-=v00d00=-

Let me assure you as an information security/compliance expert that Microsoft is NOT storing card holder data in the clear on an Xbox HD. That would be a clear violation of plenty of privacy laws as well as Visa/Mastercards own PCI standards, not to mention common sense. Crypto is being leveraged, there are far easier ways to get your information than via Microsoft. Fake ATM card readers, crooked waiters, a gas station attendant with a card reader and a laptop have all worked before and are far easier to implement than hacking Xbox Live!

Two things to note:

1. Microsoft is the second most attacked entity in the world. Second only to the US government. They know how to implement security.

2. Given #1, there is most likely a more germaine explanation such as plain old credit card theft or other phishing attack. Not a weakness in Xbox Live! security architecture.

MS frequently posts large cash rewards for catching the more prolific of hackers so if this is indeed happening, his friends will be sending him up the river for a couple hundred thousand bucks to spend on MS points to be sure.

:-)

a little bird has already passed this on to MS PR and legal...

;-)

Trust me when I tell you that the emulation/virtualization team has more profitable things to work on (Virtual PC / Virtual Server) than BC for Xbox 1 games. That being said, they are doing their best to listen to the community and meet demand as much as reasonable.

#5's point is completely off base as Bungie is a fully owned MS asset so the same legal liabilities and such exist when they work on a project.

In regards to why other devs are not involved more deeply in the coding for BC, it is not even close to the same thing to code for BC as it is to write a game. Leave that to the BC pros and let the game devs write new games. Also, there is the issue of MS coding standards and such to ensure that someone doesn't build a trusted path app that allows piracy on the 360.

Suffice to say that there are bigger issues here than your average game is really thinking about and MS is working hard to make you all happy... at least we listen unlike the "other" guys...

;-)

Current MS employee...

Your both wrong:

2004 MS payed ONE time dividend payout of 32 Billion.

MS has also almost completely regained the lost ground (cash)due to the one time dividend payout.

MS currently brings in approximately 1.4 billion profit (not revenue) per month.

MS is not evil simply because it has a lot of smart people and happens to be successfull... it's called capitalism and regardless of what anyone may "wish" it takes a "big company" to ship software to 98% of the worlds desktop users... your Mom and Pop OS shop can't quite pull that off.

;-)

While it is nice to think that RIM will fall and the world will become overrun by more colorfull, more powerfull, more compatible devices such as smart phones and Pocket PC's, I can assure you as a Microsoft employee , Pocket PC/SmartPhone advocates do not want to see NTP to win this battle. Microsoft is all but guaranteed a day in court with NTP down the line if they manage to beat RIM into submission. All messaging protocols basically work the same and the MS technology that "pushes" (actually it doesn't an SMS message is delivered that notifies your device you have mail and it then goes to get it) is not fundamentally different from RIM's.