Sony claims PS3 hacker George Hotz subverted its restraining order, lied about not having a PSN account

In a recent court filing, Sony said there are "very serious questions" about the way notorious PS3 hacker George Hotz has handled various court orders. Hotz, who is also known for unlocking the iPhone, has been engaged in a legal battle with Sony since January. That month, Sony filed a temporary restraining order against the hacker.

According to Sony, after Hotz was ordered to surrender his personal computer, he "deliberately removed integral components of his impounded hard drives prior to delivering them to a third party neutral."

And now, he has apparently skipped town, but not in a try-to-disappear-from-existence kind of way.

"Hotz is now in South America, an excuse for why he will not immediately provide the components of his hard drives as requested by the neutral," the filing states.

Oh wait, there's more. Sony is also now challenging claims that Hotz didn't own a PlayStation Network account. The company has traced him back to the username "blickmanic." If there is enough evidence to link him to that account, it's important because it would show Hotz agreed to the terms and conditions of the PS3's service, and that jurisdiction does belong in the state of California as outlined in the TOS.

[Source: VGHQ]

Mar 23, 2011