Xbox Live banhammar

[Qalbert]

A friend, my brother, and I all DL stuff on one PSN account.

[ArchDizzle]

A friend, my brother, and I all DL stuff on one PSN account.

Fucking Outlaw~

[Diamicles]

Pirates - entitled to more stuff for free because they 'aren't stealing'. Right.

I mean, what's the point of having a job and making money to buy the stuff you want if you can just have it for free anyway?

[Jefe]

Déjà vu all over again. Many folk denying it up in here. Why deny it? Pirating is stealing, get the fuck over it and embrace it. Or continue to live in the Nile and shut the hell up.

[BRP]

I mean, what's the point of having a job and making money to buy the stuff you want if you can just have it for free anyway?

There would be no point. No one would work if could get something in a more interesting or less displeasing manner. To get as close to that state as possible is to be avoided?

At some point in time it will be universally impractical to sell information like it is sold today. Pirates are just ahead of the curve, you see.

[Diamicles]

There would be no point. No one would work if could get something in a more interesting or less displeasing manner. To get as close to that state as possible is to be avoided?

At some point in time it will be universally impractical to sell information like it is sold today. Pirates are just ahead of the curve, you see.

While I think we're on the same wavelength, I also think that you're extrapolating on the information we have presently.

Personally, I think that information will become harder and harder to come by, and more money will be paid for the same amount of information we have currently, in the future.

But that's a discussion for another thread!

[xopher]

Pirates - entitled to more stuff for free because they 'aren't stealing'. Right.

I mean, what's the point of having a job and making money to buy the stuff you want if you can just have it for free anyway?

To pay bills and buy things that are so big you can't steal them. TVs, furniture, cars, houses.

[Zeb]

Kwiji's friend should have at least offered something in return. I'd say either give me $5 and you copy it, or give me $10 and I'll copy it for you. Or possibly trade copies of stuff he has, that I want, for it.

[Cow_k]

so basically, you love bashing poor college people that can't afford $60 games every week? Of course there are solutions, like using gamefly for one, it's cheap, and play any game you want. I only own like 6 X360 games tops, last one I own and it's not really mine, it's my girlfriend's is BlazBlue. Unfortunately, some people have to resort to such means because, like me, can't afford to shell out for so many games a week, only to possibly play them for like a couple days then stop because so many games come out at once. Of course pirating is wrong, but jesus man, you don't have to go bashing on people who can only afford college and some other bills because there are very few jobs out there. Yet some people really want to play assassin's creed 2 w/o shooting their wallets.

Considering I AM a poor college student, this fails on so many levels.

There are way too many older games that cost around 10 bucks, or as you pointed out, Gamefly etc. (I utilize both of these strategies) I still can't keep up with my collection with the 1 or 2 games a month I buy on top of what I Gamefly. If you're going through 3-4 games a week you need to consider getting out of the house more.

I'm actually surprised the number of people in this thread that spoke out against piracy considering it's usually some goddamn race for bgbrobuddies to all dog pile on the obvious rebellious side of ethics.

The funny thing is, I honestly wouldn't care that much about piracy if people didn't act like they were all amazing for doing it. The fact is, you wouldn't have anything to steal if others weren't paying for it for you. If anything, you bastards should be praising the people who keep your hobby afloat rather than trying to recruit them into increasing piracy. You're doing nothing but hurting yourself and if you think piracy isn't becoming a huge issue, you need to look around more. It's being discussed more and more everywhere.

It's like some kind of disease people have that they think they deserve to have something someone else made for free. I'd hope that you all had something you worked hard for ganked right out from under you, but most pirates are too damn lazy to actually ever accomplish anything.

[Kwijiboe]

I'm confused, what exactly is the difference between him borrowing and watching the shows, and him borrowing it and making a copy to watch later? Either way, no money exchanges hands and the producers of South Park make no additional money. You clearly didn't grow up in the 80s when game floppies had no copy protection and you just passed it around at school.

I mean honestly, there has to be a line somewhere. If you and a friend were walking in the rain and you had the only umbrella, would you refuse to share it because it hurts the umbrella makers if your friend doesn't go out and buy one? Do you refuse to give a buddy a ride because that hurts the automakers and gasoline companies? I have to agree with Finesse, it's not theft, it's called "being a friend"

He wasn't making a copy to watch later, he was making a copy so he could own it without plunking down the money for it. If you have a friend that comes by every week a new game comes out and he copies it from you, somewhere down the line you're gonna feel like--"Hey, you been copying my games a lot lately, so how bout you buy the next one?"

If I buy an umbrella and I'm walking down the street with someone, I'll share it. If someone is in my home and wants to play or watch a game/movie, I'll put it on. If he enjoys the movie/game so much, he can borrow it. However, if he borrows it to copy it, (which my friend didn't telling me he was going to do-- and again, my point in telling that story is that people don't think copying is stealing--which is apparent in this thread) I sincerely think he owes me half of what I paid for it. He's not making a copy to play or watch later, he's making a copy to own--separate from my own. Now you can't really do that with umbrellas or cars. It's apples and oranges.

However, I'll work with the analogy you offered me. If I had an umbrella, would I lend it out to a friend for a night, sure? Would I lend it out so he could go home and figure out how it works and construct his own, yes. So, no, I am not against copying my umbrella technology, or worried that some poor umbrella company is getting hurt because my umbrella has been copied. Since an umbrella is a physical object, and not digital, this analogy you have offered does not work at all. As for the car analogy, I'd give a friend a ride if he needed it. If it was far, I'd ask for some gas money. If it were everyday, I'd ask for some gas money. The analogy just simply isn't the same.

Just because you're someone's friend, you don't owe them shit. Relationships are voluntary last time I checked, and what you offer to your friends (be it the permission to copy their games, borrow t shirts, share umbrellas, or bum a ride to work) is up to the individual. If you want to copy my COD4: MW2, you're just trying to keep from paying 60$ that I spent. If you're poor, and I want you to play-- sure, I might let you take it and borrow it to copy for a few bucks down-- if you're a good enough friend. Otherwise, I know you can afford it.. so go to the store and buy it, you cheap fuck.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Kwiji's friend should have at least offered something in return. I'd say either give me $5 and you copy it, or give me $10 and I'll copy it for you. Or possibly trade copies of stuff he has, that I want, for it.

That's illegal distribution of copyrighted material. When you do it for free it is not. Friends tend to do each other favors over time without 'keeping score.'


I'd say if you have a friend or like someone enough to be a friend then sort them out, it will come back to you tenfold.

[Rokku]

That's illegal distribution of copyrighted material. When you do it for free it is not. .

If on the other hand, they buy it from the store and each pay for half of it and then make a copy of something that they both legally own, it's perfectly fine. At that point the line is so gray that stuff like this is silly to try and argue.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

Not in a court of law. If I sold you a copy of South Park s3 for 25 cents I can spend time in jail and face fines.
If I let you borrow it and you copy it neither of us are breaking that law as I am lending you my property, not reselling or redistributing copyrighted material I have purchased.

So no, no gray area, no debate. Don't ever offer to sell someone to make a copy of what you've bought, just let them do it for free.

[Rokku]

Making a copy of copyrighted material you legally own for a purpose other than your own personal use or backup is indeed piracy and against the law.

[Zeb]

Not in a court of law. If I sold you a copy of South Park s3 for 25 cents I can spend time in jail and face fines.
If I let you borrow it and you copy it neither of us are breaking that law as I am lending you my property, not reselling or redistributing copyrighted material I have purchased.

So no, no gray area, no debate. Don't ever offer to sell someone to make a copy of what you've bought, just let them do it for free.

And how are you going to get caught? If the dude is gonna rat you out, I wouldn't call him a friend. Unless your friend is a criminal informant or something...

[viperlasson]

No ETA for fix, but modders are hard at work

Every fall Microsoft tends to try to find ways to ban Xbox modders from its Xbox Live service. Microsoft detests modding, as it allows users to accomplish forbidden activities, such as playing backups of games, playing out of zone DVDs, installing alternative operating systems, or playing pirated games.

This holiday season Microsoft has a special surprise in store for "naughty" Xbox 360 hackers -- a particular sweeping ban that relies on spotting modified drive firmware. Rolled out starting last week, the ban, according to sources, blocks the installation of games on the Xbox hard drive, blocks the Windows Media Player media extender, corrupts saves/Gamertags used on the machine, and most significantly prevents the console from accessing Xbox Live.

According to early estimates 600,000 consoles were effected, but more recent estimates put the number at close to 1 million consoles.

Microsoft has suggested that users with banned consoles find another Xbox. However, users with a banned Xbox 360 may not want to throw away their consoles just yet. According to the site 360Mods, c4eva has abandoned work on his Lite-on and Hitachi drive mods to try to establish a workaround.

The new workaround, dubbed iXtreme LT (Light Touch) aims to provide a minimum amount of security checks and aims to make the firmware as close to the stock firmware as possible to prevent detection. This fix may allow modified consoles to return to playing backup discs and other forbidden materials without Microsoft noticing.

Other members of the community are working on strategies to try to undo the changes made by Microsoft, which neuter the banned consoles, depriving them of much of their functionality (though they still will play games offline). Like Apple's attempts to brick unlocked/jailbroken iPhones, it seems only a matter of time before the creative and dedicated community comes up with a full work around.

Correction: Earlier we posted a link to an older version of iXtreme, indicating that the software was done. It is, in fact, not yet done. We will issue an update when the patch is released or when other workarounds are completed for the banned Xbox 360's.

Update: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 12:30 p.m.:

A fix appears to have arrived, according to some of the forums, but it is rather complex and requires access to either an Xbox 360 you know the CPU key of, or did not update over the summer. According to user k0mpresd on Xbox-Scene:

what you need:

your 8955 live console + cpu key
a 2nd unbanned console
nandpro b + flash cable
xell loader
degraded
1888 fs
robinsod's flashtool

process:

use nandpro and dump nand from unbanned console.
flash xell and use jtag hack to obtain cpu key.
use flashtool to extract file system.

dump nand from 8955 console.
use flashtool to patch nand dump with kv.bin from unbanned console.
save patched file (patched_kv.bin).

open degraded + 1888 fs.
create 1888 downgrader image (downgrader.bin) from your patched_kv.bin file.

flash downgrader.bin to 8955 console.
attach hdd + ethernet cable and boot console.

connect to live and update to 8955 dashboard.

console is now fully working and unbanned!


Again, this relies on a variety of free tools, and can be a somewhat complex process. You are using the key to gain access to keyvault on the unbanned console. Without the key you will not be able to access the keyvault to transfer to the banned console. Also, it may not be wise to log the fixed (banned) Xbox 360 on to Xbox Live at the same time as the console you grabbed the keyvault from. Some users are suggesting this could result in the ban of both consoles.

Restoring your console may add to the EULA and legal violations you may already have committed and we do not recommend or condone it in any way.

source: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=16823

Well, this is interesting for those who got ban hammered. Also, found another news article. With an easier way to 'unbrick' the hdd, allowing games to be installed again.
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=16851

:3

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

And how are you going to get caught? If the dude is gonna rat you out, I wouldn't call him a friend. Unless your friend is a criminal informant or something...

If Bob tells Mary and Mary tells Fred and Fred tells George who has a cousin named Rick who is in the FBI.

It doesn't have to be malicious.




@Rokku



http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,2672402.story

Even lawyers say the law is hard to understand. Distributing free copies of a purchased CD or DVD is only a federal copyright crime if the value of the copied discs exceeds $1,000, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Elena Duarte.

But giving away even one copied disc may be a civil violation or break a state law.

Of course the RIAA says it's a crime, but they are not a government agency. The line between selling copies ( commonly known as 'bootlegging' ) is very illegal and you will be prosecuted if caught.

Distributing purchased copies to friends and family for free, while it may be looked down upon and could be illegal in some states, it's very very doubtful you will be prosecuted and if so a judge will take it seriously.

So again, no, there is no gray area between selling copies and giving free copies to a few close friends and families.

[Zeb]

If Bob tells Mary and Mary tells Fred and Fred tells George who has a cousin named Rick who is in the FBI.

It doesn't have to be malicious.

Somehow, I think the amount of FBI agents who are going to follow up on a tip that they heard someone made a copy of a single DVD for $5 is a bit slim. If the tip was about someone copying and selling a fuckton of DVDs, of course they would probably follow that up, but that is a whole different story, because now they're a dealer and not a friend. Which gets us away from the original point.

[Rokku]

@Rokku



http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,2672402.story




Of course the RIAA says it's a crime, but they are not a government agency. The line between selling copies ( commonly known as 'bootlegging' ) is very illegal and you will be prosecuted if caught.

Distributing purchased copies to friends and family for free, while it may be looked down upon and could be illegal in some states, it's very very doubtful you will be prosecuted and if so a judge will take it seriously.

So again, no, there is no gray area between selling copies and giving free copies to a few close friends and families.

I don't believe I mentioned anywhere anything about my point having anything to do with prosecution. All you've done is proven my point that it is indeed illegal. Prosecutable, probably not, but illegal yes.

I know what rights a person has as an owner of a rightfully purchased piece of copyrighted material. I used to be an RM for Media Play and it's subsidiaries, so I've had to take more than my fair share of seminars regarding vendor relations, distribution and copyright laws.

You're absolutely right, the odds that anyone would ever be charged with anything for making a single copy of a DVD or CD are absolutely zero, especially if it's between close friends or family.

To the letter of the law though, you have indeed created and distributed a piece of copyrighted material in an unauthorized manner. The point I had originally made though was that you can twist the wording of a situation to make "piracy" look like "making a legitimate copy", thus using what-if scenarios like you had were effectively in a gray area of how you choose to word the situation.

Also, going back to your selling vs. borrowing scenario - If you lend him the DVD, you aren't breaking any laws, that is entirely within your rights as the owner of said item. At the point where he copies it though, it becomes an unauthorized copy of said material, constituting piracy. You were half right.

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

I don't believe I mentioned anywhere anything about my point having anything to do with prosecution. All you've done is proven my point that it is indeed illegal. Prosecutable, probably not, but illegal yes.

I know what rights a person has as an owner of a rightfully purchased piece of copyrighted material. I used to be an RM for Media Play and it's subsidiaries, so I've had to take more than my fair share of seminars regarding vendor relations, distribution and copyright laws.

You're absolutely right, the odds that anyone would ever be charged with anything for making a single copy of a DVD or CD are absolutely zero, especially if it's between close friends or family.

To the letter of the law though, you have indeed created and distributed a piece of copyrighted material in an unauthorized manner. The point I had originally made though was that you can twist the wording of a situation to make "piracy" look like "making a legitimate copy", thus using what-if scenarios like you had were effectively in a gray area of how you choose to word the situation.

Also, going back to your selling vs. borrowing scenario - If you lend him the DVD, you aren't breaking any laws, that is entirely within your rights as the owner of said item. At the point where he copies it though, it becomes an unauthorized copy of said material, constituting piracy. You were half right.

No, I actually quoted where federal law says it is not illegal to copy and give unless the value ( of the original ) is over $1000, however civil statutes and some state laws may apply. So no it is not 'definitely illegal.' I'm glad you read over that so you could waste time writing a long winded post.

It's actually in that post you hit the quote button for. Check it out, it's a good read.