Xbox Hacking - A Moment of Silence for Aaron Swartz

[wraggster]

source: bunnie_ @ bunniestudios.com (http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=2860)] I am joining siftdna.org (http://siftdna.org/swartz_tribute/opinion.html) in a moment of silence to mark Aaron Swartz’ passing. On January 25, I will bring down my blog for the day to honor his contributions and mark the tragedy of his passing. Aaron’s treatment by MIT is not unfamiliar to me. Back when I was a graduate student there, I extracted security keys from the original Microsoft Xbox video game console. I still remember the crushing disappointment of receiving a letter from MIT legal repudiating any association with my work, effectively leaving me on my own to face Microsoft. However, in my case, the faculty of my then-lab, the AI lab, were outraged by this treatment. They openly defied MIT legal by publishing my work as an official AI Lab Memo (http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/6694/AIM-2002-008.pdf?sequence=2), thereby granting me greater negotiating leverage with Microsoft. Microsoft, mindful of the potential backlash from the court of public opinion over suing an openly legitimized academic researcher, came to a civil understanding with me over the issue.

http://www.eurasia.nu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3133