Sony is going to get aggressive on piracy, as the company has announced that they will be swinging the ban hammer on software pirates on the PlayStation 3 for those found running pirated copies of PS3 software; this will result in their receiving a permanent ban from the PlayStation Network.

The tough talk in the official statement cites a number of terms of the System Software License Agreement, as well as the Terms of Services and User Agreement. Of course, many (even most of us) don’t pay very close attention to the wording of these licensing agreements, but Sony is combining this with the Community Code of Conduct to make sure that users know that the company means business.

Sony warns, “Consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.” It isn’t yet clear how long Sony is giving players to comply, but from the whispers that we are hearing it will not be long.

Sony has apparently found a way to determine which users are using circumvention devices and pirated software. It is expected that Sony will deliver a new firmware update that will assist in this process. It is expected that once the new firmware is deployed, they will be able to poll the PlayStation 3 system to look for circumvention devices and pirated software.

In the meantime, Sony continues to go the legal route and gather additional evidence. Sony has already been granted permission to seize GeoHot’s hardware used to crack the PlayStation 3 and to obtain the root key from the system. Sony also continues to ask the courts for subpoenas to go after those on the Internet that are publishing the crack; but sources that we have spoken with expect Sony’s effects to yield very little results over the long haul, as most believe that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak.