(I'm not a lawyer, but I'm married to one, and I like law more than she does.)
Under US law, if you want to sue someone, you must sue them in the state where they live. However, there are certain instances where the laws of another state might be more favorable to you. In order to sue in state other than the defendant's home state, you must prove that the matter you are suing about had relevance to that state. If Sony can prove that geohot's efforts were funded by someone in CA, they can sue him in CA.
I'm not sure WHY they want to sue him in CA, other than to make his life difficult. This sounds like a bit of a fishing expedition to me...
I think that they want to sue him in CA so that they can group him together with the other people that they are trying to sue over this. He's just the only one that they can connect to an actual person thus far, IIRC.
Under US law, if you want to sue someone, you must sue them in the state where they live. However, there are certain instances where the laws of another state might be more favorable to you. In order to sue in state other than the defendant's home state, you must prove that the matter you are suing about had relevance to that state. If Sony can prove that geohot's efforts were funded by someone in CA, they can sue him in CA.
I'm not sure WHY they want to sue him in CA, other than to make his life difficult. This sounds like a bit of a fishing expedition to me...