Is Microsoft banning modified Xbox 360 consoles from Live?

The first news about Microsoft possibly banning modified Xbox 360 consoles from the Xbox Live service started to emerge yesterday on several popular Xbox 360 forums. It is possible to modify the firmware of the Xbox 360 drive to play backups, home brew games, and install third party applications. A modded Xbox 360 can also be used to play copied games downloaded from the Internet or traded with friends.

There has been no official confirmation from Microsoft about this issue but the frequency of the posts can only lead to the conclusion that Microsoft is actually banning Xbox 360 systems with modded firmwares.

Most users are suddenly experiencing a disconnect from Xbox Live with the inability to reconnect. A test results in the following status codes:

w: 0000 - 0021
x: 0000 - f001
y: 00a8 - 6820
z: 8015 - 1900

It seems that Microsoft is not banning the gamer tag but the machine code of the system. Some users report that Xbox 360 users without a modded firmware got banned as well. It remains to be seen if we can get a official statement from Microsoft about what is happening right now. A good way to receive all the latest information is the original thread on the Xbox Scene Forum.

This console has been banned for violations of the Terms of Use. To protect the Xbox Live service and its members, Microsoft does not provide details about console bans. There is no recourse for Terms of Use violations.

Bungie, makers of Halo, have posted information about what is happening on the official company website.

Major Nelson and Gamerscoreblog posted reminders today that people who log onto Live using modified consoles are being dealt with. As more and more people pour into the Halo 3 Beta, please take this warning to heart. Using modified content and hacked boxes is against the Terms of Use for Xbox Live and doing so will result in your console being permanently banned from the service. Forever. For all games.

If you get an error message "Status Code: Z: 8015 - 190D" it means you are done playing Xbox Live on that console. Congrats.

While it is still possible to use the console for single-player games and other activities, any activity that requires Xbox Live won't work anymore on the system including multi-player.

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