IDAPT i4 ? The last device charger you?ll ever need to buy

If you own a few mobile devices, it?s likely that you?re flipping cords out on your desk or nightstand on a regular basis. A company called IDAPT is looking to change that annoyance by offering a couple of interesting products that you?re going to dig.

The first, that we?ll talk about in this post, is the i4 Universal Charging Station. It?s a device that?s made to sit on your desk and charge up to 4 devices simultaneously. It comes with 6 interchangeable charging tips that include everything from a miniUSB to a Sony Ericsson charger. If you need more than one of any tip, you can just buy them individually.

The tips are modular, and plug into the i4 charging station so you can arrange them as needed. The included tips should allow you to charge any of over 4,000 devices, but it would be nice to have a couple of microUSB included, as so many mobile devices are going to this standard. On the side of the i4 there?s another USB port, perfect for keeping your iPad charged. It?s worth noting, though, that if you buy your i4 on the IDAPT site, you can customize which tips you need.

There?s no sync capability, but I?m told that it should be coming sometime in a later model. IDAPT thinks of this particular model less as a desktop charger and more as something that you might keep in the kitchen or another part of the house.

I?m going to give it a full review, on TNW Gadgets. For now, you can check out the IDAPT site if you?re ready to make the jump.

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States Pass Budget Pain to Cities

The cuts are widespread. Ohio plans to slash aid to Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and other cities and local governments by more than a half-billion dollars over the next two years under the budget proposed last week by its new Republican governor, John R. Kasich. Nebraska passed a law this month eliminating direct state aid to Omaha and other municipalities. The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan have called for sending less money to Milwaukee, Detroit and other local governments.

And it is not only Republicans who are cutting aid to cities: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, decided not to restore $302 million in aid to New York City that was cut last year, while Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, another Democrat, has called for cutting local aid to Boston and other cities by some $65 million.

Some mayors said the proposed cuts could force them to raise local property taxes, even as many homeowners complain that they are already overtaxed. Many are combing through their budgets, looking to wring out more savings where they can. Libraries may close. Garbage collection could be curtailed. Potholes might linger a bit longer. Some warned that they could be forced to lay off more city workers, including police officers and firefighters.

For cities like Cleveland, the proposed cuts in state aid mean that the light at the end of the budgetary tunnel is that much farther off.

?We weathered the storm pretty good when other cities were having huge layoffs, and eliminating or reducing services,? Mayor Frank G. Jackson of Cleveland said in an interview. ?But the impact of this will force us into that mode.?

Mr. Jackson said the city had anticipated a reduction in state aid, estimating a 20 percent dip in its most recent budget. But Governor Kasich?s budget proposal would go even deeper: it calls for cutting aid to local governments by a quarter next year, and in half the year after that.

For Cleveland, Mr. Jackson said, that would translate into deficits of $16 million next year and $24 million, or 5 percent of the city?s operating budget, the following year. Having spent down the city?s reserves to get through the recession, and used up several one-time deals to balance its budgets, Cleveland will have to come up with more money or savings elsewhere.

Other cities in Ohio are struggling as well. In Akron, Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic said the cuts would erode the third-largest source of revenue for the city?s general fund. ?I fear that, as a result of this reduction, Akron will have no choice but to once again look at layoffs in the biggest part of our budget: police and fire salaries,? he said in a statement.

The reductions in state aid, along with falling property tax revenues that are finally catching up with lower home values, are major sources of fiscal stress for many cities. Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said in a speech this month that ?many localities have been hard hit by reductions in state aid, which in 2008 accounted for about 30 percent of local revenues.? And Moody?s Investors Service, the ratings agency, said in a report last week that many states ?are increasingly pushing down their problems to their local governments.? The Moody?s report warned that this would be ?the toughest year for local governments since the economic downturn began.?

The cuts are a vivid illustration of a fact of fiscal life: budgetary pain flows downhill. Although state tax collections are finally improving again after the longest and deepest decline on record, they remain well below their prerecession levels. Stimulus money from Washington, which helped keep many states afloat over the last two years, is drying up. So states facing large deficits are proposing cuts in local aid. Ohio?s deficit is projected to be $8 billion over the course of its two-year budget ? hence Governor Kasich?s proposed cuts.

Nebraska did not just reduce local aid, it eliminated it. Much less money was at stake ? the law is estimated to save the state $22 million a year ? but cities are nonetheless worried about the effects of the cuts. ?This year, instead of cutting us all a certain percent, they went after the state aid totally, all 100 percent of it,? said Chris Beutler, the mayor of Lincoln. Mr. Beutler said that the cut would cost the city $1.8 million a year and force it to raise property taxes or cut services.

Direct aid represents only a fraction of the money flowing from states to local governments. When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York went to Albany last month, he said that by his count the budget Mr. Cuomo had proposed would reduce aid to the city by $2.1 billion, of which only around $300 million was in the form of direct municipal aid. The rest included a reduction of $1.4 billion to the city?s public schools, which in New York City are under the control of the mayor, and $380 million in cuts and cost shifts in social services. Mr. Bloomberg warned that the city would be forced to lay off more workers if the cuts went through.

Chris Hoene, the director of research for the National League of Cities, said that many states eliminated direct aid to cities ? used to keep property taxes low, ease disparities among localities and help pay for general government services ? after past recessions. Now, he said, most of the coming state cuts will be in the form of cuts to specific programs. Cuts to child health care, mental health programs, libraries or transportation will all have an impact on cities. On top of that, many states also have complex revenue-sharing programs with local governments, and a number of them are proposing to keep more of the money for themselves.

Mr. Hoene said the coming cuts were ?a big, scary question mark? hanging over local governments. ?Cities have made their estimates, and made cuts based on revenue projections,? he said. ?The factor that they can?t control, and that?s concerning for them, is what?s going to happen in the deliberations in state legislatures over the next three months.?

Local aid cuts can be like squeezing a balloon: states reduce their spending and hold down their taxes, but cities can be forced to increase their spending and raise their taxes. That is one argument being made in Minnesota, where a new Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, has been fighting cuts to local aid proposed by Republican lawmakers. The governor said aid to Minnesota?s cities had dropped by 24 percent since 2003 ? and that two-thirds of the cuts were passed on to local residents in the form of higher property taxes.

Many governors say they plan to give cities and local governments tools to balance their budgets, some by reducing costly state mandates, some by weakening union protections in their states, some by encouraging cities to consolidate duplicative services. Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, a Republican, is cutting aid to cities, villages and towns for a net savings of $92 million. But he said he would also make $200 million available to cities and towns that ?adopt best practices.? Detroit and other hard-hit cities are worried about the proposal, though.

?No city in the state has taken such an aggressive approach to such serious structural problems as Detroit,? Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit said of the proposal in a recent speech. ?Yet no city would be hit harder than us. It threatens the concrete but fragile gains we have made, and we simply cannot afford it.?

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Valve considering Steam for iOS, Android

AT&T looking to reverse Amazon Android Appstore block

When Amazon?s Android Appstore launched on Tuesday, AT&T handset owners found themselves unable to download the application and access the third-party application marketplace.

With it thought that the U.S carrier was waiting to see how popular the Amazon Appstore was before allowing it to be downloaded, AT&T kept a block in place that stopped users from installing third-party applications such as Amazon?s new Appstore app.

After its customers began complaining, AT&T opened up a signup page via appstoreaccess.com, allowing Android handset users on the network to be notified when the Appstore was made available:

At present, only four AT&T Android handsets have been listed on the website, suggesting that the network operator is focusing on making the Appstore available to owners of specific handsets. The four handsets at the time of writing include: HTC Aria, HTC Inspire 4G, Samsung Captivate and Motorola Atrix 4G.

It is not known how AT&T will allow its users to download the Amazon Appstore application, although it has been suggested Android devices could receive an update which comes with the Appstore preloaded.

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Boehner Presses Obama on Libya Action

In a letter made public as the president returned from his Latin American trip, Mr. Boehner said the administration had sent conflicting messages about its goals in Libya. He said the public deserved a fuller explanation of the objectives of the military mission and how the White House will measure success.

?It is regrettable that no opportunity was afforded to consult with Congressional leaders, as was the custom of your predecessors, before your decision as commander in chief to deploy into combat the men and women of our armed forces,? Mr. Boehner said, reiterating a bipartisan complaint raised by lawmakers in recent days.

Earlier, Mr. Boehner had struck a more neutral tone, saying America had a ?moral obligation? to help opponents of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi while urging the White House to define its intent. But Wednesday?s letter illustrated mounting Congressional wariness over the use of force without fuller participation by the House and Senate as well as uncertainty over how long American military units would lead the military action.

With Congress out of town, three Senate allies of Mr. Obama came to his defense, predicting the president would win bipartisan backing for the country?s role in Libya if it came to a vote when Congress returns from a one-week break next week.

In a conference call with reporters, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, also said he expected United States military forces to hand off responsibility for enforcing the no-fly zone in a matter of days, not weeks.

Mr. Levin, joined by Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former Army officer, pushed back against bipartisan complaints from Congress that the president had exceeded his authority in sending military forces into Libya.

?He has proceeded in a way that is cautious and thoughtful,? Mr. Levin said. ?He has put the ducks in a row before he decided the United States should take the lead for a short period of time to do what only we could do.?

The Libyan crisis is certain to be a main topic for lawmakers when Congress reconvenes. But the three Democrats said they could not predict whether a floor vote would be forced on the role of the United States or if American forces would still be deeply involved in Libya next week. But they noted that critics of the intervention could challenge the president under the War Powers Act.

In contrast to others in Congress, Mr. Durbin said he believed he had been kept apprised of developments in Libya but said Congress would receive more information when it reconvenes.

?Trust me, when we return this week I am sure we will have a complete briefing from the administration on this entire situation,? he said.

Mr. Boehner suggested in his letter that the administration had consulted more closely with the United Nations and the Arab League than with Congress. He said the administration had called for Colonel Qaddafi to be removed from office while backing a United Nations resolution that does not call for regime change.

?Because of the conflicting messages from the administration and our coalition partners, there is a lack of clarity over the objectives of this mission, what our national security interests are, and how it fits into our overarching policy for the Middle East,? Mr. Boehner said.

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States Pass Budget Pain to Cities

The cuts are widespread. Ohio plans to slash aid to Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and other cities and local governments by more than a half-billion dollars over the next two years under the budget proposed last week by its new Republican governor, John R. Kasich. Nebraska passed a law this month eliminating direct state aid to Omaha and other municipalities. The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan have called for sending less money to Milwaukee, Detroit and other local governments.

And it is not only Republicans who are cutting aid to cities: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, a Democrat, decided not to restore $302 million in aid to New York City that was cut last year, while Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, another Democrat, has called for cutting local aid to Boston and other cities by some $65 million.

Some mayors said the proposed cuts could force them to raise local property taxes, even as many homeowners complain that they are already overtaxed. Many are combing through their budgets, looking to wring out more savings where they can. Libraries may close. Garbage collection could be curtailed. Potholes might linger a bit longer. Some warned that they could be forced to lay off more city workers, including police officers and firefighters.

For cities like Cleveland, the proposed cuts in state aid mean that the light at the end of the budgetary tunnel is that much farther off.

?We weathered the storm pretty good when other cities were having huge layoffs, and eliminating or reducing services,? Mayor Frank G. Jackson of Cleveland said in an interview. ?But the impact of this will force us into that mode.?

Mr. Jackson said the city had anticipated a reduction in state aid, estimating a 20 percent dip in its most recent budget. But Governor Kasich?s budget proposal would go even deeper: it calls for cutting aid to local governments by a quarter next year, and in half the year after that.

For Cleveland, Mr. Jackson said, that would translate into deficits of $16 million next year and $24 million, or 5 percent of the city?s operating budget, the following year. Having spent down the city?s reserves to get through the recession, and used up several one-time deals to balance its budgets, Cleveland will have to come up with more money or savings elsewhere.

Other cities in Ohio are struggling as well. In Akron, Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic said the cuts would erode the third-largest source of revenue for the city?s general fund. ?I fear that, as a result of this reduction, Akron will have no choice but to once again look at layoffs in the biggest part of our budget: police and fire salaries,? he said in a statement.

The reductions in state aid, along with falling property tax revenues that are finally catching up with lower home values, are major sources of fiscal stress for many cities. Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said in a speech this month that ?many localities have been hard hit by reductions in state aid, which in 2008 accounted for about 30 percent of local revenues.? And Moody?s Investors Service, the ratings agency, said in a report last week that many states ?are increasingly pushing down their problems to their local governments.? The Moody?s report warned that this would be ?the toughest year for local governments since the economic downturn began.?

The cuts are a vivid illustration of a fact of fiscal life: budgetary pain flows downhill. Although state tax collections are finally improving again after the longest and deepest decline on record, they remain well below their prerecession levels. Stimulus money from Washington, which helped keep many states afloat over the last two years, is drying up. So states facing large deficits are proposing cuts in local aid. Ohio?s deficit is projected to be $8 billion over the course of its two-year budget ? hence Governor Kasich?s proposed cuts.

Nebraska did not just reduce local aid, it eliminated it. Much less money was at stake ? the law is estimated to save the state $22 million a year ? but cities are nonetheless worried about the effects of the cuts. ?This year, instead of cutting us all a certain percent, they went after the state aid totally, all 100 percent of it,? said Chris Beutler, the mayor of Lincoln. Mr. Beutler said that the cut would cost the city $1.8 million a year and force it to raise property taxes or cut services.

Direct aid represents only a fraction of the money flowing from states to local governments. When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York went to Albany last month, he said that by his count the budget Mr. Cuomo had proposed would reduce aid to the city by $2.1 billion, of which only around $300 million was in the form of direct municipal aid. The rest included a reduction of $1.4 billion to the city?s public schools, which in New York City are under the control of the mayor, and $380 million in cuts and cost shifts in social services. Mr. Bloomberg warned that the city would be forced to lay off more workers if the cuts went through.

Chris Hoene, the director of research for the National League of Cities, said that many states eliminated direct aid to cities ? used to keep property taxes low, ease disparities among localities and help pay for general government services ? after past recessions. Now, he said, most of the coming state cuts will be in the form of cuts to specific programs. Cuts to child health care, mental health programs, libraries or transportation will all have an impact on cities. On top of that, many states also have complex revenue-sharing programs with local governments, and a number of them are proposing to keep more of the money for themselves.

Mr. Hoene said the coming cuts were ?a big, scary question mark? hanging over local governments. ?Cities have made their estimates, and made cuts based on revenue projections,? he said. ?The factor that they can?t control, and that?s concerning for them, is what?s going to happen in the deliberations in state legislatures over the next three months.?

Local aid cuts can be like squeezing a balloon: states reduce their spending and hold down their taxes, but cities can be forced to increase their spending and raise their taxes. That is one argument being made in Minnesota, where a new Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, has been fighting cuts to local aid proposed by Republican lawmakers. The governor said aid to Minnesota?s cities had dropped by 24 percent since 2003 ? and that two-thirds of the cuts were passed on to local residents in the form of higher property taxes.

Many governors say they plan to give cities and local governments tools to balance their budgets, some by reducing costly state mandates, some by weakening union protections in their states, some by encouraging cities to consolidate duplicative services. Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan, a Republican, is cutting aid to cities, villages and towns for a net savings of $92 million. But he said he would also make $200 million available to cities and towns that ?adopt best practices.? Detroit and other hard-hit cities are worried about the proposal, though.

?No city in the state has taken such an aggressive approach to such serious structural problems as Detroit,? Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit said of the proposal in a recent speech. ?Yet no city would be hit harder than us. It threatens the concrete but fragile gains we have made, and we simply cannot afford it.?

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Boehner Presses Obama on Libya Action

In a letter made public as the president returned from his Latin American trip, Mr. Boehner said the administration had sent conflicting messages about its goals in Libya. He said the public deserved a fuller explanation of the objectives of the military mission and how the White House will measure success.

?It is regrettable that no opportunity was afforded to consult with Congressional leaders, as was the custom of your predecessors, before your decision as commander in chief to deploy into combat the men and women of our armed forces,? Mr. Boehner said, reiterating a bipartisan complaint raised by lawmakers in recent days.

Earlier, Mr. Boehner had struck a more neutral tone, saying America had a ?moral obligation? to help opponents of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi while urging the White House to define its intent. But Wednesday?s letter illustrated mounting Congressional wariness over the use of force without fuller participation by the House and Senate as well as uncertainty over how long American military units would lead the military action.

With Congress out of town, three Senate allies of Mr. Obama came to his defense, predicting the president would win bipartisan backing for the country?s role in Libya if it came to a vote when Congress returns from a one-week break next week.

In a conference call with reporters, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, also said he expected United States military forces to hand off responsibility for enforcing the no-fly zone in a matter of days, not weeks.

Mr. Levin, joined by Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former Army officer, pushed back against bipartisan complaints from Congress that the president had exceeded his authority in sending military forces into Libya.

?He has proceeded in a way that is cautious and thoughtful,? Mr. Levin said. ?He has put the ducks in a row before he decided the United States should take the lead for a short period of time to do what only we could do.?

The Libyan crisis is certain to be a main topic for lawmakers when Congress reconvenes. But the three Democrats said they could not predict whether a floor vote would be forced on the role of the United States or if American forces would still be deeply involved in Libya next week. But they noted that critics of the intervention could challenge the president under the War Powers Act.

In contrast to others in Congress, Mr. Durbin said he believed he had been kept apprised of developments in Libya but said Congress would receive more information when it reconvenes.

?Trust me, when we return this week I am sure we will have a complete briefing from the administration on this entire situation,? he said.

Mr. Boehner suggested in his letter that the administration had consulted more closely with the United Nations and the Arab League than with Congress. He said the administration had called for Colonel Qaddafi to be removed from office while backing a United Nations resolution that does not call for regime change.

?Because of the conflicting messages from the administration and our coalition partners, there is a lack of clarity over the objectives of this mission, what our national security interests are, and how it fits into our overarching policy for the Middle East,? Mr. Boehner said.

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How a Corporate Change Spurred the Need for 'The Wiki'

Five years ago, United Business Media, which owns a number of trade publications and hosts trade shows, reorganized itself as part of a plan to improve the online presence of its properties. The 100-year-old company broke its three divisions into a federation of 15 semiautonomous businesses, each catering to a specialized audience from jewelry makers to the aviation industry. UBM says the move helped it increase the percentage of its revenue that comes from online advertising rather than print, but it also created a new problem. The company had dismantled the hierarchical structure that had facilitated communication among 6,000 employees around the world.

"In our previous organization structure, what happened was that if there was a piece of know-how that needed to be carried outside of a division, it needed to travel up before it could get out," says Jennifer Duvalier, UBM's director of people and culture. That wouldn't work now that the company was "as flat as it was geographically diverse," she adds.

So in 2008, UBM launched an experiment that it now calls "the wiki," even though it involves more than a simple wiki. The company spent an undisclosed amount on a package of collaborative tools from Jive Software. Using the tools, UBM's employees can create a searchable online profile, similar to one on Facebook, that lists their expertise and past projects. Employees can create blogs, groups dedicated to a topic, and project pages where members can update status reports and upload documents.

As more employees joined the wiki, people learned that other divisions were working on problems similar to theirs, even if the audiences they served were completely different. For instance, "we discovered, almost embarrassingly, we had many, many people in different divisions trying similar mobile projects," says Ted Hopton, manager of UBM's wiki community.

Now, Hopton says, employees can build on work being done in other divisions and share tips quickly. "They'll ask, 'Hey, I see you did this with your mobile app?how did you do this? Can I use your code?' Hopton says. "Frankly, they would have never have known each other existed, or how to reach one another, without the wiki."

Since most of the divisions within UBM host websites that do not compete with one another for viewers, employees have shared insights about search engine optimization or discussions on successful strategies for putting articles behind a pay wall. "This isn't just `Facebook for the enterprise' and 'we're getting warm and fuzzy,'" Hopton says. "We're really wrestling with the fundamental aspects of our business."

Rebecca Ray, vice president and managing director of human capital at the nonprofit think tank the Conference Board, says that like Wikipedia, collaborative tools within businesses often become "self-policing." Good ideas continue to generate interest, while bad ideas lose steam or are corrected by knowledgeable employees. "People only come back to anything if they think that there's content that's relevant, that it's quality, and that it can be trusted," she says. By that measure, UBM's effort has probably been successful. Duvalier says 73 percent of employees use the wiki at least once a month.

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Boehner Presses Obama on Libya Action

In a letter made public as the president returned from his Latin American trip, Mr. Boehner said the administration had sent conflicting messages about its goals in Libya. He said the public deserved a fuller explanation of the objectives of the military mission and how the White House will measure success.

?It is regrettable that no opportunity was afforded to consult with Congressional leaders, as was the custom of your predecessors, before your decision as commander in chief to deploy into combat the men and women of our armed forces,? Mr. Boehner said, reiterating a bipartisan complaint raised by lawmakers in recent days.

Earlier, Mr. Boehner had struck a more neutral tone, saying America had a ?moral obligation? to help opponents of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi while urging the White House to define its intent. But Wednesday?s letter illustrated mounting Congressional wariness over the use of force without fuller participation by the House and Senate as well as uncertainty over how long American military units would lead the military action.

With Congress out of town, three Senate allies of Mr. Obama came to his defense, predicting the president would win bipartisan backing for the country?s role in Libya if it came to a vote when Congress returns from a one-week break next week.

In a conference call with reporters, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, also said he expected United States military forces to hand off responsibility for enforcing the no-fly zone in a matter of days, not weeks.

Mr. Levin, joined by Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, and Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former Army officer, pushed back against bipartisan complaints from Congress that the president had exceeded his authority in sending military forces into Libya.

?He has proceeded in a way that is cautious and thoughtful,? Mr. Levin said. ?He has put the ducks in a row before he decided the United States should take the lead for a short period of time to do what only we could do.?

The Libyan crisis is certain to be a main topic for lawmakers when Congress reconvenes. But the three Democrats said they could not predict whether a floor vote would be forced on the role of the United States or if American forces would still be deeply involved in Libya next week. But they noted that critics of the intervention could challenge the president under the War Powers Act.

In contrast to others in Congress, Mr. Durbin said he believed he had been kept apprised of developments in Libya but said Congress would receive more information when it reconvenes.

?Trust me, when we return this week I am sure we will have a complete briefing from the administration on this entire situation,? he said.

Mr. Boehner suggested in his letter that the administration had consulted more closely with the United Nations and the Arab League than with Congress. He said the administration had called for Colonel Qaddafi to be removed from office while backing a United Nations resolution that does not call for regime change.

?Because of the conflicting messages from the administration and our coalition partners, there is a lack of clarity over the objectives of this mission, what our national security interests are, and how it fits into our overarching policy for the Middle East,? Mr. Boehner said.

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Rumor smash: GeoHot has not fled to South America from PS3 hacking lawsuit

Gaming blog VGHQ first started a rumor by saying that PlayStation 3 jailbreaker George Hotz, also known as GeoHot, has fled the country after court documents revealed a PlayStation Network account allegedly belonged to him. GeoHot previously denied having one, meaning he never agreed to the Terms of Service. The news of him buying one-way ticket for the southern continent spread like wildfire on the Internet, which is unfortunate because it appears to be false. Here's Sony's original statement that the report is based on:

Though the evidence establishing personal jurisdiction is already overwhelming, SCEA has little doubt that there is much more. However, over the last several weeks Hotz has engaged in a campaign to thwart jurisdictional discovery at every turn--regardless of whether the Court has ordered such discovery or not.

Most seriously, after Magistrate Judge Spero ordered an inspection of Hotzs devices and ordered Hotz to appear at a deposition in California, SCEA learned that Hotz had deliberately removed integral components of his impounded hard drives prior to delivering them to a third party neutral and that 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.

Hotz's attempts to dodge this Courts authority raise very serious questions.

GeoHot is currently on vacation in a South American country, as you can see in the picture below, which the 21-year-old posted himself. He has not fled; one who runs away definitely does not show proof of doing so. Furthermore, there is no reason to leave the country to avoid a civil case.

Furthermore, Stewart Kellar, GeoHot's attorney, has denied the claims in a statement to IGN:

The 'integral components' SCEA is talking about are stock controller cards, not the hard drives themselves. The neutral subsequently had to explain to SCEA the form and function of hard drive controller cards. Those controller cards have since been provided to the neutral so the point is moot.

You can never take a vacation from a lawsuit. Mr. Hotz has had to make himself available 24/7 for this litigation, which has been quite demanding on him. You have to remember that Mr. Hotz didn't choose to fight this battle, but now that he has been sued, he has put his heart into fighting this case that has enormous implications for consumers world-wide.

As for any question as to whether Mr. Hotz has used donation money to take a trip to South America, that's pretty silly. Litigating against a massive company like Sony, who is represented by five attorneys, is very costly for a 21-year-old. The donation money George has received is being used exclusively for his legal defense. If there are any funds left after the lawsuit, George is planning to donate the money to the EFF [Electronic Frontier Foundation].

Although it appears much of the rumor was completely fabricated, it could have serious negative consequences for the court case. We're of course hoping it doesn't.

Sony's legal attacks against the hackers that released the PS3 root key and custom firmware began two months ago. The group known as fail0verflow is accused of posting a rudimentary hack in December 2010 after finding security codes for the PS3. It was refined by GeoHot weeks later when he independently found and published the PS3 root key. The resulting hacks allow homebrew apps and pirated software to run on unmodified consoles. Sony is still threatening to sue anybody posting or distributing PS3 jailbreak code, despite the fact that the company accidentally tweeted the PlayStation 3 security key.

Sony's official stance is if you crack your PS3, you'll get banned. GeoHot meanwhile says "beating them in court is just a start."

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/42962-rumor-smash-geohot-has-not-fled-to-south-america-from-ps3-hacking-lawsuit.html

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