Recently, XBox live has been drawing criticism from users finding themselves banned after modifying their XBoxes in such a way that they are able to play pirated games. Aside from the fact that this is a little like a burglar complaining you've hit him over the head with a large tureen because he is trying to steal your family silver, it poses an interesting dilemma for Microsoft and its users.

You see, on one side of the fence, once a person buys an XBox, they should be able to do whatever they want with it. That just makes sense. If I buy a computer, I can change what I like inside it and nobody has any say in it one way or another. To have spent hundreds of dollars on an XBox only to be told that modding it will result in being cut off from online services seems unfair.

But is it really unfair? After all, XBox live's terms of service clearly state that if you mod your console, you will be banned. Sometimes it takes quite a while to be caught. Some modded consoles last for over a year on the network, skirting by underneath Microsoft's radar, but inevitably, they are caught and they are banned. That's the XBox console itself that is banned forever. There's not much you can do about it, and it is certainly no longer worth what it was worth before. In spite of that fact many people do sell banned XBox consoles, so if you are buying second hand, it pays to check out whether or not it has been banned before you buy it.

There is one way around the ban, that is to buy a whole new console. Sound harsh? Well, in a way it is, but it is this sort of policy that keeps the X Box profitable for Microsoft and its developers. Unlike the world of PC Gaming, where piracy is rife and where many popular titles have a piracy rate of 90% of more, Microsoft is doing its best to make sure that vast amounts of revenue are not lost to pirates.

You may not like it, but they are well within their rights to take this sort of action. Over recent years, many gamers have developed a very lax attitude to piracy, some actually think that it is the preferred method of obtaining games. But at the end of the day, it actually really does cost developers millions and that will negatively impact everyone's gaming experience.

So, moral of the story? Don't mod your XBox, it isn't worth it.