Microsoft bans up to 1 million Xbox Live users

[JDawggS316]

Could a user just go ahead and create a new account on his XBox?

If not that sucks they would need to purchase a whole new system just for the sake of being back online.

 

[uberwoot]

Why even ban? Just let them play for 6 hours and let the xbox's burn out.


And anyone who got pass the ban with a modded 360 dont worrie the xbox 360's self destruct feature will burn it out in 6 hours.

 

[FudgeNuggets]

Could a user just go ahead and create a new account on his XBox?

If not that sucks they would need to purchase a whole new system just for the sake of being back online.

No, the console is banned by its' serial number. What is worse is that the ban also corrupts the user profile on the hard drive as well and it is unrecoverable without a reformat and you cannot save to the hard drive nor install games to it. It renders your HDD useless. There have been cases of people who have SWORN that their systems are unmodded and that they've done nothing illegal to which MS has replied, SOL. I never play online and I for one and never plugging that cat5 cable into the back of the 360 again.

 

[DBZ]

This move might benefit Sony. I think the sale of the 360 were high mostly due to it being modable but now with the ban (not just ban account but disable hdd installation), the decision between the 360 or ps3 just tilt toward Sony's favor a bit more.

 

[FudgeNuggets]

This move might benefit Sony. I think the sale of the 360 were high mostly due to it being modable but now with the ban (not just ban account but disable hdd installation), the decision between the 360 or ps3 just tilt toward Sony's favor a bit more.

I think you're 100% correct. If MS doesn't back off of and undo their overly heavy handed response then they're driving people into the arms of Sony. However, they may not give a rat's *** either because at this point in the console's lifecycle they've probably sold as many consoles as they're going to and all that is left is the stragglers, until Natal comes along and that may flop too, we don't know yet.

 

[doz]

Its sad. My General Foreman on a past job paid like $60 to have his XBox modded and then he was paying $15/copy of each pirated game! I told him he was an idiot, but why did he care :/

 

[SteveLord]

This move might benefit Sony. I think the sale of the 360 were high mostly due to it being modable but now with the ban (not just ban account but disable hdd installation), the decision between the 360 or ps3 just tilt toward Sony's favor a bit more.

XBoxes sell well because of the XBox Live system, which trounces anything the others have had.

 

[ArcturusVi]

It won't affect MS or XBOX at all. Such a small group of people compared to the mainstream that I doubt it'll even be noticed outside of forums and some poorly written news articles.

 

[Omsion]

It won't affect MS or XBOX at all. Such a small group of people compared to the mainstream that I doubt it'll even be noticed outside of forums and some poorly written news articles.

1 million is certainly not a footnote, even out of 30-some million consoles. And that's only people banned so far (or maybe even just this week - the sources aren't clear on that). I think it's fairly safe to assume there's at least 2-3x more out there (so overall rate of 10%-ish, I'd guess). While 10% piracy rate obviously isn't as high as rates on PC, this is still significant and surprisingly high (for me, at least).

 

[rumbl3]

From the article: "The timing of the statement coincides with the release this week of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a highly anticipated Xbox 360 game. The game's release means big sales — but also sales of pirated copies, which are illegal."

People BUY pirated software? Wouldn't buying pirated software kind of defeat the purpose of pirating it?

People who mod their consoles should know there is a risk. Hopefully we will get to the point where developers realize that piracy is not a PC exclusive problem.

Check craigslist not everyone knows how to use a computer lol. at $10 per pirated game (esitmated price on clist) that's much cheaper then 60. They had copies of MW2 on craigslist like a month before it was out and yes they we're legit. Heck i seen l4d2 on their along time ago. Early leaked copies.

Anyway good i'm glad bring forth thy ban hammer and smite pirates and pirate buyers

 

[thaclassikz]

I really wish my xbox lasted long enough to get a ban.

 

[kagee108]

Bravo to MS!
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Or in this case, if you can't afford a new console, don't mod your existing one.

 

[FudgeNuggets]

Is nobody else concerned about what they are doing aside from just banning people from LIVE? They're trashing and disabling people's harddrives. If they're allowed to get away with this then I think that sets a VERY dangerous precedence.

 

[redrumy3]

Is nobody else concerned about what they are doing aside from just banning people from LIVE? They're trashing and disabling people's harddrives. If they're allowed to get away with this then I think that sets a VERY dangerous precedence.

thats not all they are doing lol

Your Banned 360:
* Cannot go on Xbox Live
* Cannot install games to the HDD
* Cannot use Windows Media Center extender
* Cannot be used to get achievements from backups without corrupting your profile

 

[ratbuddy]

Is nobody else concerned about what they are doing aside from just banning people from LIVE? They're trashing and disabling people's harddrives. If they're allowed to get away with this then I think that sets a VERY dangerous precedence.

Not concerned in the least. Pirates deserve everything they get.

 

[Flurp]

Not concerned in the least. Pirates deserve everything they get.

+1 Everyone tries to bash on MS... and while 90% of the time the bashing is justified... this isn't one of those. If you mod your xbox for whatever reason, whether it is to fix something your self/mod it/change the look you should understand that doing so voids your warranty and nullifies your right to use XBL, that being said people playing pirated games and such should definantly be aware of what they are doing... It's like anything, a lot of people do it, a lot of people know it's wrong, a lot of people end up dealing with the consequence. I mean you don't so people that get caught running down the street with a stolen dvd player trying to tell the cops that they had the right to steal it and that the cops had no right to arrest them do you?

 

[FudgeNuggets]

thats not all they are doing lol

Your Banned 360:
* Cannot go on Xbox Live
* Cannot install games to the HDD
* Cannot use Windows Media Center extender
* Cannot be used to get achievements from backups without corrupting your profile

yeah, my "trashing and disabling was meant to encompass that"

I don't think you guys are looking at the big picture here. First, there are people getting banned who have done no wrong and MS simple tells them that they don't care and there are no exceptions.

Also, purposefully disabling or corrupting hardware scares the living bejeebus out of me and this is why: Let's say a major laptop manufacturer like Dell decides that 3rd party hardware is no longer acceptable. You want to put a $100 Blu-Ray drive in your Latitude but the Dell Blu-Ray drive costs $200. You go ahead and put the $100 drive in and one day when you're online, Dell sends a kill command a shuts down your laptop for good.

DANGEROUS!

I'm all for disabling Xbox Live but when you start disabling and corrupting hardware, you've gone too far.

 

[Lukee]

If you do something illegal or against a game or system's EULA, you have to expect that at some point, you may have to suffer the consequences of your actions.

I have no sympathy for any of those banned. They knew what they were doing.

 

[ratbuddy]

I don't think you guys are looking at the big picture here. First, there are people getting banned who have done no wrong and MS simple tells them that they don't care and there are no exceptions.

Show me even one example of this.

edit: Oh yeah, some kid on a forum saying 'I DIDN'T DO IT!!' isn't an example

 

[ArcturusVi]

yeah, my "trashing and disabling was meant to encompass that"

I don't think you guys are looking at the big picture here. First, there are people getting banned who have done no wrong and MS simple tells them that they don't care and there are no exceptions.

Also, purposefully disabling or corrupting hardware scares the living bejeebus out of me and this is why: Let's say a major laptop manufacturer like Dell decides that 3rd party hardware is no longer acceptable. You want to put a $100 Blu-Ray drive in your Latitude but the Dell Blu-Ray drive costs $200. You go ahead and put the $100 drive in and one day when you're online, Dell sends a kill command a shuts down your laptop for good.

DANGEROUS!

I'm all for disabling Xbox Live but when you start disabling and corrupting hardware, you've gone too far.

I don't think Dell is concerned with something as trivial as 100 dollar discrepancies between hardware choices. Your point is pretty extreme, I must say.

Further, if any mass PC company did care, they'd simply make it so the device wouldn't work. They wouldn't put themselves in the situation of bricking much more expensive components, to a much bigger audience.

Microsoft simply takes away some features of their console that help impede pirating. If you play a normal game on the XBOX, you get your achievements. Can't go online? You read and agreed to the rules. MS could be a lot nastier with this if they felt inclined. I think they're doing people a favor by simply banning the console from live.

And the flood of banned XBOXes on ebay, that's what refunds are for. Craigslist is a bit iffier, but that would be the case before this hammer anyway.

And the people buying really discount consoles online are taking a chance with a console being completely operational for a time anyway. MS will still keep selling consoles, games will keep coming out.