Microsoft announced yesterday that they have banned a very large number (rumored to be up to 1 million) Xbox Live player accounts for modding their Xbox systems and playing pirated games.

With the current release of Modern Warfare 2, players are anxiously trying to get online and fragging their friends but it seems Microsoft has other plans.  Microsoft is citing it's terms of service agreement that players agree to when buying an xbox system:

Download or use any material sent or provided by another user of the Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally shared or distributed in such manner (except as expressly permitted by us).

What they could and would do were clearly laid out:

Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (b) retrieve information from the original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, personal computer, and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this contract.

Even players that have modded systems and are not playing "illegally downloaded games" using the mod to change harddrives, or use the software/games that were provided with the purchased system, are being told on the forums that breaking the seal on the Xbox is grounds for lifetime bans. The fact that Microsoft can poll into players Xbox 360 consoles and pull firmware information is a little creepy for me, Big Brother anyone?  Xbox had warned that with the new update would come the new unauthorized memory chip check program.

What players seem to forget is that Microsoft is not banning players, it's banning consoles.  So if you have a modded console that was disabled, you just need to go out and buy a new "legal" Xbox 360.  More money in Microsofts pocket. 1 million players have to buy new Xbox's? Where can i get a piece of that action?

So what do you players think of the ban? Happy Microsoft is doing something? Mad because you've been cut off?