Over 1 million banned from X-Box Live for piracy

[J T]

I get the point you're making Corn619. Piracy is such a huge problem now; it does have to factor into business decisions about pricing. That sucks for the paying consumer that now has costs transferred to them so that some other people can steal it.

It also sucks that the paying consumer has to deal with DRM meant to deter pirates when the DRM simulataneously hampers the gameplay. I have actually had to consider getting cracked software for games I purchased because I found the DRM to be such a nuisance in the retail version.

The one good thing about Microsoft handling things this way is that it actually punishes the pirates in this case instead of just trying to deter them or shifting the problem onto the shoulders of paying consumers.

That's not totally true though because it does still harm their paying customers. Now that banned/locked xbox's will be flooding the secondary market (along with the RRODs already out ther), there will be less second-hand consumer confidence, and the resellable value of your console just took a big hit.

And as I hinted at earlier, the other thing that bothers me about Microsoft's actions is that as soon as your x-box trips the switch, you are deemed guilty and punished accordingly. There is no investigation into your case or any chance for you to defend yourself. No. Banned. And there is no way that a massive ban like this could be free of false positives.

There are going to be paying customers that hurt from this too. I know there are a lot of "pirates" that use cracks as demos to determine whether they want to buy something or not. If their accounts get banned, that's going to be bad for business with Microsoft. Now, technically, these people are illegally using pirated software, but from a business perspective (which microsoft is operating from) they are better off to not harm these people because they are a source of revenue. It's very similar to renting or borrowing a game before you buy, it's just using an illegally obtained copy. That doesn't mean these people don't shell out cash for a good game. There are ones that do. It doesn't seem fair that they also get banned.

[gtmtnbiker]

If you were truly paying for piracy on the xbox 360, wouldn't you see that the same COD MW2 game be cheaper on the Sony PS3? It's the same price as the Xbox 360 version on Amazon. As far as I know, there's no piracy on the PS3.

[corn619]

JT, anyone who buys a second hand 360 this day in age knowing the build quality and other issues with them I hate to say......deserves what they get. New 360s go for $200.00 these days and are very affordable. Hopefully the new ones are more reliable than the 3 Microsoft sent me.

I can understand your second point though. Microsoft is known for fucking things up. I'm sure there was a few that got injustly banned and Microsoft could possibly investigate claims of unjust banning but, 1 million investigations is a lot of people. I went through the whole nightmare customer service the other day and it was less than pleasant. I for one refuse to buy the next console Microsoft forces down our throats. Natal can suck my ass as well. Noooo thank you, my gaming dollars will be going to a console that has a lifespan longer than 6 months.

And gtmtnbiker, most multiplatform games are released by one company so......piracy hurts that companies total projected profits from that game on both consoles. In other words, COD4 was released by Activision and was released on both consoles. High piracy rates on the 360 will still affect the PS3 players indirectly because of the loss of total profits on the game. Maybe I could have worded it better, but I worked 17 hours straight today and I'm tired.

[Hobie-wan]

http://consumerist.com/5403510/microsof ... ere-banned

Nice, so no appeal at all. Good thing MS never makes mistakes!

[J T]

And if you're some poor kid who bought a used X-box 360 not knowing it was a modded console you were playing?

Just collateral damage in the war on piracy?

Seriously, 1/20th of their user base has been banned? Jesus!

[corn619]

You can now unban your console. Problem solved, though it does look rather complex. http://youremgn.com/main/latest-news/la ... osoft-bans

[Niode]

You can now unban your console. Problem solved, though it does look rather complex. http://youremgn.com/main/latest-news/la ... osoft-bans

Not quite, I think the people who are kicking up the most stink are the people who are 'innocently' being banned for having a (to them) an un-modified console. Whether this is true or not I don't know, perhaps they bought a previously modified 360 used and not know about it, that's perfectly possible. They could buy one second hand, and have no idea about the previous use of that console, and they could use it perfectly legally. Yet they get banned.

I'm sorry but saying (paraphrasing) "people who buy an xbox 360 second hand deserve all that they get, and if they can't afford £200 for a new one then they shouldn't have one at all" is completely short sighted, if people can't afford to buy a new one then why shouldn't they buy second hand? It isn't their fault that somebody misused the console before they had it. Yes there is risks with buying second hand but having the manufacturer essentially break your gamertag and cancel your service is completely out of line.

It's like you buying a used car, the insurance company finding out you had aftermarket parts installed by the previous owner (IE parts you wouldn't know about unless you knew about these types of things, analogous to my example on 360's above) and then canceling your insurance premium with no rebuttals, forcing you to pay for a new insurance premium. That is completely out of line and just shouldn't be legal. I know you accept an eula when you sign up for live but surely there should be some sort of appeals process, you shouldn't just be told go fuck yourself.

[corn619]

You can now unban your console. Problem solved, though it does look rather complex. http://youremgn.com/main/latest-news/la ... osoft-bans

Not quite, I think the people who are kicking up the most stink are the people who are 'innocently' being banned for having a (to them) an un-modified console. Whether this is true or not I don't know, perhaps they bought a previously modified 360 used and not know about it, that's perfectly possible. They could buy one second hand, and have no idea about the previous use of that console, and they could use it perfectly legally. Yet they get banned.

I'm sorry but saying (paraphrasing) "people who buy an xbox 360 second hand deserve all that they get, and if they can't afford £200 for a new one then they shouldn't have one at all" is completely short sighted, if people can't afford to buy a new one then why shouldn't they buy second hand? It isn't their fault that somebody misused the console before they had it. Yes there is risks with buying second hand but having the manufacturer essentially break your gamertag and cancel your service is completely out of line.

It's like you buying a used car, the insurance company finding out you had aftermarket parts installed by the previous owner (IE parts you wouldn't know about unless you knew about these types of things, analogous to my example on 360's above) and then canceling your insurance premium with no rebuttals, forcing you to pay for a new insurance premium. That is completely out of line and just shouldn't be legal. I know you accept an eula when you sign up for live but surely there should be some sort of appeals process, you shouldn't just be told go fuck yourself.

I'm sorry Niode, but with all the problems the 360 is known for you'd have to be crazy not to kick out a few extra dollars for a new one. If a person it that tight with money that $50.00 or so will make or break the bank, maybe spending money on videogames should be put on the backburner until fiances change. And I didn't say they shouldn't have one at all. Please don't put words in my mouth, thanks.

[Niode]

I'm sorry Niode, but with all the problems the 360 is known for you'd have to be crazy not to kick out a few extra dollars for a new one. If a person it that tight with money that $50.00 or so will make or break the bank, maybe spending money on videogames should be put on the backburner until fiances change. And I didn't say they shouldn't have one at all. Please don't put words in my mouth, thanks.

That's what you are saying though. If you can't afford the extra $50 then you shouldn't have one. Simple as that.

What I'm getting at is these users shouldn't be punished for unknowingly having a modded console. The thing is, Microsoft shouldn't be doing this AT ALL. They need to improve their software and ban users that are using pirated software on their machines, and not banning users that aren't.