MICROSOFT HAS FLEXED its legal muscle and sent the project to crack the encryption keys that protect X Box games from copying scuttling for cover. A message on the Neo Project website states.
"Due to legal reasons, we will no longer be hosting or participating in the x Box challenge." A further message from spikey team member Mick Curry reads: "We will not be answering questions or commenting anymore on this subject."
The aim of the site was to share out the task of cracking the data key by trying out all possible permutations. The had site claimed it had more than 3,500 users working to crack the 2,048-bit code. As is usual in such code-breaking exercises, the task could have taken months years or hours, depending, essentially, on whether the crackers got a lucky break or not.
Now the project has run aground because of more practical considerations and those computer using their idle time to crack the code will fall idle once more.
News source: The Inq
