Xbox Hacking Guide: In Memory of Aaron Schwarz

Andrew Huang laid out his book Hacking the Xbox. An Introduction to Reverse Engineering for free access . This Xbox repair and modification manual, 291 page of technical information with illustrations. Although the handbook was written in 2003, shortly after the release of the Xbox, the information remains relevant, since these game consoles are still in use. In 2003, the original version of the book did not go into circulation: the publisher was afraid to release it because of potential problems associated with the DMCA. The author has been selling electronic copies for a long time.

The book begins with an instruction for parsing the Xbox case, with an indication of the models of screwdrivers that are needed for this (the Xbox uses "protective" non-standard screws). Separate chapters are devoted to replacing the power supply, assembling the USB adapter, hacking the ROM, installing the backdoor, recording traffic logs on the system bus, analyzing the security protocol, installing third-party software on the Xbox and various Linux distributions, installing additional RAM and connecting other devices to the Xbox.

The author laid out the book in free access to the memory of hacker Aaron Schwartz, who committed suicide in January 2013, having been persecuted by law enforcement agencies for downloading free scientific articles from the student network of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), violating a dozen articles of the criminal code. The leadership of the institute refused to speak out in defense of the hacker, leaving him alone with state prosecutors. According to the aggregate charges Schwartz threatened to 35 years in prison .

The author of the book "Breaking the Xbox" got into a similar situation. Ten years ago, he was a student at MIT and began experimenting with hacking into the Microsoft gaming console. He published the security keys online that he managed to extract from the original Xbox. After that, the student received a letter from the MIT Legal Department with a notice that the institute would not intercede for it, and Andrew will have to independently deal with Microsoft's legal claims. Fortunately, the management of the department stood up for the student in front of the legal department of the institute - they were able to prove that the hack was carried out for research purposes, so the student is not subject to criminal prosecution. As is known, hacking for research purposes is an exception to the DMCA law.
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Andrew Huang, in the preface to the book, expressed his extreme rejection of current laws, especially on copyright protection. He says that they provide for too severe a punishment that is not proportional to the damage done. Now the author has left the USA and is building his career in another country.

Download the book in PDF format here: http://bunniefoo.com/nostarch/HackingTheXbox_Free.pdf ( mirror ).