You're not addressing the issue of ethics in any way. What he did enabled theft. Theft is unethical. He enabled theft, so he is unethical. Want open hardware? Don't buy closed hardware. Don't want companies to close their hardware? Don't enable theft.
What's hard about this? Do you not understand that companies will lobby very hard and very successfully to enable laws that are so strict that it will not only make what geohotz did illegal, but what the (admirable) kinect hackers did illegal as well?
The Laws that can and will be made as the result of his craven greediness, stupidity, and arrogance will not be favorable to any real hacker, because laws are not a precise enough instrument for enforcing ethical standards. We must enforce the ethical standards. Geohotz should be a pariah, not a hero, for anyone other than the piracy enablers that will make a fortune from his work.
What's hard about this? Do you not understand that companies will lobby very hard and very successfully to enable laws that are so strict that it will not only make what geohotz did illegal, but what the (admirable) kinect hackers did illegal as well?
The Laws that can and will be made as the result of his craven greediness, stupidity, and arrogance will not be favorable to any real hacker, because laws are not a precise enough instrument for enforcing ethical standards. We must enforce the ethical standards. Geohotz should be a pariah, not a hero, for anyone other than the piracy enablers that will make a fortune from his work.