Sony’s head of worldwide game development stated that the PS Vita has been designed to combat pirates and be so called ‘pirate proof’. In an interview with Kotaku, Shuhei Yoshida also said the PS Vita will last for at least 5 years.
One of the flaws of the PSP was that it could be cracked by pirates, but Yoshida says that the with the PS Vita, Sony is better prepared and that they will continue to fight piracy. Yoshida however did say that he understood the fate that was brought on the PSP, and acknowledged that the piracy service was sometimes superior.
Publisher’s support for the PSP waned and Yoshida cites piracy as one of the main reasons. The team at Sony who worked on making the PS3 crack-proof (presumably post-hack), claims to have done the same for the PS Vita.