Microsoft has handed out some trick or treat of its own by banning en masse a number of Xbox Live accounts and consoles due modification of the console to play pirated copies of games. While we can’t get an exact number of how many were banned, it is a safe bet from what we can figure out that it was a small percentage of the total number of consoles.

The company has continued to be very aggressive about the enforcement of their terms of service, which includes the fact that users can’t make modifications to their consoles. Beyond the fact that the company is doing what they can to combat piracy, the company is also concerned about providing a secure and safe game playing environment. Also, there is the possibility of cheating that might be possible through the use of a modified console and, of course, Microsoft wants to promote fair play, as well; so it is obvious that they would want close potential holes as quickly as possible.

While the banning of Xbox Live accounts and consoles is an ongoing process, according to our sources the last week or so has been particularly heavy in the number of users that have been banned. While it may seem lately as though Microsoft is the only one attempting to combat piracy, Nintendo and Sony have also recently been taking the fight to those that choose not to pay for genuine games.