Microsoft and the Xbox

[GeoffC]

Microsoft and the XBox

Of course we shall not see this happening with e-readers that have a wireless connectivity ....


Thousands of gamers may have been cut off from Microsoft's online gaming service Xbox Live for modifying their consoles to play pirated games.

Online reports suggest that as many as 600,000 gamers may have been affected.

Microsoft confirmed that it had banned a "small percentage" of the 20 million Xbox Live users.

Microsoft said that modifying an Xbox 360 console "violates" the services "terms of use" and would result in a player being disconnected.

[Sweetpea]

And here I thought you had started to post spam selling threads!

So, they're only disconnected from the Life services, but can still play games on their x-box. Then how does this affect them?

Tbh, I'm not against this move as long as it's completely sure it has been modified so you can play illegally gotten games. I wouldn't compare it to the removal of DRM on ebooks so you can read it on other devices you might own.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

And here I thought you had started to post spam selling threads!

So, they're only disconnected from the Life services, but can still play games on their x-box. Then how does this affect them?

Tbh, I'm not against this move as long as it's completely sure it has been modified so you can play illegally gotten games. I wouldn't compare it to the removal of DRM on ebooks so you can read it on other devices you might own.

LIVE is where you download demos and play multiplayer games.

Also it isnt always certain its been modded for playing pirate materials, eg it could have been 'modded' or opened to replace a noisy fan out of warranty or taken to a non authorised repair center. That could still lead to a ban.

some cynical people have implied that this basically means an increase in sales of approximately 600,000 Xboxes for christmas.

oh and of course any innocent party buying second hand may find they have a faulty machine with no way of knowing!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by stustaff

Also it isnt always certain its been modded for playing pirate materials, eg it could have been 'modded' or opened to replace a noisy fan out of warranty or taken to a non authorised repair center. That could still lead to a ban.

The check is being made remotely, so it must be being done by taking a "checksum" of the firmware, or something like that. Replacing a fan would not affect that.

[Yoshi 1080]

A friend of mine sent in his non-modded Xbox 360 to Microsoft some weeks ago because it had an ROD. This was the second time he had to send in his console. It got rejected because during the first repair they replaced the DVD drive and apparently did this in a manner that now suggested a manipulation. Since he couldn't prove otherwise he now has a defunct console with a warranty that was void by Microsoft.

This might be called collateral damage but in my opinion it mustn't happen! The Xbox 360 has such a low hardware quality that Microsoft should at least provide the best possible technical support to compensate for it.

Aside from these "support glitches" I congratulate Microsoft for this severe attack against software pirates! In comparison to Sony whose Playstation 3 still hasn't been cracked I think Microsoft has been reacting way too laxly. I think this ban wave was well overdue and I hope they continue to fight software pirates because afterall, they are a threat to the whole industry including us gamers.

BTW I heavily doubt that anyone was banned for replacing their case fans since such a modification couldn't be noticed by software. I assume Microsoft has a way to detect modchips via software.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Yoshi 1080

BTW I heavily doubt that anyone was banned for replacing their case fans since such a modification couldn't be noticed by software. I assume Microsoft has a way to detect modchips via software.

Yes, that's what I was thinking as well.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The check is being made remotely, so it must be being done by taking a "checksum" of the firmware, or something like that. Replacing a fan would not affect that.

I don't know if they do it or not, but it is possible to have a switch in the case that writes to a log if the case is opened. Some PCs have them: http://www.cobolhacker.com/?p=840

Given remote access to your hardware, it would be a trivial thing to build sensors like that into an Xbox and read about any modifications that they please.

[HarryT]

That does not appear to be the case here. It's XBox's with "mod chips", permitting them to play illegally pirated disks, that are being targetted.

[fugazied]

Wow that's pretty harsh, but I suspect MS had numerous broadly worded portions in their user licensing agreements which allowed them to remotely blow up xboxes.

Yes it reminds me of the power Amazon has and is a truly disturbing trend. Consoles are slightly less competitive than ebook readers at least. As I understand it it's XBox or PS3. If Amazon decided to brick their device for what they thought was a breach of copyright, Kindle owners would simply angrily walk away from Amazon and go buy a sony, or nook, or other device. With XBox guys they only have one alternative which offers different games and many don't like, the PS3.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That does not appear to be the case here. It's XBox's with "mod chips", permitting them to play illegally pirated disks, that are being targetted.

Yep, that's what's being targeted.

And I have no problem with it. Pirates drive up prices for the rest of us who are buying things legally, and this is a good way to punish them without bothering people using it legally since it does in fact just check for mod chips and not stuff like opening the case etc.

I'm not a fan of DRM. But I'm not a fan of people who pirate or defend pirates either. If you don't agree with a particularly DRM system, then don't buy things in that format and vote with your wallet. Rather than pirating and trying to justify copyright violations (aka theft of digital property) because "the DRM sucks."

[Alfy]

And here I thought you had started a post to tell us how to use an XBOX to read books...

[Hellmark]

I am not against modding something. I'm a hacker (not a malicious one), and believe if you can't open it, you don't own it. Right now I'm modding an original xbox for use as a home theatre. I fully understand I am voiding the warranty (although it has long since expired) by doing so, and cannot receive any support from Microsoft, but that is fine with me. I'm not doing it to play pirated games, and really don't like that sort of thing, because it only makes companies want to stop ALL modding.

[PKFFW]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Wow that's pretty harsh, but I suspect MS had numerous broadly worded portions in their user licensing agreements which allowed them to remotely blow up xboxes.

Yes it reminds me of the power Amazon has and is a truly disturbing trend. Consoles are slightly less competitive than ebook readers at least. As I understand it it's XBox or PS3. If Amazon decided to brick their device for what they thought was a breach of copyright, Kindle owners would simply angrily walk away from Amazon and go buy a sony, or nook, or other device. With XBox guys they only have one alternative which offers different games and many don't like, the PS3.

They are not "bricking" or "blowing up" the Xbox. They are simply not allowing you to utilise the online service. The Xbox still functions normally in all other respects.

Further, anyone who knows anything about the Xbox would be aware of this fact as it is not a secret. In fact it is blatantly and widely advertised as a way of discouraging people from modding the Xbox to begin with. Just as it is made abundantly clear that modding the Xbox will also void your warranty.

If one chooses to mod their Xbox for whatever reason, they have also chosen to accept the consequences that come with doing so.

On the bright side they will be get very cheap or free games.

Cheers,
PKFFW

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That does not appear to be the case here. It's XBox's with "mod chips", permitting them to play illegally pirated disks, that are being targetted.

Modchips have a number of functions. They're explictly legal in Australia*, for instance, because they allow bypassing of region locking, which otherwise tends to screw over Australian customers, hard.

(*At least until the ACTA comes calling)

I'm a games designer. The problem is region locking in the first place in that situation, for example. (Also, they've managed their usual ~5% rate of cutting off non-modded 360's)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Modchips have a number of functions. They're explictly legal in Australia*, for instance, because they allow bypassing of region locking, which otherwise tends to screw over Australian customers, hard.

(*At least until the ACTA comes calling)

The Association of Canadian Travel Agents is going to object to you modding your XBox?