Actually, given the ps3-owning demographic, the widespread impression that geohot was trying to enable piracy may actually have increased support for him. Gamers are a notoriously piratey bunch, so if the story had been "George Hotz wants you to be able to play games from bittorrent", he might have enjoyed wider support.
It also depends on what motivations you assign to geohot. I wouldn't have much sympathy for him if I thought his intention was to pirate video games.