oh no i forgot about the region thing...can a japanese console play the oblivion?

After several months of silence it was more or less accepted that Microsoft wasn't going to do anything about the firmware hacks that allow Xbox 360s to play backups. Rather surprising, considering the 'inventor' of the hack confirmed in March already that the mods are easily detectable, and the reports that piracy is running rampant in countries like China. It appears that Microsoft is finally taking action against them though, although they may be hitting the wrong persons.

This thread on the official Xbox.com forums was started by Furydog, who posts with a completely empty gamer profile:

I have two xbox 360's and since Friday October 13 2006 I have not been able to connect with my two 360's. According to MS customer support my status codes indicate that I have MODDED 360's which I don't. I have contacted several different people and I only one person (GreenJohnny) has responded to me but he was not able to assist me. Although, he did confirm that the status codes I received indicate that my systems Mac addresses are banned because their supposedly MODDED.

Xbox Support stating there are status codes that indicate a machine was banned for modding? That's a new one. To further confirm the story ILBCNU from Xbox Support Staff responds to his post stating they are investigating the issue and apologizing for the problem. No denial or anything, so yep, your modded Xbox 360 is now officially in risk of getting banned from Live or worse.

The fundamental problem with the firmware hack is that it's a so-called Man in the Middle attack on the system's security. Imagine a phone call between 2 English speaking people, and you've got control over the line in between. By cutting in at the right moments, you can make it appear to one of the participants that the other one is saying something to him, but it's actually you saying something else and making him believe that it's a valid response. That's a simplified explanation of how the hacked firmware works: it lies to the 360 kernel about what the disc is saying about its authenticity. Now imagine if both the speakers on that phone line suspected you were in the middle, and switched to speaking a slightly modified dialect. If you're still breaking in with the original dialect, it's easily detectable that you're trying to fool around. Back to the 360, since Microsoft still has absolute control over disc contents and the kernel code, they can simply change the dialect on both sides and thus detect firmware hacks. If they wish, they can take any action they want upon detection, ranging from the simple Xbox Live ban to even bricking your 360 or disabling it to run any newly released games.

There is something slightly fishy about the report though, being that it says the 360 is banned based on MAC address. Those of us familiar with the OSI model and common network implementations will immediately know this is not true, because MAC addresses are part of the Ethernet protocol and live on Layer 2, and never get routed over the internet. In simple terms: your 360s MAC address is not remotely identifiable. An option could be that the Xbox Live login code sends the MAC address itself to the Live servers to be able to uniquely identify the 360, but that would be plain silly since MAC addresses are known not to be unique: they only need to be unique within their physical subnet. A far more obvious solution on Microsoft's part would be to use the console serial number for this, which is embedded in the system anyway and truly unique.

Microsoft is banning 360 firmware modders
Source

Read the comments guyz..It may hold to be true MS will not banning the flashed FW coz this guyz still need to pay for gold membership and download contents. No banned report till now n MS just force back by using diff media. Why ?? Discuss !!

Anyway this just open for discussion only    and not to encourage ppl using the *caugh* syst or gamez.

Sry, bro.. really dun understand what is mean"MS will not banning the flashed FW coz this guyz still need to pay for gold membership and download contents." Ms can detect they using P** Game  or modded firmware? If the user dunno his firmware have been modded, n he using Original cd to play live with gold membership, he still can be ban by MS bcoz modded firmware detected?

So... hardware failure+ 3ROD are not really direct related with MODDED, right?

So... hardware failure+ 3ROD are not really direct related with MODDED, right?

No its not. But it can be written off as a door stopper or paper weight since there wont be warranty for it.

well if msoft dont enforce the banning then what about the interest of game developers? maybe msoft just wanna collect their profit from gold live and marketplace and let modders away but if that happens then game developers will be running away too. well my 2cents only lah...

Microsoft is banning 360 firmware modders
Source

Read the comments guyz..It may hold to be true MS will not ban the flashed FW coz this guyz (modders / player) still need to pay for gold membership to play online and download contents from mkt place which is profit to MS. No banned report till now n MS just counter back by using diff media. Why ?? Discuss !!

Anyway this just open for discussion only    and not to encourage ppl using the *caugh* syst or gamez.

well if msoft dont enforce the banning then what about the interest of game developers? maybe msoft just wanna collect their profit from gold live and marketplace and let modders away but if that happens then game developers will be running away too. well my 2cents only lah...

is there anything new to discuss? summore bring this to the FAQ pinned thread?

at the end of the day, dont care what e66 bricking or live banning;

if Mr A is dead set on enjoying his pirated goods, surely playing "cat & mouse" with all those banning/bricking/countermeasures is not a problem

if Mr B has decided to support ori games, he will buy/trade/swap/rent to the best of his ability

at the end of the day, most ppl are old enough to be responsible for themselves and their actions. no need lame excuses or justifications. no need to wait until this subforum is overrun by majority pirated gamers go enjoy ur games.

Guys... interested to get one XBOX Live...

I'm currently live in Penang... Hometown in Ipoh...

Where can i get a Non-Mod version???
How Much????