Hwah? Microsoft encourages Geohot to jailbreak Windows Phone 7

Wait, Geohot's decided to open fire on another ultra corporation - even with his face still stinging from Sony's giant lawsuit-slapping hand? Why, that's absolutely preposterou--

Huh? Microsoft's offering a free phone, you say? And thus concludes the part of the ride where the world makes sense.

After handing out free T-shirts to the first folks to jailbreak Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's now given Geohot a hearty thumbs up to do the same.

"If you want to build cool stuff on [Windows Phone 7], send me email and the team will give you a phone," product management head Brandon Watson tweeted to George "Geohot" Hotz. "Let dev creativity flourish."

This came shortly after Hotz declared his intention to buy a phone for himself and work his brand of cracking magic on the device.

All told, though, it's pretty brilliant. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, after all. Jailbreaks are simply an inevitability, so you may as well get the brains behind them on your side. Also, extending a helping hand to Geohot of all people puts Sony's iron-fisted approach in the doghouse - something we strongly doubt Microsoft's losing any sleep over.