[Bobboau]

they can probably do it both ways.

[Blue Lion]

And it works since when a 360 is banned, in most cases it's the console that's revoked and not the LIVE GamerTag.

Citation needed.  Personal experience says its the tag.

You've been banned?

[Pyro MX]

they can probably do it both ways.

I'm sure they do.

[Scotty]

You've been banned?

Friend has had three tags banned, all for using a modded XBox.  XBox still continues to function on Live.

[Fenrir]

And it works since when a 360 is banned, in most cases it's the console that's revoked and not the LIVE GamerTag.

Citation needed.  Personal experience says its the tag.

I don't have a 360, myself, but I go to a site where a lot of people have modded ones and that's what they've been reporting over and over again. Time for some copy-paste magic:

>> Kushan wrote a nice little article on #FW@EFnet summarizing all kinda info we have about the current (still ongoing) Console Live Ban Wave:

- What does this mean for you and what can you do about it?
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.

In all likelihood, your gamertag has NOT BEEN BANNED. When your gamertag gets banned, Microsoft sends you an email detailing why, if you have not recieved this email then your profile should be ok, to a certain extent.

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. If you attempt to play a game, it will tell you that it was installed on a different 360 and needs to be deleted/installed again. When you delete the game and attempt to install it, you are given a message telling you that it is not supported. There is no way to fix this, that functionality is simply gone from the banned 360.

The hard drive itself is left untouched - you can place it in another 360, even an unbanned one, and it will still work just fine. You do NOT need to reformat it to regain any kind of functionality. Any installed games will need to be reinstalled for the console you want to play them on. This is normal behaviour and happens when swapping HDDs on unbanned/legit 360's.

Windows Media Centre functionality is disabled. It is still possible to stream video/music content via the video library.

Your Gamertag may be corrupted. This does not mean your gamertag has been banned, you can recover it using any live-capable 360, however ANY ACHIVEMENTS YOU HAVE EARNED SINCE BEING BANNED WILL BE LOST. Your gamertag will be corrupted EVERY SINGLE TIME it is used on a banned console. This means you cannot use your banned console to play backups offline just to get achievements - it wont work, the second you put your profile back on a good 360, it will be corrupted and all progress lost. There is no way around this.

The same applies to game saves - if you access a game save on a banned 360, it too will be corrupted when accessed on a legit/unbanned 360! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! There is no way around this, either.

Your XBLA games and DLC will still be valid, however to play them on a different 360 you will need to be signed into Xbox Live. This is normal behaviour on unbanned/legit 360's as well. They may be corrupted and have to be re-downloaded if you attempt to access them on a banned 360. You can transfer all of your downloaded content to a new 360 here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/licensemigration/default.htm however note that you can only do it once every 12 months.

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

You cannot do anything about this, short of buying a new 360.

There may be more functionality disabled than mentioned here, things are still being discovered.

[karajorma]

And let's not forget that these people were modifying their boxes to circumvent DRC for the douchebag purpose of pirating an unreleased game.  They ain't getting any sympathy from me.

Actually, let's forget that. Cause it's a complete over generalisation.

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8356621.stm

"We believe that even one modified console on the system is one too many".

You want to try to make the case that the only reason people mod consoles is to play pirated games? Let alone to play unreleased game?

[headdie]

ok, here's a thought for you, how long until Microsoft starts using a software version to disable your windows if its non legit or you are running pirate Microsoft games, possibly flash the hard drive to prevent future installs working but allow say Linux to be installed.

[Hippo]

And it works since when a 360 is banned, in most cases it's the console that's revoked and not the LIVE GamerTag.

Citation needed.  Personal experience says its the tag.

You've been banned?

Mine was. I modded the dvd drive firmware to work on regular discs. Turned on my box (a first series mind you, i expected it to redring years ago, and its connection to controllers was getting flakey) to find it banned. Went out and bought an elite as an upgrade, threw my hard drive into it (because the elites dont come with the teansfer cable, so i ebayed one), and was back on live playing MW2 in a matter of minutes. Clearly they were more concerned with the modded oxes, not the gamertags.


Oddly enough I only played 2 burned games, which I probably would have just rented if i hadnt been able to, so its not like M$ missed out on any profit, and I've actually purchised one of the sequels as a result.

[Ziame]

Oh. Beware Windows users! You'll get banned from the internets if you use Firefox.

[Blue Lion]

I'm really behind the times, I don't even have an x-box

[Thaeris]

I'm really behind the times, I don't even have an x-box

Good. That makes two of us. 

[BloodEagle]

It would be ever so lovely if blogger rejects journalists would stop toting that tired bull**** 'piracy losses' figure. Well, a man can dream. :/

[Mongoose]

"We believe that even one modified console on the system is one too many".

You want to try to make the case that the only reason people mod consoles is to play pirated games? Let alone to play unreleased game?

No, I'm sure it's not the only reason, but you can't argue that it's likely the most pressing reason.  And again, why they modded it doesn't really matter.  Microsoft's TOU states up-front that modded consoles can be booted from Live.  They run the service, so they have every right to do that.  You're still completely free to mod your 360, provided you don't mind not being able to access Live.  It seems simple enough to me.

Oh, and I love the "one person's reaction" article that's linked to what you wrote.  "Yes, I'm very shocked by getting cut off like this.  Oh, and I've copied 30 or 40 games."

And seriously, people, this has nothing to do with Windows whatsoever.  Let's limit the hyperbole, shall we?

[Flipside]

I don't have a problem with expulsion from X-Box live, it's their service and they can ban who they like, the crippling of the Hardware, however, concerns me, because it is a physical good that you have already paid for, it's your property, and the fact that Microsoft think they can disable it with impunity, and then expect any innocent parties to prove they are inncocent is, to my mind, bordering on vandalism, they have deliberately damaged something that was the bought and paid for property of their customer.

[Mongoose]

It's not disabled, though.  The modded console can still play games just fine offline, and I'd imagine it could still connect to one of those "alternative networks" that were mentioned earlier.  It just can't connect to Live and reap the benefits of doing so.

[Flipside]

From what I'm reading here, it also prevents you from installing any games to the HDD itself?

[Thaeris]

Yeah, that does sound pretty troubling...

[Fenrir]

That it does. It also will mess up save and achievements made after the time of the banning. That really is the part about the whole thing that's pretty messed up.

[Topgun]

From what I'm reading here, it also prevents you from installing any games to the HDD itself?

WHAT!
That's messed up!

[General Battuta]

It is? Who installs games to the HDD anyway...?