“Microsoft isn’t taking kindly to the bounty offer”

Kinect
Microsoft isn’t taking kindly to the bounty offer

“Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products,” a company spokesperson told CNET. “With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.”

Ok fine, the bounty is now double, $2,000


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11 Comments

  1. I hope they condone the first sale doctrine.

    Nice “law enforcement” reference. Asshats.

  2. Oh my, Microsoft is having a a tamper tantrum!

    There is no named law for this, but “No system designed to block ordinary users from cracking the system can be secure because to use it requires decrypting somewhere in order to function”.

    DVD fell quickly, blue-ray doesn’t seem to be much of a problem, HDCP now has the master key published.

    I think this should fall rather quickly, though the specifics of the protocol – the full spec might take a bit longer.

  3. Same nonsense from Nintendo. My current employer was asked to stop building software that interacted with the wiimote.

    I just dont get how this can be bad for the manufacturer. NEw novel uses can only increase sales, right? What’s the downside from their perspective?.. someone improves the product? (for free!)

  4. If they sell the hardware at a loss and plan to make up for it by pricing the games that use it stupidly high it certainly is a bad thing for them if a bunch of people start buying the hardware with no intention of ever buying any of the overpriced games.

    This doesn’t change the fact that they’re asshats.

  5. Generally when stuff that I have worked on got shut down, the game company releases something similar quickly after the C&D.

  6. Exactly. Why should they be anything but happy that people are taking such a great interest in their products. All the fear from manufacturers does is alienate them from their users and future users. Mostly likely they fear somehow losing a dollar or a hundred. The efforts they put into fighting the inevitable could be better spent by them and their users.

  7. I’m no Microsoft hater, but when I read “Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products”, I can’t help but laugh.

  8. The problem is that video game systems are designed to create an even playing field. “Lag switches” and “modded controllers” give an unfair advantage to some players, and make other players decide not to continue playing. It’s understandable that they would want to protect the sanctity and fair-play atmosphere of their products. Not that I agree, I just want to share a viewpoint.

    That said, I want so badly to use this with Max.

  9. Wow. I didn’t even read the original challenge because I wasn’t buying a Kinect (and I didn’t even notice it was to create an open driver). Now I feel like attempting it just to make them mad (and to see what law-enforcement, or *giggle* PRODUCT SAFETY, could have against it). Except I’d still have to give them money to get the hardware…

  10. Maybe Microsoft should take a page from the cable playbook and rent you a Kinect for $5 a month instead of selling them outright for $150. That way they still own it, and can go after all of those evil, nefarious, capitalism-hating hackers out there.

  11. Some comments from around the web have hit on some of the potential reasons Microsoft locked this down and doesn’t condone repurposing, but I’d like to regurgitate them.

    1.) MS could be selling this at a loss, to push the platform and sell more titles. This is common and everyone should already be aware of how this works.

    2.) Due to patents and licensing, it’s possible MS licensed the technology for this specific use and any other use outside of gaming, lies outside of their license. This is pretty common and the developer of the technology may want to sell this tech for use in robotics/military/etc at a MUCH higher licensing cost.

    To sum it up, MS needed to put in it’s due diligence in restricting the use of this technology to comply with the license they paid money for. Not only that, but they must speak negatively of any attempts to bypass this security and issue security patches in the future to lock out any hacks the community comes up with.

    My POV: Screw microsoft, screw PrimeSense, and screw all business practices that revolve around this method of integrating technology and limiting the use of said devices that the CONSUMER purchases.

    VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

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