Microsoft revealed they will be discontinuing Xbox Live for the original Xbox consoles and games on April 15, and this INCLUDES original Xbox games playing on Xbox 360 via backward compatibility such as Halo 2 and Star Wars: Republic Commando. If you only use Xbox Live on an original Xbox, Microsoft will soon cancel your auto-renewal if you have this active.
The official spin here is that there are some unnamed Xbox Live innovations that are being held back due to Microsoft's need to retain support for original Xbox (primarily for the active Halo 2 community). Once they pull the plug on original Xbox, they'll no longer be held back. No details yet on what those innovations might include, but it's likely we'll see an end to the 100-person Friends list cap since reportedly it was original Xbox support that was blocking this.
Whatever it is, enjoy your original Xbox games on Live while you can: You have 2 months to milk the online fun out of them and, if you haven't made the leap to Xbox 360, save up for a new console...
