Microsoft Offers To Work With Potential Windows Phone 7 Hacker Hotz

Microsoft has publicly extended its hand to iPhone and PS3 hacker George "GeoHot" Hotz after he recently expressed interest in trying to crack Microsoft's new Windows Phone platform. After Hotz first showed his interest in the mobile platform through a short blog post earlier this week, Microsoft developer platform product manager Brandon Watson tweeted to Hotz with an offer to provide him with a free Windows Phone so he could "build cool stuff" on the platform. "Let dev creativity flourish," Watson added. A Microsoft spokesperson told CNet that Hotz has been in contact with Watson since that tweet to discuss obtaining a phone and working with the company. "Microsoft is deeply invested in sustaining strong relationships with a wide range of developers and enthusiasts and are always interested in what we can learn from those communities," the spokesperson said. The move seems reflective of a new strategy for dealing with hackers by Microsoft, where the company reaches out to the hacking community rather than bearing down with legal threats or technical protections. Following the first ever hack of the Windows Phone platform last November, Microsoft invited the hackers to the company's Redmond campus to discuss how Microsoft could safely enable homebrew software efforts on the device without also enabling piracy. Microsoft initially reacted harshly to efforts to hack their Kinect 3D camera for use on PCs, but soon after promised official support for such efforts so long as they didn't compromise the hardware itself. Hotz is currently one of a number of defendants subject to a proposed Sony restraining order aimed at stopping distribution of information related to the recent high-level hack of the PS3 hardware.