Tag Archives: modded xbox 360 consoles

Xbox Live general manager, Marc Whitten, has told VentureBeat that there “wasn’t a million people” banned for having modded 360 consoles, and is unsure “why people would think it was a million”.

“These were people that were pirating software. We try to keep sanctity of life from a safety and anti-cheating perspective and we protect our partners. We didn’t release the [banned] number.

“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.

“I think we do a really good job understanding what people are doing on the system. That applies to intellectual property (piracy) and how we treat the community in terms of harassment. We are committed to making it better and better.”

The original source of the large number was InformationWeek, which reported that up to one million consoles could have been banned globally, but it does not cite where it received those numbers.

More through the link.

Law firm AbingtonIP has revealed that it’s currently “investigating” what it calls the “convenient” Xbox Live bannings over modded consoles.

The firm believes that it’s no coincidence that MS banned “tens of thousands” of users after receiving its money for Gold memberships post release of Halo 3: ODST and Modern Warfare 2. Therefore, the law firm is considering a suit in order to get the membership fees refunded to subscribers along with a “refund for the prorated sums”.

“To me, this certainly sounds a lot like a cash grab directed at a company with deep pockets, but perhaps there are more facts than they are letting on,” said Joystiq legal columnist Mark Methenitis. “If, in fact, Microsoft is inducing people to buy a service only to terminate them, then there’s certainly a deceptive business practice concern.

“But this seems far more cut and dry than that.”

Methenitis also stated that a user “savvy enough to have a modded console” should be savvy enough not to connect it to XBL without “serious risk.”

More through the links.