"This isn't about cheating," he says to the newcomer. "It's about ownership. You bought this machine. It should do what you want. We just remind it of that fact."

Later that night, W leans back and looks at the list of names on their "Thanks" page: xerpi, zecoxao, mysis, kakaroto, the Rebug Team, the Cobra team, STLcardsWS… A whole constellation of digital scavengers.

The newcomer picks up a controller, the revived PS3 humming happily. On the screen, the official forum— http://www.psx-place.com/forums/PS3Xploit/ —is buzzing with new success stories from around the world.