Microsoft zaps Xbox-hacking chipmaker
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft appears to have shut down one of the world's largest distributors of "mod chips"--gray-market add-ons that allow Microsoft's Xbox and other video game consoles to play pirated games. A representative in Microsoft's Australian subsidiary confirmed that the company has taken legal action against Hong Kong-based Lik Sang. Lik Sang's Web site has been offline for nearly two weeks, with a notice on the site blaming a server outage.
Lik Sang was one of the top worldwide retailers of mod chips, devices that, once soldered to a game console's main circuit board, disable security components. The chips typically allow a game machine to play legally and illegally copied discs, run unauthorized software and play game discs intended for other geographic regions.