When it comes down to it, criminals are generally stupid people. Sometimes you’ll see one steal an iPhone, only to immediately start posting on Facebook about how he “acquired” the device while simultaneously broadcasting exactly where he’s at. In this case, we have software pirates who decided to download pirated versions of Halo 4, which isn’t due to come out until November 6th, and then logged on to Xbox Live and play it.
It’s not too surprising, then, that Microsoft has seen fit to ban those players accounts from Xbox Live. The email that offending gamers received stated that their accounts have been issued a “permanent suspension”, and that they would not be reinstated. Microsoft has stated that playing “pirated copies of games, such as Halo 4, is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use and will result in enforcement action, such as account and console bans.”
A console ban is some serious business, after you paid over 200 bucks on a system only to have it be practically useless. But, at the same time, I can’t feel sorry for anybody dumb enough to pirate a game 3 weeks before its release date and start playing it on Xbox Live. Did those people really not think Microsoft was going to notice?