Stephen James "Jamie" Toulouse was born August 6, 1972 in Houston, Texas. Stephen, also known as Stepto, was an American policy specialist and public relations manager who served as the Director of Xbox LIVE Policy and Enforcement at Microsoft. He frequently represented Microsoft and Xbox LIVE in various media, including on Larry Hryb’s “Major Nelson Radio” Xbox-related podcast, to discuss security and policy issues.
Prior to joining the Xbox team at Microsoft, Stephen was the head of communications for security response with the Microsoft Security Response Center, which he joined in November, 2002. It was here that Stephen made a name for himself while handling Microsoft’s public relations for malware outbreaks such as Blaster, Sasser, and Zotob, as well as the Windows Metafile vulnerability.
When Stephen left the Microsoft Security Response Center, he was praised by several notable security journalists for his candor and honesty about Microoft’s security challenges.
In August 2007, Stephen joined the Xbox LIVE Services group as Lead Program manager for Enforcement, describing his role at the time as “Helping to make sure the Live experience is a safe and enjoyable one for all users.” Little did he know, this role would later find him being once described as, “Xbox LIVE’s Top Cop.”
Over the next years he expanded his role to include policy and enforcement for the Xbox LIVE and Zune Social services, building out a team of worldwide “enforcers” to implement the rules of the Xbox LIVE service. This led to him being promoted to Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE in September 2009.
Stephen was an amazing older brother to Scott Toulouse, Jeff Toulouse, Jordan Toulouse Buess and Meredith Toulouse Fletcher. He was also an uncle to 9 nieces and nephews. His love of all things space related grew into a dream of one day going into space, which he is now about to accomplish. Godspeed, our beloved Jamie.
