The first of what will no doubt be a long battle between Sony and PS Jailbreak, the USB Modchip that allows user to play homebrew applications and backup PS3 games, has come to a head in Australia where a Federal Courts has banned three distributers from selling the chip until further notice.

The creators of PS Jailbreak have said that the USB doesn't contain any copyright material and therefore is perfectly legal, but what was initially a one month injunction on the chip, ruled until Sony had produced a stronger case against its legality, has turned into an indefinite ban.

"This result reflects our continued commitment to take necessary actions from a hardware and software perspective to protect the intellectual property of the content offered on the PS3 system," a Sony Australia spokeswoman said today.

However, the code for a similar hack has been released on the Internet by creators PSGroove which is set to give Sony further headache and an almost impossible task in stopping piracy.

Mathieu Hervais from PSGroover told BBC News:

"We want people to run the software they like on the system they paid for without it having to be licensed by Sony. We released it on the internet because we believe in openness, choice and innovation from everyone. We understand (games console makers') point of view as well when it comes to protecting their income or business models, we just believe compromises could be made to keep everyone happy."

Looks like a long and fruitless battle ahead for Sony.