Sony faces digital security patent suit

Firm alleges PlayStation 3, Blu-ray players, i-Link-equipped Vaio PCs infringing on elliptic curve cryptography rights.

Sony is finding itself in another court battle over patents, as Canadian digital security firm Certicom this week filed suit against the company and a handful of its subsidiaries, alleging infringements on patents it holds for elliptic curve cryptography.

Elliptic curve cryptography can be used as a way to secure communications between electronic devices, preventing interception or altering of a signal, and Certicom is alleging that Sony's uses of Advanced Access Content System (AACS) and Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) specifications violate its patents. A host of Sony products are named in the suit as infringing devices, including the PlayStation 3, its games, all Blu-ray products, certain high-definition TVs, and DTCP-enabled, i.Link-equipped Vaio PCs.

Certicom filed the suit in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, although none of the involved companies are based there. The American Tort Reform Association named Marshall, Texas, in its "Judicial Hellholes 2006" report, saying that plaintiffs in patent litigation win their cases 78 percent of the time there, as opposed to 59 percent nationwide. In a conference call with investors, Certicom president and CEO Bernard Crotty explained, "This district has acquired substantial expertise in this type of litigation, and has a history of proceeding to trial in a timely manner."

Crotty said Certicom had been in discussions with Sony about the issue for a significant amount of time. He said the company's preference would have been to license their technology to Sony, but turned to legal recourse as a result of the lack of progress from those talks. Finally, he said that the company is looking into licensing agreements with other companies using DTCP and AACS technology, and that it's entirely possible similar suits would be brought against others in the future. (The HD-DVD format also uses the AACS standard.)

Certicom is seeking damages with interest and legal fees, as well as a permanent injunction preventing future infringements, or, failing that, a compulsory ongoing license fee for use of the patent. The company has previously licensed the rights to its elliptic curve cryptography patents to a number of clients, including the National Security Agency, which uses it "to protect US and allied government information."

As of press time, Sony had not responded to requests for comment.

478 Comments

  • zer0ne

    Posted Jul 31, 2007 8:22 am PT

    All this patent suing really getting to my nerves. If Sony decides to pull all their products from USA soils due to US companies using these patents tactics, then they can kiss their butts. There are other countries that are willing to buy Sony products without getting sued by these unknown companies... =( Soon Sony decides to opt that US don't need PS3 as the lawsuits cost them more that getting profits in sales of PS3 in USA.

  • theKSMM

    Posted Jul 13, 2007 10:22 am PT

    Man, this is the last thing that Sony or its fans needs. I wonder if some of these companies just establish patents and then lurk around waiting for somebody to fall into their web of infringement. Granted, elliptic curve cryptography is no joke, but the only people that should be allowed to patent it (in my opinion) are the ones who first discovered the technique. Implementations based on somebody else's research shouldn't qualify.

  • lion2447

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 10:19 pm PT

    Of Course, another company who just wants to take the easy way out and sue other companies. Of course the encryption looks similar, how many ways are there to encrypt information. It goes from the unencrypted form to the encrypted form and back. To encrypt information in transit is not a unique thing. I wish these kind of companies would get a life.

  • lord-of-gamers

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 3:09 pm PT

    ...............................................................
    what a waste of time i mean come on its ENCRYPTION only a really sad git would sue over that and ive noticed that its always sony gamespot - why not the other big lawsuits like M$ we all know they get many and their constant struggle with google and what have you............
    anyways i just wasted a whole 2 minutes of my life

  • grand17

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 11:18 am PT

    why does gamespot report all those frivilous lawsuits against sony anyway, id like a story every time microsoft gets sued please

  • UmonDaisuke

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 9:28 am PT

    PS3 up as a cheap Blu-Ray player and ignore the games... which seems to be the reason they ditched the 20Gb version of the console not so long ago.

    Far from it, though they just introduced a $500 BD player. It was about the cost, and the 20GB unit was a bigger leach:

    http://www.isuppli.com/news/default.asp?id=6919

    This sounds like a dirty, frivolous lawsuit. Especially if you need to file it in a specific place in the US to give you the upper hand instead of relying on your patented documentation.

    It's rather funny that most recent tech related patent infringement suits were filed in the same district.

  • LuminosityBlaze

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 9:25 am PT

    Now this is just starting to sound like BS. The other suits I could understand, but this is just stupid. Sony is a big target with deep pockets, there are so many other products that are using security features like this, these people act like they are the first ones to use encryption and DRM tools...

  • Spacewolf25

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 8:57 am PT

    you can see that they dont have much of a case just by the place where there filling the case. Its just like what happened with duelshock

  • SnuffDaddyNZ

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 5:07 am PT

    I'm predicting what will ultimately happen, is that a consumer device will appear which will make the choice between blu-ray and hd-dvd totally transparent, ie a device which can play both formats - and like DVD players in a couple of years it will be so cheap that supermarkets are selling them.

  • TTDog

    Posted Jun 5, 2007 3:02 am PT

    "thekey: This is good news. When's the price drop coming?"

    Just as soon as the 2nd battalion of flying pigs take off, if they drop the price they're scared people will just pick the PS3 up as a cheap Blu-Ray player and ignore the games... which seems to be the reason they ditched the 20Gb version of the console not so long ago.

  • thekey

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 8:36 pm PT

    This is good news.

    When's the price drop coming?

  • UltraWoody posted Jun 4, 2007 7:58 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    UltraWoody

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 7:58 pm PT (hide)

    Yes, more things go bad... but not bad enough. I will not be happy until I see the PS3 fall and Sony has no choice but to pull all PS3s off the shelves. The day people buy into Sony's so-called 'justifiable' blu-ray garbage will be a sad day indeed.

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:03 pm PT

    You know, I have been wondering how long it would be before a Canadian company decided to get in on this type of lawsuit. One has to wonder why they aren't suing the entire AACS Forum (or whatever the hell they are called), wait no nevermind I know why, Microsoft might have a bad rep but they still have one hell of a warchest.

  • jhz

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:44 pm PT

    Things just seem to get worse and worse for Sony.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:24 pm PT

    wow more things to go bad for sony

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:02 pm PT

    I'm sure Sony has had it's fair share of mishaps...They don't need this.

  • Imconfused2007

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 2:59 pm PT

    "This sounds like a dirty, frivolous lawsuit. Especially if you need to file it in a specific place in the US to give you the upper hand instead of relying on your patented documentation."

    Maybe they're filing it there because anywhere else people like you always call patent violation suits dirty and frivolous.

  • LOGGER13

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 12:10 pm PT

    "Certicom filed the suit in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, although none of the involved companies are based there."

    This sounds like a dirty, frivolous lawsuit. Especially if you need to file it in a specific place in the US to give you the upper hand instead of relying on your patented documentation.

  • thekey posted Jun 4, 2007 12:03 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    thekey

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 12:03 pm PT (hide)

    Good! I hope sony looses and has to fork over some more money.

  • Bgrngod

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 11:43 am PT

    If they stole it they need to pay. Simple as that.

    Unfortunately this just means they might keep the cost of the PS3 high for a bit longer, so the consumers really end up paying for it.

    The US Patent system needs to go through some major overhauls, but that is an entirely different discussion all together.

  • el_chupacabras

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 11:21 am PT

    Wait.... what? Didn't MS get sued by Immersion for the same thing that Sony got sued for? Its not that Sony doesn't pay attention or just doesn't care. Its more that some of these pattents are so broad and generalized in their descriptions that somethings are going to come into there domian.

    I think I am going to put in a pattent in for getting from one point in space to another piont in space. But not the same point in space. All car, plane and boat companies will owe me... I will rule the world.

  • mpoulin

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 11:07 am PT

    Didn't Sony invent the airplane?

  • Zippo_Jr posted Jun 4, 2007 10:37 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Zippo_Jr

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 10:37 am PT (hide)

    Well at least Microsoft knows how to talk and make deals with companies before releasing their products. Unlike Microsoft, Sony keeps on trying to move ahead totally oblivious to other companies that they keep on ignoring. So once again Sony sucks, but then again they always have.

  • RiceCake

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 10:33 am PT

    wow..... I must say that this is lame, but I hope justice is served.

  • kyo_tetsuei

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 10:07 am PT

    All I can say is... Again?

  • bcolter

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:44 am PT

    Sony or MS? The Smart folks on this site know that they are both monster companies with ridiculous profits... So your point is what exactly? That MS doesn't really care about us? Thanks for that Einstein, we are all wiser for it!

  • WARRZONE

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:38 am PT

    @ bcolter - Agreed. Thank you for stating the obvious, because sometimes the obvious becomes blurred on message boards. Sony has been the leader for years now, and that is one reason the backlash has been so bad. It's time to move on.

  • V-r0cK

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:34 am PT

    @ bcolter - "Grow Up Kids... put your loyalty into something which actually benifits human kind instead of a Multi Billion dollar corporation which really doesn't give a rats A$$ about YOU!" ok so definately not MS cuz Bill Gates is stinkin rich on his own and doesnt care. I see Sony trying new technology regardless if they suck or fail but they try. MS got wat? Vista? lol its Bill Gates and his billions of $ and MS that doesnt gives a rats @$$ cuz if they did then there wouldnt be a xbox360 problem by now.

  • bcolter

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:34 am PT

    The big players are always targets... Targets for law suits, FOD, you name it... Such is the nature of being the "leader". There are many gamers on this site who either blindly follow sony or blindly hate sony... and for them, yes they need to shut up. We need to start taking the "fanboys" to task (which ever side they are on), make being a fanboy unpopular. If we are critical of all company's, hardware/software... we will get better more affordable products...

    Cheers!

  • WARRZONE

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:25 am PT

    @ bcolter - There is a difference between being critical and mindlessly bashing. Don't stop being critical. Look at the facts. Other companies are suposedly doing the same thing Sony is. Everyone just likes to take it home on Sony. I bet Certicom will pull up Sony's past in court, and that is why they chose to sue Blu-Ray and not HD-DVD. They will find it easier to make some quick cash. Besides, we don't even know Sony or the other companies are in the wrong as of now.

  • bcolter

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:21 am PT

    @ Warrzone - Why? Why should we stop being critical of sony?

  • WARRZONE

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 9:16 am PT

    Seriously, quit ragging on Sony. I know it's the popular thing to do nowadays, but get over it. HD-DVD supposedly violates this patent also. I don't think this suit will hold up in court. I think Certcom just wants to make a quick buck. That's one reason they chose the district they did. They know it's a ridiculous case, so they want their odds to be as good as they can be.

  • bcolter

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 8:48 am PT

    The loyalty to Sony on these forums is amazing... Its actually not amazing, its really STUPID! Grow Up Kids... put your loyalty into something which actually benifits human kind instead of a Multi Billion dollar corporation which really doesn't give a rats A$$ about YOU!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 8:46 am PT

    sony.....robbers of technology

  • pixelsword

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 8:16 am PT

    I'm no leagal eagle, but if Sony was really the bad guy, they would've dragged it into court long ago and made the company bankrupt from it, then settled; but they actually talked about it first. I'm at least a little releaved that they aren't the monsters everyone has made them out to be.

    Anyways, from what Decibyte said, it sounds like they shoud've settled; now, if they are in the wrong, Sony could counterfile for defimation of character, among other things.

  • dragg0n

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 8:04 am PT

    Even if they loose this suit, which I'm sure they most likely won't, I'm surely it won't hurt them that much.

  • tsb247

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 7:47 am PT

    @ Decibyte: Thank you for doing some research before just coming out here and ranting. I am glad to see that some people can form educated opinions based on facts that they decided to go out and research before just spouting nonsense like some others tend to do. Thank you for being one of the few!

  • yanks1112

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 7:18 am PT

    again??

  • Slayer420

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 7:04 am PT

    So does Sony actually make anything on their own anymore or just steal everyone else's technology?

  • Sanguis_Malus

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:51 am PT

    Lets hope that truth wins on the day, not greed or any other falseness of mistake !

  • rohver

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:46 am PT

    leave sony alone guys....

  • SolidSnake2020

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:30 am PT

    Here we go again.

  • nini200

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:17 am PT

    I wonder if this will be in the next Phoenix Wright Game.

  • kevy619

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 6:04 am PT

    "rpgisforme Hey to all all of you going on in the i'm losing my faith in Sony crap read the article. They are still in talks with other companies because hd-dvd also uses the AACS standard, so I guess Sony ain't alone here. Sony was sued also for the game controller, but so was Microsoft, the only diff s Microsoft settled out of court to save themselves the bad press. If you lose faith in Sony over this, ya better be rethinking X-box too huh? I still love you Sony"
    thats correct, microsoft settled out of court, instead of trying to fight it off (most likely much cheaper, and xbox 360 controllers still have rumble)

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:57 am PT

    Guys guys. Chill out. Sony is not going to "die" or anything like that. It is a huge international company that has it's fingers in so many pies that it doesn't even know what they look like anymore.

    Read rpgisforme's comment. He or she talk's sense.

  • rpgisforme

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:15 am PT

    Hey to all all of you going on in the i'm losing my faith in Sony crap read the article. They are still in talks with other companies because hd-dvd also uses the AACS standard, so I guess Sony ain't alone here. Sony was sued also for the game controller, but so was Microsoft, the only diff s Microsoft settled out of court to save themselves the bad press. If you lose faith in Sony over this, ya better be rethinking X-box too huh? I still love you Sony!

  • Unkillable

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 5:03 am PT

    I hope multiple lawsuits don't bring about Sony's eventual downfall...

  • Saluu

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 4:42 am PT

    this is freakin BS! left and right sony sued for this sony sued for that! why couldnt this have allll been resoled b4 the freakin system came out in the first place?! so hee77 yea im mad! i had a 360, it was great...till it broke 2 weeks later. but it was still pretty good. got my money back tho so i've been waiting for certain stuff to happen on the PS3 but man, how the heck is anything gunna happen with all this BS?! this is BS!!!! freakin dang it man! CRAP! its been tooo freakin long since i've even so much as PLAYED next-gen. i ant my own system. rant rant rant. freakin sony man. get it together. and all you freaktoids suing sony, WTF?! microsoft is behind it all. Bill has friends you know.

  • seamusb

    Posted Jun 4, 2007 4:04 am PT

    All these patent sues is really affecting my confidence in Sony. Plus everyone wants the PS3 to come down in price but that won't happen if Sony have to cover all these legal fees.

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