USA Today: XBox Not Just for Games

(Forwarded from Pho list)

> http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-15-xbox_x.htm

Coolest bit:

However, hackers like Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, who is pursuing a doctorate in
electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, say
Microsoft's attempt to "lock down" the Xbox's parts is a prelude to using
similar techniques to keep PCs from running anything but Windows.

Huang was one of the first hackers to crack the technology Microsoft
embedded on the Xbox motherboard to stop people like him from running Linux
code on the Xbox.

While Microsoft says it's taking such steps to make technology more secure
for users, Microsoft's critics say the company could also eventually use it
to control more of the computer market.

"This is about fair use of something I bought with my hard-earned money,"
Huang says. "If Microsoft can stop me from running whatever code I want on a
given piece of hardware, it could then extend its software dominance into
hardware and lock up the entire computer market."

(Seth)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: pho: Hackers use Xbox for more than games
Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 01:54:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Parres <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]

"...Thousands are souping up their Xboxes to house movies and music, serve
up Web pages, even write software. All it takes is a few hundred dollars and
free tip sheets on the Web..."


Hackers use Xbox for more than games
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY

SEATTLE — Microsoft's strategy of selling the Xbox, its video game console,
at a loss has wrought an unforeseen consequence. Some users increasingly
view the Xbox as a cheap appliance easily rigged to operate as a fully
functioning personal computer.   The Xbox is being hacked so it can be used
for more than playing video games.   By Tim Dillon, USA TODAY 

Forget zapping aliens. Thousands are souping up their Xboxes to house movies
and music, serve up Web pages, even write software. All it takes is a few
hundred dollars and free tip sheets on the Web.

Microsoft's news Wednesday that it is dropping the price of a new Xbox $20
to $180 could drive more users to give it a try.

The software giant views the $100 or so it loses on each Xbox as the price
of entry to compete against Sony's dominant PlayStation 2 gaming console.
While it says it will attack hackers on a case-by-case basis, analysts say
the company has so far tolerated the Xbox hacking as an unavoidable
nuisance. "I don't think they see it as a major threat," says Jay Horwitz,
game analyst at Jupiter Research.

Not just for games 

In part, he says, that may be because the activities are relegated to the
tech savvy, a small part of all Xbox users. It's also not a new problem.
Shortly after Xbox hit stores in November 2001, hackers set to work cracking
the technology intended to restrict the Xbox to playing Xbox games.

But it does highlight the complexity of Microsoft's struggles to make its
products more secure. Because Xbox has so much capability, hackers have
found it works well as:

•Media hubs. Unlike a PC tower, the compact Xbox fits well next to the TV.
By adding a start-up chip and a bigger hard drive, the Xbox morphs into an
inexpensive media center for storing and playing a vast amount of games,
movies and music. The TV screen serves as a monitor.

   Souping up the Xbox      Hackers have modified an estimated 150,000 of
the 9 million Xboxes Microsoft has sold worldwide to turn them into PCs that
would normally cost $800 or more. What it takes:

A new Xbox, with 733-megahertz processor, custom graphics chip, 8-gigabyte
hard drive: $180

A keyboard and mouse, with adapters: $35

A modified start-up chip: $21

120-gigabyte hard drive: $120

Linux or other free software: $0

Total: $336

Source: USA TODAY research


XboxHacker.com, one of several Web sites packed with information on building
Xbox media hubs, logs 8,000 visitors a week. "It's like putting custom parts
on your car," says Webmaster Ken Robinson, a dockworker and amateur
programmer in Federal Way, Wash.

•Linux PCs. A group called the Xbox Linux Project advocates bypassing the
Xbox's Windows operating system and replacing it with the free Linux
operating system. This lets users run a wide variety of free software. More
than 150,000 copies of Linux for the Xbox have been downloaded, says founder
Michael Steil, a computer science student from Munich, Germany.

Linux is continually improved by volunteer programmers worldwide, and
Microsoft considers it to be one of its biggest competitive threats. Steil
says Linux Xboxes are being increasingly used as Web-site servers and to
write new Linux programs.

•Web tunnels. Microsoft charges gamers $4 a month to use Xbox Live, its
fledgling online gaming service. It hopes to add more subscribers and raise
the fee. But GameSpy.com and XBConnect.com offer free "tunneling" software
that lets Xbox gamers interact with each other online using unmodified
Xboxes. GameSpy President Jonathan Epstein said it took technicians just two
days after the Xbox went on sale to create the first Xbox Internet tunnel.
"We did it to show we're really cool technologists," Epstein says. While
some Xbox hacking — copying games, for one — is illegal, tunneling,
installing Linux and building media hubs fall into the gray area of what
rights owners have to change a technology once they've paid for it.

Microsoft is pursuing several initiatives that could make it illegal to
tamper with hardware embedded with certain security codes.

In addition to saying it'll stop illegal hacking, Microsoft also warns that
opening the Xbox — required to install hardware — voids the warranty. "We're
very committed to respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and
we request the same respect for our innovations and those of our partners,"
says J. Allard, Xbox platform vice president.

Fair use or foul play? 

However, hackers like Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, who is pursuing a doctorate in
electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, say
Microsoft's attempt to "lock down" the Xbox's parts is a prelude to using
similar techniques to keep PCs from running anything but Windows.

Huang was one of the first hackers to crack the technology Microsoft
embedded on the Xbox motherboard to stop people like him from running Linux
code on the Xbox.

While Microsoft says it's taking such steps to make technology more secure
for users, Microsoft's critics say the company could also eventually use it
to control more of the computer market.

"This is about fair use of something I bought with my hard-earned money,"
Huang says. "If Microsoft can stop me from running whatever code I want on a
given piece of hardware, it could then extend its software dominance into
hardware and lock up the entire computer market."
 
 
Find this article at: 
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-05-15-xbox_x.htm  


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