modded xbox sting

while I was waiting in line to buy Halo 2, this guy went through the line handing out his business card. he was advertising Xbox modding services. I've always been intrigued by modded Xboxs, and didn't want to risk breaking mine, so I contacted him. I told him that I was working on the battle guide and that I might be able to give him credit in the book if I happened to mention modded Xboxs.

for those of you who aren't familiar with modding an Xbox, the process involves adding a chip to the motherboard. by doing this, you can gain access to the hard drive and even change the operating system. some very cool apps have been created by modded Xboxs. for example, the Xbox Media Center (XBMC) application functions much like the Microsoft Media Center Edition (without the PVR capability).

there is nothing illegal about the actual modding - although it does void the warranty and usually prevents the box from being connected to Xbox Live. you can even buy premodded Xboxs online at sites such as xbox-modchips.com.

however, there are some illegal applications available for modded Xboxs. these are apps that have been produced using the Xbox dev kit but haven't been sanctioned by Bungie. the modders don't distribute these applications.

eventually, I heard back from the modding guy and he said that he would be interested I asked him to contact me so that we could set up a time to meet. he immediately responded saying that he would not provide any software. I wrote back again explaining that this was fine and asked him again to contact me or give me his contact info.

I didn't hear from him for days and I was really confused. here i was telling this guy that he might get credit in a book as well as his usual fee -- it seemed like a pretty sweet deal for him. eventually he e-mailed back the following message:

"its ok i think ill pass up the oppurtunity. i dont think i need my name spread around. and i dont support illegal bios/games/hacking. good luck with your book
cya"

this guy thought that I was running some sort of sting! :)