“Police raided me” says leaker who tried selling next-gen Xbox dev kit (updated)

UPDATE, Feb. 20, 2013: The Tech Game was provided with a copy of the search warrant served on SuperDaE by the Australian Computer Crime Squad, alleging "unlwaful use of a computer." The warrant specifically names Microsoft, PayPal and eBay as injured parties, but SuperDaE also claims that Epic, Blizzard, Valve and Sony have joined in on the case due to case of unauthorized server access. "Yo, everyone at this point just wants a piece of me," he told The Tech Game, adding that old computers and a cell phone were confiscated under the warrant, and a freeze was placed on his bank accounts.

ORIGINAL STORY

Leaking information and materials regarding upcoming consoles is serious business. Just ask SuperDaE, the anonymous source whose parceling of information and attempted sale of his supposed Microsoft "Durango" development kit has purportedly earned him a visit from police and an FBI agent.

The mysteriously well-informed source posted on Twitter this morning that "police raided me," apparently based on a warrant that cited Microsoft, eBay, and Paypal. He later followed up to say that an FBI agent and seven to eight police were involved in the raid.

We've been unable to independently confirm SuperDaE's claims. The clandestine source says he was tweeting from an Apple Store and was therefore unable to post proof of the warrants that were sitting at home. While his location on Twitter is listed as North Carolina, the second attempted eBay sale of the Durango kit (Which went for over AUD$50,000) lists the location as Perth, Australia. That would raise questions about the involvement of the US FBI, but it would help explain how he was supposedly posting from an Apple Store during what was the middle of the night for the United States.

Console makers routinely place strict controls on the distribution of development kits, especially before a system's formal announcement and release. Developers are required to sign strict nondisclosure and no-resale agreements before receiving hardware, so the thought that Microsoft would get law enforcement involved isn't outside the realm of possibility. When Curt Schilling's 38 Studios was liquidated recently, Microsoft publicly intervened to try to prevent the resale of its Xbox 360 development kits. Then again, SuperDaE has said that his first attempt to sell the kit on eBay was blocked by Microsoft—without the need for a police raid.

Last June, supposed documents describing the next Xbox's features and hardware specs were taken down from the Web at the request of an IP law firm that frequently represents Microsoft.