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Modded Xbox Bans Prompt EFF Warning About Terms of Service
Last month we discussed news that Microsoft had banned hundreds of thousands of Xbox users for using modified consoles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has now pointed to this round of bans as a prime example of the power given to providers of online services through 'Terms of Service' and other usage agreements.
"No matter how much we rely on them to get on with our everyday lives, access to online services — like email, social networking sites, and (wait for it) online gaming — can never be guaranteed. ... he who writes the TOS makes the rules, and when it comes to enforcing them, the service provider often behaves as though it is also the judge, jury and executioner. ... While the mass ban provides a useful illustration of their danger, these terms can be found in nearly all TOS agreements for all kinds of services. There have been virtually no legal challenges to these kinds of arbitrary termination clauses, but we imagine this will be a growth area for lawyers."
No one has to do business with you unless they are a Monopoly.
Guess what the Xbox division's parent company is.
How are people with pirated games not "real" players not playing fair? Granted, they didn't pay for the game; but that really doesn't affect you in the minnimum seeing as those pirated games don't have built-in cheats and play by the exact same rules you play by. Furthermore, they pay for XBox Live just like you do, just not for the games.