Get ready to pull your jaw back off the floor. It seems the recent dramatic headlines of 'One-Million Xbox Live Users Banned' may have been over-dramatic, according to Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten.
In an interview for Venturebeat, the Microsoft man said that the numbers of gamers banned for using modded consoles was nowhere near a million.
Whitten said: "We didn't release the number [of one-million banned modders]. I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people. It wasn't a million people. Check the veracity of that claim. It was one news source."
So there you have it, it seems there's been a bit of Sunday Paper-esque tabloid-ery, that consequently ripped through the industry like wildfire. As Whitten implies, the actual figure of people banned would seem to be a lot smaller than those original reports.
Meanwhile, in further developments, the Boutique law firm Abington IP has launched a lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing the giant of delaying the Xbox Live bans until AFTER the release of AAA titles such as Halo 3: ODST and Modern Warfare 2.
It believes it wanted to secure maximum new Live subscriptions before punishing owners of modded machines. It's asking banned Xbox Live subscribers who didn't get refunded, to lend their names to the cause.
The site reads: "If you are an Xbox Live subscriber, had your modified Xbox console banned from Xbox Live, were not refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription or have experienced other problems as a result of being banned, and would like to participate in a class action against Microsoft, please submit your information below."
Which on both sides, makes for very interesting reading, especially as the lawsuit seems to be encouraging 'suspected game pirates' to counter-punish Microsoft for its own questionable dealings. Doesn't it? Thoughts please!
You can't be serious... A lawsuit against Microsoft for banning modders? How can any law firm suggest that thieves attempt to get compensation for Live subsciption they didn't get to use, purely because their illegal activity was stopped?
Perhaps each pirate should have their copied games seized, then the software dev's and publishers can file a lawsuit against them to claim the money they are rightfully owed.
Utter nonsense, though sadly in these modern times, hardly surprising.
so, Abington IP is the head of the pirates?...oooarrrgghh Jim lad, we'll make them Microsofteees walk the plank! That Xbox marks the spot, where we'll find our pot of Gold!!
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm on the side of the big corporation this time. If they think they can tamper with a product and still expect it to work perfectly with all of Microsoft's services, they are idiots.
I dont own a 360 because ita a piece of cr4p but if i had bought one second hand not knowing it had been chipped and MS then banned me i would be livid!!!! SUrely M$ are to blame for making the machine so easy to chip just like the PS2.
LOL. To start with, using a modded console on LIVE breaks the terms and conditions, so they are well within their right to ban. In regards of waiting until key titles were released, well it's common sense. If you want to catch the lot of them at once, then you need appealing bait. Finally, people who modded their consoles and used them on LIVE knew full well they were taking a risk, as experienced with the previous big ban hammer with Crackdown and the Halo 3 BETA. Finally, got to laugh at the submit information thing. May as well say "Hey, sign here if you modded your 360 and pirated games. We'll get you fined." Amusing article.
Or to look at it another way; one of the ways they know you're modding your Xbox is that you're playing a game that hasn't been released yet. So when a massive game like MW2 come out, they're able to catch many more people than normal. I think if this lawsuit carries on, Microsoft should delve a little deeper into the habits of all the plaintiffs! Have that!
If there were 1 million Xbox's that have been modded on XBox Live that's much higher as a percentage than the industry guesstimate that priacy costs the industry £750 million a year http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8350000/newsid_8354800/8354832.stm
When the industry is worth circa $40 billion in 2008 (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34469/Kotick-World-games-industry-worth-55bn-by-2012)
I know that piracy figure is in pounds but still the total cost of piracy is less than 0.5% of the total industry worth.
With regards to suing Microsoft, surely the names of the list could then be counter sued by the US version of FACT?
benniboy stfu you troll lol its not a piece if crap haha i traded in my ps3 slim i got for my birthday 2day haha no way was i going into that peadophile infested network
Microsoft need to change the terms and conditions for the Live subscription to include a message about chipped Xboxes and illegal copies of games.
If Microsoft do have to reinburse the pirates then perhaps they should also pass on their details to the authorities, and for good measure, every business involved in the games industry. The anonymity allowed to pirates isn't helping the cause. Publish their names, let everyone know who they are (and that includes internet providers). The industry currently protects and panders the pirates. It's time to get heavy handed with these spunging c*nts who feel they deserve something for nothing.
I would happily sign away my anonymity should I ever chip my Xbox or pirate games, and so would any other honest gamer. Only the illegal have something to hide.
It's time all the console makers, internet providers and game publishers sat down together and agreed policy and action to resolve this issue... or just do nothing and let it continue.
The whole lawsuit is retarded, no Xbox Live accounts were banned for using modded consoles, therefore no one who bought a subscription is owned a single cent.
The modded console itself was banned, i have a few friends who had modded consoles on live, they just went out and bought arcade/core 360's and were back online w/in a few days. And on top of that the modded consoles work, just not on xbox live.
So technically the user did not lose the use of their xbox live account, they did not lose the use of the 360 machine itself, there really is nothing to sue over?
You can't be serious... A lawsuit against Microsoft for banning modders? How can any law firm suggest that thieves attempt to get compensation for Live subsciption they didn't get to use, purely because their illegal activity was stopped?
Perhaps each pirate should have their copied games seized, then the software dev's and publishers can file a lawsuit against them to claim the money they are rightfully owed.
Utter nonsense, though sadly in these modern times, hardly surprising.
Not all consoles modded are for backup/pirate games but yes the majority are. Either way it is against policy to have a modified console so just suck it up and accept it and stop crying because your console has been banned from live. Jeez aren't people responsible for there own actions anymore?
I would like to point out that Microsoft have a very broad sense of the term "Modded", my 360 got a new DVD drive last year (the original one broke down) and apparently that means its "Modded". I have no problems with MS trying to protect their product but it would be nice if they only protected it from real, actual thieves.
I have no sympathy for people who chip their 360's then expect to play online with it. If you pirate a PC game you pretty much know that you cant go online with it and you dont try (other than playing on hacked servers). If they were bricking the consoles I could understand the lawsuit, but as you can still play offline, I think it's a fair deal. What they are doing is illegal after all.
I would like to point out that Microsoft have a very broad sense of the term "Modded", my 360 got a new DVD drive last year (the original one broke down) and apparently that means its "Modded". I have no problems with MS trying to protect their product but it would be nice if they only protected it from real, actual thieves.
So MSoft repaired your console and then banned you for having a differnet DVD drive from the original? Or did you take it elsewhere to get done?
Microsoft need to change the terms and conditions for the Live subscription to include a message about chipped Xboxes and illegal copies of games.
If Microsoft do have to reinburse the pirates then perhaps they should also pass on their details to the authorities, and for good measure, every business involved in the games industry. The anonymity allowed to pirates isn't helping the cause. Publish their names, let everyone know who they are (and that includes internet providers). The industry currently protects and panders the pirates. It's time to get heavy handed with these spunging c*nts who feel they deserve something for nothing.
I would happily sign away my anonymity should I ever chip my Xbox or pirate games, and so would any other honest gamer. Only the illegal have something to hide.
It's time all the console makers, internet providers and game publishers sat down together and agreed policy and action to resolve this issue... or just do nothing and let it continue.
What?! There's just so many things morally wrong with that comment I don't know where to begin.
Only the illegal have something to hide? Rubbish. I don't copy games, my Xbox isn't modded... but I certainly wouldn't give a private company the permission to publish my personal information if they thought I was a 'pirate'.
Banning the console from Xbox Live is a fair punishment.
Surely a massive hole in the Lawsuit is that the consoles are banned, not the account holder. The account holder can still go online on a unmodified console, so why should they get any subscription cost back?
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