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[Phat Phreddy]

This idea occurred to me last night and is a way MS could detect the pirate community 100% without any updates / drive testing etc..

All they really need to do.. is make a slightly modified game release into the scene !!

We talk about how it would be impossible to master discs with unique codes in the pressing, but that would not be the case with a scene release, and we would distribute this flagging game like a virus ourselves.

It sounds far fetched, that MS themselves would release a game into the community.. But wouldnt it work well ?? Pick a game that people are waiting for.. Release a modifed code one that tells MS your playing a illegitimate version.. Next update or at any time once the dust has settled and it would be impossible or very hard to identify the culprit. Turn the banhammer on..

Just one or two releases a year would spread so much in the way of bans through the community, create total confusion, paranoia about playing releases and not personally done backups (how many pirates actually do ALL thier own backing up.. Here in asia the stalls are full of properly pressed and printed boxed games, all pirate)..

To do this they would need no hardware checks at all.. No updates.. No firmware tests.. And how much do they actually lose in dveleoper sales to those pirates, the cost of doing this ?? Well even tho it does have one it will then 'take out' those pirates out of the live system.. Punishment for the action.

I am not in any way saying this is what has happened.. I dont think that at all.. But it is a way that they COULD do the same thing.