Aibo Site Owner Wins Dogfight to Stay Online

Every dog really does have his day. Even a robotic canine such as Aibo, the expensive electronic pet made by Sony Corp.

Less than a month after Sony forced an Aibo enthusiast to pull the plug on his Web site, at https://www.aibohack.com, Aibohack is back online.

Sony sent a letter to the Aibohack owner in October charging that much of the site’s contents--programs and software tools that can modify an Aibo’s behavior--violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The man behind Aibohack, who goes by the name Aibopet and asked not to be identified, took down the site to avoid a lawsuit. Thousands of Aibo owners vowed to stop buying Sony products.

The day a story on the controversy ran in the Los Angeles Times, Sony officials contacted Aibopet and began negotiations.