Slashdot Mirror
X-Box Hackers Trying to Blackmail Microsoft?
wumarkus420 writes "According to this article from CNet News, an anonymous X-Box security research team is threatening Microsoft: either release a digitally-signed official Linux bootloader or face the release of a new exploit that supposedly works without a modchip. While I doubt Microsoft 'negotiates with terrorists,' this should still turn out to be a good I-told-you-so if the exploit is verified." Sounds like a good way to end up in jail.
"Reveal your trade secrets Gates, or we will set in motion a chain of events that will conclude with our incarcaration in a vile butt-slamming federal prison! We're warning you!"
They hate the competition.
And give me all of Bill's money, or I'm going to hack into his bank account and take it!
I remember trying this back in the days of Windows 95. I said, "Microsoft, you either release Windows 95 for free, or I will give away a secret code, 111-1111111, which will render your 'key-code' security invalid and allow everyone to pirate your OS."
They didn't listen, so I released it.
Who do they think they are, Cobra?
I mean, gee... This sounds like some corny Saturday morning cartoon plot...
"reveal your secret or face my wrath!"
Now all we need is for them to declare that they have an army of fanatical zealots devoted to the cause of bringing their plan to frutation, i.e., Linux on the X-box...
oh, wait...
hmm...
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Sure, the game is "LINUX SYSADMIN!"
It's a game! It's training! It's a Trojan!
They have about as much pull as pee wee herman.
:-)
now would that be inside or outside of a theatre?
sorry,couldn't resist
Are they going to start forming gangs? Are they going to walk into a local shop and threaten to fdisk their customer data unless they get their protection money?
It's funny how much power nerds think they have.
We write the software you use. We keep your systems up and running. We do your backups. We manage your data. We guard you while you sleep. Do NOT fuck with us!
--Drunk as in Beer
if your tinfoil is in a roll and not already on your head then you are comprimised.
There was even a /. story about it:
here
Big threat...the info is already out there.
"I demand MS give me a copy of WinXP signed by BILL GATES HIMSELF or I will REVEAL THAT THE SECRET DOS COMMAND TO LIST ALL FILES!"
-Ben
This is all an elaborate ploy by Microsoft to get everyone to buy an Xbox. They want you to believe that either A) Linux bootloader will be released, or B) 37337 exploit will be released. Don't fall for it!
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to fashion a tinfoil helmet to block the RFID chip the dentist put in my molar.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
Excuse me Sir. We have traditions straddling two millinea AND two centuries here.
Are you proposing that we stomp on the most sacred?
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Finally some good press for Linux!
http://use.perl.org
I always used 0001235467.
Yours is SO much simpler.
Wow...even on piracy of unwanted/unused Operating systems, the linux community has found a more efficient method. I'm impressed.
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A, select, start! ;)
Snoozer.
"if the DMCA didn't exist then they wouldn't need to blackmail M$."
And if I were rich, I wouldn't have to rob a bank.
So does the fact that I'm not rich justify my robbing a bank?
Hmmm, the issue is this, if someone buys an xbox then they should be able to do whatever they like with it since they own it. The DMCA places restrictions on what you can do, it inhibits your freedom.
The bank was never yours to begin with. Now go away and don't come back until you have found a better metaphor.
How do we make stories from michael not show up? I can't seem to figure it out, and I'm sick of reading his trolling.
no offense to you but.. ;)
only on slashdot would a post suggesting to actually read the article get a +5 insightful
oh snap, he called out your metaphor.
Only terrorists use Linux.
Liberate your mind in two clicks or less.
"Maybe the whole thing is a Redmond-sponsored false flag operation to provide Microsoft with an "example" in support its DRM lobbying efforts. "
Maybe you're paid by Microsoft to sound like a conspiracy nut so we'll ignore this possiblity.
I didn't know that us Slashdotter's dictated US law! Hey guys, we should start trying some other laws and legistlation too, maybe make this whole monopoly thing go away! What are we waiting for, let's get started fellow judges!
What the hell are you talking about? What will happen if I fuck with you? I can do it all on my own...and so can about 10,000 other people out there who could care less about your crusade.
Chapters are sprouting in at least five or six other major cities already. This is tightly-regimented organization, with many cells capable of operating completely independent central leadership.
--Drunk as in Beer
I would put these kids in jail first. I would push for terrorist charges. I would try to get one of those sentences where they are not allowed within 15 feet of a computer for like 15 years.
Then (just to piss them off) I would release Linux for the xBox just as they asked.
The icing on my cake? I would charge like $100 for it.
Alas, Bill isn't that entertaining.
He probably has better things to do with his life then screw with these two morons.
SYDNEY--Four teenage boys were found clinging to life today, after being thrown through 98 windows in a normally quiet suburban Sydney.
"We don't know for sure who did it, but this looks like the work of the MSDS--the Microsoft Defenestration Squad," said a Syndey Police Department spokesperson
The boys alledgedly had developed an easy way to circumvent the anti-piracy controls on Microsoft's game console, the X-Box. Reportedly, they tried to blackmail Microsoft with the information to try get a version of the Linux operating system to run on the X-Box. Microsoft never reponded to their blackmail.
The MSDS is wanted in 56 countries for a wide range of crimes. Everything from extortion stemming from unreasonable licensing agreements, to the now familiar chucking-folks-out-the-windows routine used to discourage competitors.
Sydney hospital officials say that the boys are making a good recovery and will be released by the end of the next week.
If you guys talk about /. posts at a board meeting, then you look pretty stupid already.
It works in the movies!
So if they do release a signed bootloader, does Microsoft get the $100,000?
That was my first thought, freenet that baby let all those 15 users know how to mod thier x-box.
I will punish Bill Gates by buying ALL of his X-Boxes and NEVER buying any of his silly games. Instead I will apply the forbidden Linux mod and put them all to work doing SETI@Home! When I find the extra-terrestrials I will send them off to DESTROY Redmond. No more modding XBox articles.
Sure, next you'll be saying Deliverance wasn't a love story.
Why should Microsoft allow running Linux on their Xbox?
Hi, I am a member of the slashdot welcome team. You must be new here.
Welcome!
wow, so all eight people who run linux on their xbox can put their soldering irons away. And still get blacklisted off XBox Live anyway.
Microsoft must be quivering with fear, really and truly.
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
Too expensive to make? Buy a damn RacketCube.
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
I wonder how many seconds they have hesitated:
- Release the Linux signed bootlader, see people running legally any software on the Xbox, including but not only pirated games, see the stock fall 5% after the press release and the ZDNet comments "MS switches to Linux for the XBox".
OR
- Not release the bootlader, hope the blackmailer is not bluffing (30% chances), see the exploit in the wild, put the guy in jail for DMCA violation (1), blackmail (2), copyright infringement (3), violation of trade secrets (4) and terrorism (5), deny that the hack works (Wall Street won't never hear of it this way), see it goes mainstream, lawyer-bomb any Linux distribution with an XBox version, suppress the exploit from next XBoxes or make it fry the box (6).
Yes, I'm sure they don't sleep anymore...
(1) Don't care if the blackmailers are not American. It did not protect Johanssen from Norway.
(2) Some say this is not strictly speaking blackmail. I wouldn't argue that with the lawyers who convinced the DOJ that MS was not a monopoly. Reason, law and justice lights before Microsoft.
(3) Again, see Johanssen
(4) MS technology is so complex that a single hacker can't have found the exploits without the source code, can he ? SCO would agree.
(5) Because these XBoxes could be used to build Beowulf superclusters to build atomic weapons!!!! In addition, the "terrorist" won't see a lawyer before long, which make the case easier for MS and saves legal costs.
(6) This will be in the EULA, page 856. If you complain, the hotline threatens to call the police (90% of the people will use the loader to pirate games anyway) but will settle if you buy another XBox.
Christophe (Don't hesitate to point out my spelling and grammar mistakes, I want to learn - Thanks).
Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.