An Xbox 360 modder was caught this week for selling illegal copies of the unreleased Modern Warfare 2 game. Infinity Ward hired IPCybercrime, a Private Investigation firm, to put an end to piracy on their game the same week in which the most anticipated game of the year, Modern Warfare 2, is been released. VenturaBeat, who broke the story a couple days ago, reports  that the modder uploaded a rip of the game as early as last week.

On the meantime, Microsoft is having the biggest ban wave ever.  Many xbox modders have been getting ban during the past week , with rumors of microsoft having found a way to tell if an xbox is runing a custom firmware. More to follow on this matter, on the meantime checkout the whole story over at VenturaBeat.

People that have had modded xbox 360 for years now, have not survived this ban wave. Rumors and speculations lead to believe that Microsoft has finally or perhaps always  had the ability to tell if you are running a different firmware that would allow you to play backup copies of their games. Up until now, modders thought that the only way for someone to get caught was by using a bad rip of a game or even powering on the 360 while having the drive partially disconnected.  Playing games early will also raise some flags  on your account. Even if you haven’t been banned yet, your console might have been flagged and is awaiting auditing.

Here is the excerpt from Major Nelson’s blog:

As you may have read online, we’ve been actively banning consoles from Xbox LIVE that have been modified to play pirated games. Our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox LIVE community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal, and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs, violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE. The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them.  This would also be a good time to remind you that the warranty on an Xbox 360 console is not transferrable and if you purchase a used console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE.

So if by any chance you have a modded xbox or are thinking of modding it, think twice. For now … i guess all the kids worried will have to keep playing offline for a while until the ban wave is over.