.

Thanks to both Alycan and Mr.Goodfrag for the news.

There is going to be a big debate around this, we were unsure if we should post or not, but this is huge news in the PS3 Scene.

A group known as “Duplex” has done what no one else has managed to and decrypt/crack PSN games, that are fully playable on 3.55 CFW, what this could mean for us, is that we could possibly unlock the PSN games that we own, that lost their deactivation’s through various actions committed on the PS3, here is a quote from “Duplex”:

Since no scene group managed yet, we thought it’s time to work on some
PSN games to give everyone something to play for CFW 3.55
Fully decrypted .elfs are included as proof and of course for
educational purposes

They have managed to crack the following games:

Critter Crunch
Savage Moon
Galaga Legions DX
Ricochet HD
Spare Parts
Deadliest Warrior Legends
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Earthworm Jim HD
Deadliest Warrior The Game
Dream Chronicles
Castle Crashers
Bomberman Ultra
BloodRayne Betrayal
Blast Factor
Beyond Good and Evil HD
Bejeweled 2
Alien Breed Trilogy

We do not condone piracy, so no linking to any of these files, the reason for this thread, is merely for news, anyone providing any such links, will immediately be banned, without warning.

Stay tuned for more breaking scene news at PS3Hax.

The recent ToS change for the PS3, makes you waive your legal rights, has a 30 day Opt Out clause, You must send Sony a letter within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS

Washington attorney Thomas Buscaglia, who specializes in games

States “”This really sort of sucks because it is doubtful that any individual could afford to sue them,” explained Washington attorney Thomas Buscaglia, who specializes in games. “Not sure how enforceable it will be, but I think it it would be really cool if gamers started to circulate a form opt out rejection of these terms and mailed them in.”

“If you do not wish to be bound by the binding arbitration and class action waiver in this Section 15,” reads the Terms of Service, “you must notify SNEI [Sony Network Entertainment] in writing within 30 days of the date that you accept this agreement.”

“This is certainly not standard practice by any standards…in fact it may well not be enforceable,” said Buscaglia. “Time will tell on that one. The US Federal Trade Commission and various state consumer protection agencies could have a problem with it. Also, some courts might not allow it to be enforced due to existing state court precedent.”

SOURCE

The source also confirms , at the moment, this ToS solely applies to US and does not affect EU/Australia yet.

I suspect they are trying to live up to their slogan, “It only does everything”…

Now screw’s you in the a$$

Well im sure some of you have been trying to access the PlayStation network, but with difficulty, that will because the network is down, with Sony having “no idea” of when it will be back up, this throws back to memories of the whole PSN hacking fiasco, now nothing is confirmed and no reasons are given, but here are a few tweets, from the official twitter accounts of @Playstation and @PlaystationEU.

Im personally hoping that it isn’t hacked, really want to grab my Free Resident Evil games, but if it is hacked, it is understandable, considering the nasty new TOS they rolled out and how long will it take them to tell us it is hacked.

If it isn’t hacked, then what is the reason, comments welcome below.

Alright folks it seems as the project by Blipi called RNA: (Real Network Access) is sadly come to a stop for the time being. But the good news is that Blipi will be releasing the source code so that someone else here in the scene can pick up where he left off.

This homebrew was to allow custom firmware users to network their games with others, even sync trophies and have a friends list. It will only work with games that have the lan option such as cod, mx vs atv, red dead redemption, and others alike.

here is a link to the official RNA project site

https://bitbucket.org/blipi/rna/src

[VIA PS3Crunch]

Recently Sony went through some changes, regarding the naming of some of it services, it has renamed its Qriocity service to S.E.N(Sony Entertainment Network), with that name change and its restructuring of the S.N.E.A/S.N.E.I services, came a some what Controversial New T.O.S, i wont use shocking as nothing that Sony does in regards to its loyal customers is a shock anymore, not that i will be getting into the root kits and removal of OtherOS, i will stay with the subject at hand, the new T.O.S:

Throughout most of the T.O.S, you will see loads of red text and red lines running through text, one thing that caught my eye was the striking out of key words like purchasing and owning, that were replaced with “licensing”, so what that basically means, that any product you “buy”, is no longer yours as you are only licensing it, or in other words renting it, until such times Sony removes that service/feature, a quote from article #4:

Your existing PSN wallet will be used forto purchase of content licenses or services offered on QriocitySEN. You must transition your QriocitySEN account to a PSN account for purchase ofto license content or purchase services available on PSN.

Now whilst that is quite bad in itself, the main reason for this article, which was brought to my attention, by PS3/aMSN Developer KaKaRoTo via Twitter, is chapter 15 of the T.O.S, which is an Individual Binding Arbitration, which with it being a PSN T.O.S, means it is an mandatory binding arbitration, as you HAVE to agree to it in order to use the service, here is a quote of what a binding arbitration means, pay close attention to the part i have highlighted in red and underlined:

What is arbitration?
Arbitration is an alternative method of resolving disputes in which two parties present their individual sides of a complaint to a arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. The arbitrator, who is supposed to be neutral, then weighs the facts and arguments of both parties and decides the dispute. Arbitration may be voluntary or mandatory.

What is mandatory binding arbitration?
In mandatory binding arbitration, a company requires a consumer to agree to submit any dispute that may arise to binding arbitration prior to completing a transaction with the company. The consumer is required to waive their right to sue, to participate in a class action lawsuit, or to appeal.

Why are so many consumer groups opposing mandatory arbitration in automotive transactions?
Many mandatory binding arbitration agreements are written to protect the dealer.

Read more about arbitration here.
(more…)

Not important news, but just a heads up to those of you that have two PS3′s or on 3.70 OFW, that there is a Scheduled Maintenance tomorrow, Thursday the 8th of September, the time of the maintenance is between 17:00(5PM) and 19:00(7PM) BST(UK Time), two hours so nothing major, here is a quote from the source:

PlayStation Network is offline for scheduled maintenance from 17:00 until 19:00 on Thursday 8 September 2011, BST.

During the maintenance, you will be unable to access the following services:

PlayStation Store on PS3 and PSP.
PlayStation Network Account Management.
PlayStation Network Account Registration.

In addition, you will not be able to sign in to PlayStation Network from eu.playstation.com. If you wish to play online during the maintenance, please ensure you sign in to PSN before 17:00 on Thursday 8 September 2011.

During this maintenance, you can continue to collect in-game trophies and these will be updated on your profile once PlayStation Network is back up and running.

If you have any questions about this down time, feel free to visit the official PlayStation Forums at community.eu.playstation.com where you can post your query and a member of the Community Team will get back to you.

For the latest maintenance updates, visit the PlayStation Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com, keep an eye on our Facebook page at facebook.com/SonyPlayStation and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PLAYSTATIONEU.

Source PS EU Blog
Via Their Twitter

Team E3DIY has contacted PS3Hax today, bringing another proof of concept video this time demonstrating PSN support. Ofcourse this is OFW 3.70 so you won’t be able to play online with your backed up games (as  of now anyways) – but some PSN is better than no PSN.

To quote email:

Clear up doubt ，E3 FLASHER dual boot, 3.7 play PSN and 3.55 play HD game

After we release dual boot video, most player love it and also with some doubt.
We understand, so today release a new video, and do some clarification .

1: E3 FLASHER not only a flasher, but with perfectly extension because integrated lots of interface, we will release
more useful function later, all will be free just like we release golden finger function on E3 card reader.

2: E3 FLASHER can be upgrade from PC USB or TF card, very simple.

3: E3 FLASHER dual boot need 2 harddisk, one for 3.7 , another for 3.55. if you use only one HD, it will be required format everytime.
we will release a kit include ESATA station for you switch harddisk. (support 2.5 and 3.5′ DISK)

4: At present, on nand flash console, it need solder wire. And no dual boot function because no 256M NAND FLASH ON E3 FLASHER.
on nor flash fat console, it need solder wire , and include dual boot function.
on slim console, it no need solder wire but need solder some point.it is easy can be done in 3min. (don’t misunderstand no solder wire means no solder)

5: we will release 2 new version E3 FLASHER at the end of this month.
One is 256M nand flash on board and with CLIP, to get dual boot and no solder function.
Another is same as present E3 FLASHER but with CLIP, so all nor flash console no need any solder at that time. (sure cost will higher)

6: If all go well, we will release official picture and retail price on this wensday !

We also have more insight on the price which is expected to be around ~$100 USD so for those interested in purchasing one this is the price range to aim for.

There also is a review sample coming in for us that I will review and be giving away to one of our members for free

Stay tuned for more exciting n’ exclusive updates @ PS3Hax.

Some people thought it was going to happen, while some knew. Hackers have found a way to get into Sony’s hidden PS3 server. Now you can play online if you are using a CFW on a 3.66 server. The hackers were able to do this because they used some tools that were released recently. Pretty cool hu?

Some hidden features were found inside PS3′s, and what would you do if you found some secret? You would investigate it and share it with other people. This is exactly what we did. Sony’s fault, Oh well. They even pulled off a trick on us! They did nothing on their servers when they had 1 full month to add or change something here and there.

HACKDEPS3 explains how to do it:

His second post:

His third post:

People strongly recommend you do NOT do this. I am only bringing the news, so do it at your own risk!

[VIA PS3 Crunch]

We all knew it was coming since January when it was rumored that Sony would start implementing activation codes on future PS3 games. Brand new games will come packaged with an online code that you are required to input before any of the game’s online features are available to you.

This is obviously Sony’s response to piracy as well as the used games industry.

Originally posted on IGN-

So it seems Sony fears we will soon have access to their precious PSN again, which soon may very well be true with all of Gitbrew’s work to get the rootkey and their work on a 3.56+ exploit.

SOURCE

If you are on PSN for some crazy reason, today  is your last day to nab your “Welcome Back” garbage goodies on PSN.

As a reminder:

For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:

• Dead Nation
• inFAMOUS
• LittleBigPlanet
• Super Stardust HD
• Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:

• LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
• ModNation Racers
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation

Oh and ofcourse, PSN is having heavy traffic, expect downtime and problems (as usual):

UPDATE: Due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again.

Note: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the “Welcome Back Program”

If at any point you can’t find the ‘Welcome Back Free Game 1 or 2’ products, the list of available titles or a game you’ve selected, go to your XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to complete the process.

The xLink Kai team has updated their software to v7.4.22 which brings PS3/PS2 support to new client with various other improvements and enhancements. The current build is only for Windows but OS X version is promised to be released soon.

For those of you that don’t know, xLink Kai is a “alternative to PSN” and allows you to connect online via lan to another network and enables you to play with other users on the xLink Kai network.Works with many games such as Black Ops etc..

[Download xLink Kai  v7.4.22]

Follow easy-installation tutorial HERE.

Sony has stated that they dont know who the PSN hackers are, but Spanish police seem to think it is a group of local hackers, who the claim to be the Spanish wing of the hacktivist group Anonymous, here is a quote from the source:

PARIS — The Spanish police said Friday that they had arrested three suspected computer hackers in connection with recent cyberattacks on Sony’s PlayStation network as well as corporate and government Web sites around the world.
Readers’ Comments

In a statement, the police said that with the arrests, they had dismantled the local leadership of the shadowy international network of computer hackers, called Anonymous, that has claimed responsibility for a wide variety of attacks.

According to the statement, Anonymous is made up of people from various countries organized into cells that share common goals. The activists operate anonymously, but in a coordinated fashion.

One of the “hacktivist” detainees, the police said, had harbored a computer server in an apartment in the northern port city of Gijon, from which the group attacked the Web sites of the Sony PlayStation online gaming store.

It also was used in coordinated cyberattacks against two Spanish banks, BBVA and Bankia, the Italian energy company Enel, as well as government sites in Spain, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand, the police said.

The police provided little information about the suspects.

It was not immediately clear if the group had been the sole, or even the main, perpetrator of the recent attacks on Sony. About a dozen Sony Web sites and services around the world have been hacked, with the biggest breaches forcing the Tokyo-based company to shut down its popular PlayStation Network for a month beginning in April.

The company has acknowledged that hackers compromised personal data for tens of millions of user accounts. Earlier this month, a separate hacker collective called Lulz Security said it had breached a Sony Pictures site and released vital source codes.

Sony has estimated that the hacker attacks will cost it at least 14 billion yen, or $173 million, in damages, including information technology spending, legal costs, lower sales and free offers to lure back customers.

Mami Imada, a Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo, said she had no information on the arrests and declined to comment.

The police said members of Anonymous made use of a computer program called LOIC to crash Web sites by flooding them with denial of service attacks.

The arrests follow an investigation that was begun last October, when hackers overwhelmed the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s Web site to protest Spanish legislation increasing punishments for illegal downloads.

Among recent attacks, the hackers also brought down the site of the Spanish National Electoral Commission last month before regional and municipal elections.

The movement against the anti-piracy law has been closely linked to the broader youth-led political movement that have occupied Puerta del Sol in Madrid and other city squares since May 15.

These protests have called for a complete overhaul of Spain’s political system — and the laws targeting illegal downloading.

Source The New York Times

Note:
Above image is a random pic and is not a photograph of the suspected PSN hackers.

Gregory Evans a very talented hacker turned Security Expert, has stated in an interview with “Industry Gamers”, that he believes that PSN is still unsafe, here is a small quote from the source:

Industry Gamers: What are your thoughts on what has happened with Sony’s PlayStation Network?

Gregory Evans: Well, Sony has about 100 million customers out when they got hacked, they’re out there at the forefront of the news, but big corporations get hacked every single day. Only 17 percent of companies whose computers were hacked report them to law enforcement due to fear of negative publicity. Ninety percent of Fortune 500 networks have been hacked.

Industry Gamers: Sony has said they implemented new security. Do you believe PlayStation Network and Qriocity are hacker-proof now?

Gregory Evans: No. And it’s not just Sony gamers that are at risk. It’s anyone who has any online gaming console like Xbox or Wii. Nothing’s 100 percent secure. Even if Sony had never been hacked, when anybody goes online to do anything, play games, search the Internet… you’re always taking a risk that somebody might get your information. When you’re connected to your Wi-Fi and you’re playing online games it’s opening up hundreds of ports. Each one of those ports is like a door that a hacker can use to bypass your firewall and get into your computer. In the gaming community, most people don’t even know this is happening. They just think I’m going online to play games and everything’s fine. They may not think about security because they have a firewall on their Linksys or DLink router that they bought at Radio Shack for $30 or $40. Well, if it was that easy then Sony shouldn’t have been hacked. They should have gone over to Radio Shack and grabbed a $40 DLink router and everything would be fine.

Industry Gamers: So can gamers expect more hacks in the future?

Gregory Evans: Yes. The problem remains that Sony and most big corporations have IT managers designing their networks and security. Even if these guys have a Master’s Degree or PhD from a school like MIT, that doesn’t make them a true security expert. It’s scary and these attacks will continue to happen.

To read the full interview, visit the source here.

The belated PSN Welcome Back is now live, it is a great package for those that do not have those games, though as they are the most popular games, most people already have them.
The process to download the games is quite problematic, with a couple of errors, here is a quote from the PS Blog, followed by Q & A, followed by some images i took.

With the PlayStation Store back online, we’ve been getting all caught up this week, having launched an abundance of amazing content for download on PlayStation 3 and PSP. Today, we’re excited to launch the Welcome Back program to thank you for your loyalty and below we’ve detailed what is available, how to go about downloading it and a list of frequently asked questions.

Thanks again for your patience and understanding as we restored the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services – your support has meant a lot to us and is greatly appreciated.

(more…)

Playstation Download Manager has been updated to version 3.87.

Download PS Download Manager 3.87 | 01/06/2011

Official Site