はちま起稿 highlight this interesting article whereby some blogger mentioned that Microsoft had been clamping down on illegally modified Xbox 360 and more than 600,000 Xbox Live accounts have been banned.

Here’s the dubious conversation which was reported on Pinoy Cosplay:

A conversation with a friend who works for a call center that handles an Xbox 360 account has yielded a disturbing truth: Microsoft has started its annual Xbox Live banning spree and it has disabled 600,000 accounts so far in the US and Canada.

The target of the banning spree are mainly people who have modified their consoles to play pirated games. My trusty source says that they have been given instructions to push for a million banned accounts by the time the holidays are over.

“Our office has gone to hell,” says the source. “People have been calling in around the clock and most of them are screaming teen-agers who don’t understand the terms of use that comes with the console they bought.”

There you have it. If you’re a big Mininova fan like GamerTotoy, stay away from Xbox Live until after Christmas to continue playing online.

Source: Pinoy Cosplay via はちま起稿

Personally, I’m not really buying this story but I did read other sites that mentioned Microsoft would not only ban a modified Xbox 360 console from Xbox Live if it is found to be modified, but also actively disbale the hard drive.

Regardless of the facts, I think the best way is still to extend your support for original products as long as you can afford it.