Microsoft Banning Halo: Reach Pirates Stupid Enough To Play Online

by Christopher Goodchild on August 24, 2010

Microsoft are now banning people who are hopping online to play their newly downloaded copy of Halo:Reach. If you are in possession of an illegal copy of Halo:Reach, please plug in your ethernet cables and go online so you can be rightly punished.

Microsoft recently gave this statement to IGN.

“We are aggressively pursuing the violators, Microsoft’s commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the 25 million members of the Xbox Live community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live.”

The game leaked out in the past week to a small set of modders who said they would not be releasing the game to the internet. Either they went back on their word or someone else managed to hack the game and distribute it themselves. It can currently be found on certain torrent sites around the internet.

While this is not the first Halo game to be leaked, it looks as though it may be the biggest leak so far. Of course all this will likley be forgotten in the next few weeks, but logging in with your modded Xbox will always result in a ban and possibly a bricked console if you are caught.

If you’re confused by the Terms of Use that your consoles are under, keep your eyes on the site for my upcoming article on what companies can do if you are found with a modded console. In the meantime, the Terms of Use and Service is easily available both when you sign up (you know, that bit with the wall of text that you don’t read and just hit accept) and online for all your devices.

-Sources

Microsoft Banning Halo: Reach Pirates – Xbox 360 News at IGN.