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Bungie Speaks On Halo 2 Leak
BlueMoon writes "A moderator on the official Halo 2 forums posted some speculations and warnings about the Halo 2 leak. To the question where the leak originated he answered "is almost positively the work of some jerk in the manufacturing plant who pocketed the game". They also send out a warning that posting any kind of information about leak will result in "having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and we will ban your gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience"." TalkXbox has a repost of an official statement asking community members to assist in the capture of the folks who leaked the game.
The threat of banning your gamertag is for those who post leak information (where to get it, H2 spoilers, etc.) in the Bungie.net forums. You have the ability to link your gamertag to your Bungie.net account.
-- jchenx
As is predictable with slashdot, the kneejerkers are out in full force, so I'm going to clear a few things up here:
1.) Banning your xbox live account. Can the stupid bullshit about BWAHAHAHA how are they going to know my xbox live name when i post on slashdot. They are talking about banning you if you post on the bungie forums. That's it. Remember this isn't a press release, it's a FORUM POST.
2.) Banning your xbox live account - part 2. They aren't banning accounts for talking about it - they are banning for people who link to info on how to get it, whats in it, spoilers obtained from the leak, etcetera. Basically they're trying to keep the bungie forums a safe place to enjoy discussing the game, for those who want to retain the surprise at the storyline when the game is legally released, and of course cut down on at least a few people finding out where to get the game.
3.) "Microsoft piracy hotline is so ridiculous, this is just a game" nonsense. While it's true that the microsoft approach to software piracy in general is sometimes pretty outlandish, it's nothing new. The piracy website has been around a long time. Microsoft has been asking people to squeal on their buddies for a long time. Hell, I've seen advertisements telling you to turn in people who pirate M$ software. This is nothing new, and pretty much standard Microsoft fare, so don't act like it's so ridiculous that they are doing it for a game - It is the de facto corporate response to any piracy.
They have denied that request, since the file in question is not illegal in sweden. The file only contains information on how HALO2 can be obtained - not HALO2 in itself - therefore the file in question is not at all illegal, according to swedish law (and The Piratebays lawyers views on the matter).
Also, according to previous court rulings - the owner / maintainer of The Piratebay cannot be held liable for how its users uses the service offered.
However, in the end, the seeders / downloaders that upload data, can be held liable - if microsoft can track them down AND get the court to force the ISPs to reviel who they are.