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.
RTFA, please. The "hackers" would prefer a legally signed bootloader, since it would not have the side effect of allowing pirated games to run on the Xbox. That's why they aren't releasing their mods right away - they're giving M$ the chance to do the right thing. And actually, you can already boot linux without a modchip; see here for details.
Are you an idiot? All they have to do is sign a binary to run on the hardware. There is no source code or anything involved in that, no giving away of trade secrets. Hint: aquire clue before posting.
It probably is a violation of the DMCA -- since the "exploit" certainly involves getting around some built-in protection, which could easily be argued to be useful in copy protection.
I support standard copyright, but it's things like this that explain why the DMCA is a bad law.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Extortion of money or something else of value from a person by the threat of exposing a criminal act or discreditable information.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
I'm somewhat impressed the author of the article got the skinny on the 007 trick, but he missed the real point.
For non-Xbox nerds, it works like this.
The XBox has internal flash for the BIOS.
To enable flashing, all just need to jumper one point (referred to as the D0 point) to ground.
The 007 trick is an buffer exploit that allows you to boot linux, once you've got linux running, assuming you jumpered D0, you can reflash your internal BIOS with a hacked version (which ignores keys). You'll never play Xbox Live, but you can now play pirate DVDs and copy games to your hard drive.
With only the buffer exploit, it's at least a challenge, but if MS was to release a signed Linux distro, the process would be trivial. Jumper D0, boot MS-Xlinux, FTP to Xbox, upload bios burner app, pow. Hacked Xbox.
It's *extreamly* unlikely MS would ever do this. These guys can release easier solutions for buffer overflow related methods, but nothing can have as much potential for evil as a signed linux distro.
Well, yes. Blackmail is illegal.
On that note, here's an interesting paper on the subject of blackmail and its illegality:
The Crime of Blackmail: A Libertarian Critique
The thing is, is it truly blackmail that's being described here? Blackmail implicitly involves secrecy between the two parties, because it is the threat of breaking that secrecy which constitutes blackmail.