Microsoft’s recent mass banning of users of modded consoles from Xbox Live apparently did not go far enough – banned users are now learning that they can no longer use their console’s HDD for any meaningful purpose, with installation to the drive no longer possible on a blacklisted console…
An abridged description of the changes:
Firstly, and most obviously, you cannot connect to Xbox Live on this console any more. This means no more game updates (aka title updates), XBLA games, marketplace content, netflix/sky player and so on. There is no way around this, all online capabilities are now disabled PERMANENTLY.
Hard Drive installs are now disabled on the banned console. This means any disk-based games you have will no longer play off of the hard drive.
There is no way to fix this, that functionality is simply gone from the banned 360.
Windows Media Centre functionality is disabled. It is still possible to stream video/music content via the video library.
So, in summary:
Your Banned 360:
* Cannot go on Xbox Live
* Cannot install games to the HDD
* Cannot use Windows Media Centre extender
* Cannot be used to get achievements from backups without corrupting your profile
With no warranty, Internet access, or even hard drive, it might have been kinder just to “brick” the consoles and render them entirely inoperative…
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Ouch, used buyer beware.
This is why I like non-online consoles without all of that stuff. There's a possibility that the other companies could do the same type of thing with their semi web-based consoles if they wanted to (cutting you off and such), but no matter what they say, they can't touch your PS2 or your Gamecube. Of course, I'm not a pirate, so none of this stuff applies to me anyway....
I've seen lots of "fuck the pirates", and "we pirate 'cause we want free stuff"-type posts. Game makers howl at all the money they say they are losing due to people making and using illegal copies of their games.
An observation: there's a place I go to where I borrow books, music CDs, movie DVDs, etc. - for free!
It's called "the public library".
I don't hear book publishers howling about how letting people borrow books from libraries without paying for them is costing them tons of money.
Hmmm . . .
Some libraries are even doing GAME RENTALS for free now, so they could say that libraries are helping with 'game pirating'.
False. You still need to return the game to the library after a week or two... and if you don't, they'll charge you the price of the game. That is NOT piracy. That is lending.
Hey, it's still the frigging same thing. Microsoft is only getting paid ONCE for a game, and then it is being lent out to 10 or 20 other people.... which means that on a 50 dollar game, they are 'losing' 500 dollars to 1000 dollars in sales in most cases.
Nothing different from the above than from piracy, Microsoft still isn't getting the money out of the people who are renting/borrowing the thing from the library.
Hm, I see you have a point there. I guess the answer to that is the public libraries have an obligation to make the citizens more cultivated, thru books and other media. I mean, they don't stock pr0n or Playboy in the library. And the number of copies in circulation isn't great enough to put the publishers out of business.
It's a bit concerning, if I read this right, if you buy a pre-owned console there's a chance your buying a paperweight that streams audio? :D
YEP! And that's what is going to get Microsoft in a shitload of trouble.... the aftermarket sellers, who will have modified their consoles and then sell them online to 'smucks' who do not know they are modified.
I see a BIG OLD LAWSUIT in Microsoft's future, and it's going to cost them BILLIONS if the people wish to be 'nasty' about this.
It's as I have told people MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY times....... you are not allowed to break into someone's home because you think they have stolen your computer, so why should someone be allowed to basically 'break in' to your game console, say "MODIFIED! PIRATE!" and then make it a paperweight.... answer: NO REASON!
It goes against NUMEROUS laws, and those TOS agreements that supposedly "allow it".... NOT ENFORCEABLE IN COURT! The only reason people keep on pointing at them.... they have never been challenged in a court of law, so the idiots out there keep on saying "They haven't been challenged therefore they are valid!" They said that same bullshit about the anti-homosexual laws and 'sodomy' laws.... and guess what? When they were finally challenged, what did the courts say? UNCONSTITUTIONAL! (sing that last word with me in four part barbershop... actually, nine part Supreme Court harmony)
I still haven't been caught. =P
You can only get banned for having a bad rip of a game.
There's a bad rip of MW2 going around, and people think it's real.
That's why there's been more bans than usual lately.
Microsoft is using this to their advantage to scare some people. (;
i think people should remember how many red rings of death we have put up with, i was lied to from the very start, f*ck m$, all xboxers should play copies save money and buy ps3 n games for FREE online play and content
that's why i love the PS3 the games are region free
so if a game is not in the States i simply buy an import form Japan
hell yeah
+ 1
Bah, modded 360 RRoD'd like 2 days before the ban wave, so I don't know if I'm banned or not. It doesn't really matter since I'll be getting a new xbox anyway.
Banned 360 = new linux workstation
Only if you can get a unit which doesn't have the newer MS patches applied.
From: http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page
---------------
Felix Domke, Michael Steil, Free60 Project; 11 August 2009
Dangerous Xbox 360 Update Killing Homebrew
On Tuesday, Microsoft has released an Xbox 360 software update that overwrites the first stage bootloader of the system. Although there have been numerous software updates for Microsoft's gaming console in the past, this is the first one to overwrite the vital boot block. Any failure while updating this will break the Xbox 360 beyond repair. Statistics from other systems have shown that about one in a thousand bootloader updates goes wrong, and unless Microsoft has a novel solution to this problem, this puts tens of thousands of Xboxes at risk.
It seems that this update is being done to fix a vulnerability already known to the Free60 Project. This vulnerability has been successfully exploited to run arbitrary code, and a complete end user compatible hack has been in development for some time and is planned to be released on free60.org shortly. It will allow users to take back control of their Xboxes and run arbitrary code like homebrew applications or Linux right after turning on the console and without the need of a modchip, finally opening up the Xbox 360 to a level of hacking as the original Xbox.
Because of the dangerousness of the update and the homebrew lockout, the Free60 Project advises all Xbox 360 users to not update their systems to the latest software version. The Project website at http://free60.org/ will provide the latest information on this ongoing topic, including the final hack software.
---------------
Too all you people QQ'ing about MS disabling the ability to save to the HDD. Maybe what MS SHOULD have done was reported to the authorities all the addresses of people who had modded xbox's/pirated games on their system and then let the system confiscate and press charges. Be glad all you got off with is a small $299 fine (if you decide to buy another 360).
Call the FBI, the users are modding THEIR OWN consoles. How terrible... those little terrorists, how dare to mess with the US national security!
HOHOHO is like a 4chan ban...only retards have a ban LOL..
...too bad for who have modified their consoles 'cuz falls in save money-inversion trap
This type of thing really motivates me to become a career black hat hacker =/
Has anyone ever considered that Microsoft is taking down piracy because the DEVELOPERS are complaining?
It would make sense.
"People aren't buying the games I spend my career on and because of this I'm not making the scratch I deserve."
I don't know about you, but I would be absolutely enraged with this. If developers aren't making money, then they aren't going to be too interested in making more games. And as a typical consumer of video games this makes me angry, too.
I've noticed with Nintendo - people are pirating more and more and there have been many delays in getting games to the USA, etc. I thesis it's also because they either can't afford to keep some of their translators(multimillion companies like Microsoft and Google have had to let go of a lot of their workers, too, so there's no use in saying they should have enough money to keep everyone) I know it does take time, but they have been slow this year.
Crime doesn't pay, and I don't feel sorry for the people who choose to pirate and mod'.
I know it's yours, you bought and should be free to modify your 360 to how you see fit, but when you agree to certain rules and break them it's what you should expect.
No use in complaining, is all I mean.
Developers must to learn to do good games. And graphics alone doesnt make a good game.
Exactly right. Dead space: graphically impressive but the game play itself even MORE impressive (at least on a console).
Bioshock: same thing as Dead Space.
The ban waves they've done up until now haven't hurt their sales, what makes you think they will this time? Just because Artefact posts something doesn't actually mean it's new.
Unless the ToS explicitly said that the console could be disabled the "you agreed to the ToS" argument does not fly. I also believe that in the US there is a law allowing legal backups of games you own. These people probably have good justification to take MS to court.
Whether they could win or not (money wins over truth every time) is another story.
It doesn't say your console could be disabled, but it does essentially say they (M$) can't be held responsible for any damages to the console if you don't use it as agreed upon in the terms of service.
If you decide to modify your console, you're already breaking the ToS. And as such, you bare the risk of having your console bricked.
Here's a fancy analogy: if you decide to modify your toaster to shoot laser beams, that's up to you. It's your toaster. But if the appliance suddenly stops toasting bread for whatever reason, you don't have a right complain to the toaster company since you didn't use the product as intended. Going back, the Xbox was NEVER intended to play pirated/copied games.
Strange how some people complain that it's M$'s fault that their Xbox is essentially bricked. They refuse to acknowledge that it's actually THEIR fault for not following the rules and deciding to mod their consoles, despite repeated warnings from M$.
Facetious argument. The toaster argument doesn't fly, because you are changing a bunch of stuff in it and changing it's PRIMARY PURPOSE.
With modding an XBox360, you are not doing that in the slightest, and unless Microsoft does something like this asinine bullshit, your console will keep on working.... FOREVER, in almost all cases, unless the hardware fails, which it could do on an UNMODIFIED console.
There is a difference between 'act of dog/god' and someone coming into your home, scanning your console/computer, deciding that you have an 'illegal version' and bricking your console/computer!
TOTALLY FRIGGING DIFFERENT, and the law and order loonies like you just cannot get that. They think "TOS IS SACRED! LAW IS SACRED!" and shut off their brains.
all original harddrives are over priced under sized pieces of shit anyway. get an external drive and format it to FAT32 and youre good.
This is awesomeness, I wish this would be done to the PC computers who hack all the online MMO games, kill their hard drives for using botters and automated scripting in the online MMOs. I wish this would happen to them all. So, the online Xbox360 games could now be fun to play as all the hackers have just been taken out of them?
While using bots/scripts is against the terms of service for most mmos its not hacking. The people still have to buy a legitimate copy of the game for an account.
I find it funny that some people here try to defend piracy and somehow make it sound like what they're doing is actually good for the gaming community.
Here's a little shocker for you: it's not.
I'd rather just hear these people say they pirate games simply because they want to play the games for free... and leave it at that.
On a related note, here's an interesting article on PC game piracy that I found was well researched and answers some of the most common pro-piracy arguments: http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html
interesting thing to read.
But anyway starcraft 2 is a must buy for me.
But i also need a new pc for it.
Thanks for that, very good article.
The most shocking/funny was people that call tech support for probs with pirated games.
Thats like stealing a car from a dealership, then coming back the next day to complain about the broken window used to steal the car.
On another funny note, you pc gamers love to call the fanboys consolefags, but in reality your pc games are really console ports. Whos a fag now?
This is why you should only game on the PC, gentlemen. Consoles suck, always have, always will.
Wait, the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and the SNES were fine consoles!
Region lock=Discrimination
but also when you see what kind of censorship people can do to other games that are not meant outside japan then
Region lock=protection?
or wish to only sell it to your people and make money there and not around the world
All I can say is HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
When will people realise the they where stupid for buying anything that is made by or owned by Microsoft.
LMFO OWNED!!! Sales will drop even more, and is sony laughing their ass off as MS scroored on owngoal. xD
...."LMFO"?
i wish to know if i upgrade my hdd with a non-MS hdd (using the same brand/model hdd but cheaper)then i will get banned too =s? its a mod after all
Just a question: If you have a piracy-modded X-360 and use original games for online playing... Still enter in the blacklist of hell or not?
rule is any mod = ban
OK OK, i've had modded console for a long time and i accept the ban, i know i've screwed lots of money out of this with back up games over the years.
This is not the way to win a console war though as i know a lot of others who will not be getting new consoles and are switching to ps3 (slighty more reiable) i will not be though, i'l just sit playing off-line, no way am i gonna give $Gatesy£ any more money, its already my third console (first one not modded RROD)
And whats with wrecking th HDD too...MS are as popular as the HD DVD.
lol, consolefags.
lol, this
"all online capabilities are now disabled PERMANENTLY."
"There is no way to fix this, that functionality is simply gone from the banned 360."
As long as all the physical parts are fine, someone will find a way to hack them to work again.
tl:dr, What Microsoft is doing is actually illegal because of US Property Rights laws.
Microsoft really didn't think this out. Once they do this the modder will just pawn their system to GAMESTOP since it's useless now, and the person who buys it from there will be completely outraged that their console no longer works!
To be honest, I'm surprised people aren't suing over this, its actually violates property rights regardless of any EULA agreement. Because they paid for ownership and didn't "Lease" the console, the owner legally has the right to modify any property belonging to them. Which does in fact cover modifying software on a console, just like it does when modifying a PC.
Microsoft can however legally ban the user's static IP address from using their online services, but does not have the legal standing to infringe upon the user's rights to use the console- excluding cases of experiments like alpha/beta tests, in which case a separate console, owned by Microsoft and not the user, is still required for them to legally take away those rights.
True!
Microsoft is illegally infringing upon intellectual rights!
Microsoft has NO right whatsoever to personally send disabling software and destroy hardware on a 360 that a user has brought!
Microsoft has NO business banning modded systems until it can prove that those modded systems are being used for pirating!
Microsoft needs to be SUED.
I'm surprise they didn't do something like this earlier. Would really suck if I had an Xbox360, good thing I don't.
Microsoft should reimburse every person who brought their RROD garbage.
Now Microsoft walks around as the big bad pirate police.
Way to loose your customers microlosers
the real assholes are those who modded their consoles and then brought them back to the store to be resold. i got hit TWICE. f**kers!
screw modders and hackers
if i have to work to buy games they should too
I don't have a problem with this really I wouldnt expect to pirate a game and be able to play it on line on pc this is due to cd keys and now this for xbox what did they expect i mean really did they not read the TOS?
unless they banned thoose who manualy increased their hard drive sizes instead of accepting the highway robbery that is the official drives. if so then fuck you MS
microsoft should stick to pcs
Also, I'd just like to say this right now before this pops up again. Ahem...
YOU RROD 360 BETA TESTER FAGS SURE GOT TOLD.
There. Now we don't have to hear that guy again.
He already said it.
Hm. Serves them right. Dirty software pirates, violating the EULA that they agreed to in the first place. A thief by a different name is still a thief.
Mysterious Voice: "I agree with your statement, but you're directing it to the wrong person. Pirates are simply people who are too poor to purchase a $60 game for whatever reason. They're simply getting the power to play the game, something that Micro$hit would deny them. And to top it off, the customer has to pay for the damage. If that isn't thievery I don't know what is."
Tch. There you go again falling for the same freudian excuses. Have you ever contemplated the fact that they're lying and you're simply buying the bait? Also, do you complain about having to pay for the plumber to fix the plumbing?
Mysterious Voice: "I'd simply fix it myself, just like I'd mod the console to remove the ban."
Oh, really? Well here's an interesting thing for you to contemplate: What if Sony were the one doing this kind of thing. I assure you you'd turn on them quite quickly.
Mysterious Voice: "That's assuming Sony would do that sort of thing, which they won't because the PS3 is basically impervious."
Oh, just you wait...
You must seek psychiatric help if you´re hearing voices in your head.
Mysterious Voice: "Oh, I'm sure he needs psychiatric help for a little more than that..."
Well done and goodbye for Microsoft, because sooner or later, they will regret for what they have done. Banning, It's just a matter of time to break down the fortress.
it would be better if they just combine the 360 and pc into one. xbox live is just a waste of money if you're too busy making money. well someday xbox live will be extinct and everything u achieve will be gone, beside that who will you trust with your 360 when u die???
LOL This isn't gonna stop anything.. there's Always a way to get around things and there's always a fix, just wait and see, within time they'll have to do something else to stop it..
I Think this is just an act of desperation however due to the fact their sales are plummeting now that the PS3 is actually at a sane price range..
Actually, the PS3 is still a little overpriced still..... if they dropped another 50 dollars this holiday season, then it would be in the "MUST GET FOR MYSELF AND MY FAMILY!" category.... even more than the XBox360, which I have already ordered from Newegg.
At the end of the day, by bricking the install feature of your hard drive they violate several consumer protection laws. At purchase you can do whatever you want with your console. Take a sledgehammer to it, crack it open and disassemble it, throw it in your pool. They disabled features and damaged the saves on your physical property. You own your save games, you own the drive and system. They are essentially damaging your physical property and therefore someone should file a lawsuit. Someone should simply go buy a 360, modify it because they are curious to see if they can do it, do nothing illegal, and then file a lawsuit against Microsoft after they get banned.
Microsoft has every right to block you from xbox live for modifying your system, they have no legal right to damage it in the process.
As much as every pirate out there deserves to be taught a lesson, Microsoft needs to play by the rules. Two wrongs never make a right.
Actually, they don't have any 'legal right' to block you from XBox Live, unless your 'modified console' is giving you benefits that other people don't have, such as 'changing game data'.
If the mods aren't doing that.... Microsoft should back off, because there is no justification for banning in that case.
Now, if the mods do that.... THEN Microsoft can say "You are banned! FOREVER!" but they then have to PROVE that you were changing data, which is easy to do if they have records that show that bullets were doing no damage to you in a game when they were supposed to be doing massive damage.
As I have said before.... the ONLY reason these things have not been slapped down is because people have been unwilling to challenge them out of fear of being called a 'pirate'... personally, if I was banned and called a 'pirate' (I do pirate OLDER, OUT OF SALE games).... I would be REAL pissed off and would be blowing flames out of my mouth hotter than the corona of the sun.
Basically..... I would be Microsoft's WORST ENEMY and WORST NIGHTMARE! A consumer who doesn't feel that it is 'wrong' to 'pirate' something that isn't being sold anymore when it is down at a price range where he can afford it, and will be willing to admit that in court and challenge the DMCA.
M$ has more money, and more (and probably better) lawyers than you do.
(Writing from the U.S. here) A legal secretary told me in 1985 that it cost $10K in legal fees, up front, to initiate a lawsuit (if you win, you'll get the money back, IF you can collect from the defendant).
The only way I can imagine financing a lawsuit like this against M$ is if it were a class-action suit, AND the your attorneys took it on a contingency basis, which they won't do UNLESS they think (a) they've got a good chance of winning, and (b) they think they'll be able to actually collect from the defendant(s).
lol, microsoft is so stupid, they probably spent a couple million dollars coming up with the idea, putting it into action, and trying to make it fool-proof. Now in about two weeks some hacker is going to find the loophole that was overlooked. and the instruction manual to bypass all microsoft's bullshit will be online later that day. all in all, they just wasted their fucking time and money. Glad i sold my xbox360 so i don't have to worry about this ignorant shit.
-the beast
screw you M$
Screw Xbox360 and get ps3 guys =]
Got to agree with that statement. At least with PS3, you will not be banned for 'modding' because you can ALREADY play backed-up games no problem, at least according to my friend who owns a PS3.
Yeah um, no.
no way the PS3 is great and all but it won't play back up games, but it has region free games
which is great
kinda bad move by microsoft. if they really want to win the console wars they should just leave the 360 alone. 360 users already have to deal with a ton of technical and hardware shit to play games, they don't need even more.
OU RRoD 360 BETA TESTERS FAGS SURE GOT TOLD
One of my friends had his Xbox360 illegally modded so he can play ripped games. I believe he deserves it.
No, he doesn't. The fact is that most people who play 'ripped' games are waiting until they are 'out of sale' and not being sold anymore before playing those games.
So, Microsoft is losing NO money whatsoever from that, just like PC game companies are not losing any money from that.
Do you really believe a word of that? Do you really think, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that most pirates are waiting until games are no longer new (or, as you put it "out of sale") before stealing a copy of that piece of shit everyone stopped playing two months ago?
Because I have a lovely summer-home in Antarctica I think you might be interested in.
RRoD 360 BETA TESTERS FAGS STATUS: TOLD
I guess this means you keep two Xboxes: One that's not messed with and one that is. Use the one that's not messed with to get your stuff, then take it offline long enough to transfer stuff to the other one that you must never connect to the internet.
Wow, expect to see a lot of useless bricked XBOX360s in the resale market soon. I can just imagine all the happy kids who will get their christmas XBOXs and shortly after find out that the system is basicly unuseable because mom or dad bought it on e-bay (and got a great deal). As usual, Microsoft fails.
YOU RRoD 360 BETA TESTERS FAGS SURE GOT TOLD
Sorry! Beat ya to it! ^_^
360 sucks anyways.. get a ps3 better quality and no RED RING OF DEATH :3
Yeah, it has the BLUE ring of death! Fact is that PS3's now are failing pretty consistently (1 out of 7) and they have no or little idea what is causing it.
Perhaps if industries moved away from milking the same franchise over and over, people would start paying for ACTUAL innovation.
Although the biggest movies in recent times have been the big budget sequels, so I doubt they'll stop pandering to what they think are common interests.
If the industry's products are mostly crap, why do people keep making illegal copies of them?
Now I'm thinking if the Windows 7 linked to the system BIOS is creepy
-WGA Update detects unlicensed OS and software
-BIOS gets flashed
-Instant brick
LONG LIVE THE PIRATES!
watch their sales drop?
Everything that is said in the summary is legal if you look at the terms of use moding and such will break it. You agree to the terms when you make your xbox live account and all microsoft is doing is making the console just a console like how the playstation 2 and every other system was before online. And some might say they can't snoop into my system every company or takes nonpersonal data especially if you are connecting to that companies servers.
This sux big time...
If i buy a product, its mine. I should be allowed to do whatever i like with it. Burn it, smash it or mod it.
You can do whatever you want, but you can't expect it to function the same way afterwards.
You CAN do anything you want with your Xbox, including burning, smashing, or modding it.
What you can't do is pirate games. Microsoft is smarter than you are.
Mod-ers done been pwned. Suck it up and get over it.
If you are a thief, admit you are a thief, and stop whining. You got away without paying for games and thought you were a badass, now you are fucked.
There is no profound legal or philosophical issue here. Microsoft and game companies want to make a huge profit and don't want you to avoid paying for content, and they have figured out how to do it for now. Ultimately it boils down this; THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH.
Piratism =/= theft.
Agreed with Kyon.
No. I don't think. I think that pirates should be held accountable for their actions in the same way another thief would.
"No. I don't think." - And that's your problem, mate.
Disagreed with Kyon.
Either way, he's right.
Pirating isn't theft. It's a misnomer to say they're synonyms.
Piracy is copyright infringement, which also isn't theft.
You aren't taking something from someone when you copy software. It's making a copy, not stealing the original.
The fact that so many people seem to think they're the exact same thing just goes to show how successful the RIAA and MPAA were in their anti-piracy campaigns.
Also like to add that if this were true, then someone who burns a copy of a video game would be the same as someone who breaks into a video game store and takes a copy.
More then a bit ridiculous, don't you think?
that's the incorrect sign for 'does not equal'