Microsoft confirms modded Xbox hardware banned for life! [Update]

Talk about fast development, just yesterday we got word that Microsoft was banning all modded Xboxes from Live services and were speculating as to how long the ban would be in effect and how accused gamers could go about reinstating their account. Today Microsoft told BBC that banned ‘boxes are gone…forever. So much for longevity by modding your system. In order to reinstate your Xbox live account, you’ll have to back it up onto a new, un-modified Xbox unit. Banned hardware will still be able to play offline. But come on, the Xbox platform is made for online gaming. Without it the Xbox just isn’t the same.

As I mentioned yesterday, renting a game, copying it, then spreading it isn’t the greatest or most legal idea. If you were copying it to back up for you own use then fine. Nothing wrong with that. Though the money bags that run our country and copyright system think differently. Still, tinkering with your own personal property is in no way someone elses business.

Microsoft went on to say that “One modified console is one console too many”. That’s the biggest load of BS I’ve ever heard. Backups of legally purchased content are perfectly legal! Because a minority of the population breaks copyright doesn’t mean your break the entire environment for the rest of us. Sadly they are failing to realize there will always be those who break the law for commercial profit. You’ll never stop them. Get over it and stop fucking around with my stuff!

Rants aside, just give it time. I promise you that a couple months from now we’ll have some clever hackers and modders who manage to find away around the ban hammer system. And so it begins, the Microsoft/modded Xbox cat and mouse game. Kind of sounds familiar doesn’t it? *Dreams of fruit and metal bars….*

**Update: As Ars Technica points out, this is a bittersweet moment for Microsoft. They’ve instantly riddled the Live market of modded systems (their wish). But a second much more ominous and mounting problems is that you can’t instantly tell if a unit is hacked or not. Even as we speak, eBay and the second hand market as a whole is flooding with banned Xboxes for sale. Now we’ve got lawsuits just waiting to happen. How so?

Take a retailer like Game Stop, if a customer brings in a modded ‘box, Game Stop isn’t going to know or check for it. They’re just going to plug it in to the TV and check to see if it makes lights and sounds and it’s back to the shelf. I know I’d be pretty pissed if I bought a seemingly legit, used ‘box with intent of saving some dollars and got home only to realize it was hacked (a plus if I have or am acquiring a stash of free/copied games — bad if I ever want to play anything online.)

So in the end we’re right back where we started. A good idea on paper is sizing up to be a major headache for Microsoft and used game console retailers alike. For the sanity of us all, I hope said retailers start hooking up to the internet to make sure it’s a fully usable, used ‘box don’t you?

BBC

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