Today is Public Service Announcement* day at BBB. We’d like to explain to those of you who make tech gadgets that there are people out there who will - *gasp* - modify your product after they purchase it. Yes, putting little software locks and disabling features isn’t going to stop them. There are millions of people out there that are smarter than those cut-rate engineers you hired in some godforsaken south-east Asian country.

Sony Computer Entertainment America said in an e-mailed statement that hacking or the operation of “homebrew” software programs may damage the PSP, and void the warranty.

The PSP boasts a high-resolution viewing screen and has been in the sights of technology enthusiasts and software programmers, who want to use it to run copies of everything from games and music to e-books to movies.

No one is convinced that running software on their PSP is going to make it catch on fire. Sony, people are going to hack your pretty little toy and you should just get used to it. You don’t want to get into an arms race with these people. We all know where this inevitably leads. It gets really ugly: they hack past your protection, you issue another update patch and pretty soon you’ll find yourself stumbling out of some crackwhore’s bed at 4am wondering what that strange rash on your software department is.

Please Sony, THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

*<small>This is not actually a PSA but we’re hoping no one reads the fine print.</small>