Nearly A Million Users Banned From Xbox Live
Posted on: Wednesday, 11 November 2009, 14:00 CST
Thousands of gamers using Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live may have had their accounts cut off by modifying their consoles to play pirated games, BBC News reported.
Microsoft confirmed that it had banned a "small percentage" of the 20 million Xbox Live users worldwide and several online reports say as many as 600,000 gamers may have been affected.
Modifying an Xbox 360 console "violates" the service's "terms of use" and would result in a player being disconnected, according to Microsoft.
The company released a statement saying that all consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use and will void the warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live.
"The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them," the statement said.
Microsoft has equipped the Xbox 360 with Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies to detect pirated software.
However, many gamers modify their consoles by installing new chips or software that allows them to run unofficial - but not always illegal - programs and games.
But some chips are specifically designed to play pirated games.
The company did now say how it was able to determine which gamers to disconnect.
Microsoft said in a statement it does not reveal specifics, but it can say that all consoles have been verified to have violated the terms of use.
Gamers with any modifications were met with a message during the login process that read: "Your console has been banned from Xbox".
The ban does not stop the console from working and only affects a gamer's Xbox Live account, according to reports.
The banning is part of an annual November sweep that Microsoft carries out each year to remove modified Xboxes from its online gaming service.
So-called "modding" or "chipping" is popular among people who want to play pirated games and games bought in other regions.
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Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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User Comments (5)
| 5. |
Posted by redbull on 11/14/2009, 09:58 i no right i went and payed 70.00 dollars for the new call of duty just for i wont get banned and when i got home i was banned im just going back to sony and have free online play |
| 4. |
Posted by tunl on 11/12/2009, 22:39 my xbox is modded and my console got banned but not my xbox live account. boo hoo. this article is inaccurate and you guys are idiots. nobody is playing ps3 back ups on modded systems yet. trust me. oh yea, ***** microsoft!!!! they charge people for a service that should be free and they overcharge for ancient games on xbox live arcade. microsoft is not a company that is hurting for money and the video game industry is fine. i\'ll go buy a new console, wait till the eggheads figure a way around this and be playin pirated games on xbox live within weeks. wow the consoles are cheaper than buying 4 shitty games. i love my dvd+r dl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| 3. |
Posted by johnd on 11/12/2009, 17:05 heh...that 18,000,000 is nothing compaired to the the money they were losing because of people playing pirate games. Microsoft is smart to do this...i'm sure it wont be long befor sony does the same |
| 2. |
Posted by Ashy Larry on 11/12/2009, 09:37 I agree with you completely Tyrone! word up! |
| 1. |
Posted by Tyrone Biggums on 11/12/2009, 09:36 hey you know, it is the peoples own fault for modding their consoles, sorry to say. couldnt you just make another live account? i have both ps3 and xbox but xbox is broken. how did they find out that the systems were modded? And why wouldnt they tell anybody how they did it, it is just weird... well at least xbox's servers werent down for the majority of yesterday......... i do like ps3 better though, and a lot of people have modded their ps3 and why would xbox do this and lose almost up to 18,000,000?????? ahh microsoft is messing up |
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