Hi,
just read the story :
MIT grad student hacks into Xbox security system
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/020603/tech_xbox_1.html
The following comment I found on
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/01/1656228&mode=thread&tid=172

Security is a huge issue in gaming consoles, particularly as they become similar in capability and more competitve with each other.

It's widely agreed that the making or breaking point for any console is the software library available for it. Console makers therefore spend a lot of time, money and effort attempting to win over software developers to their platform.

And regardless of how enticing an offer the developer receives, developers need to sell software to stay in business. The main advantage of the console market (as opposed to the PC gaming market) is that the platforms are closed and proprietary, and (ideally) make piracy virtually impossible without modifying the hardware. The main problem with the security holes isn't that malicious users can compromise a user's data; the problem is that even casual users will be able to pirate games.

This prospect scares the living hell out of developers, and rightfully so. Witness the demise of the Sega Dreamcast, which occurred a surprisingly short time after someone figured out how to boot CD-R's on the console.

The bottom line is that developers won't produce for a platform that facilitates piracy. That is very bad news for Microsoft, particularly in light of their bleeding money out of each console they sell.

For more details see
http://web.mit.edu/bunnie/www/proj/anatak/AIM-2002-008.pdf

Thx for the link. I posted them on the front page.

I read the PDF too. Interesting shit.

I'm surprised M$ hasn't sicked their lawyers on this guy .. either that or give him a job. :)

I am convinced that there is nothing software based that cannot be hacked. There are simply too many brilliant wizards out there who dislike huge monopolies cornering the market on any one aspect of Information technology.