Software giant Microsoft has come up with a clever solution to a software flaw on its Xbox Live online service. Rather than fixing the mistake in the software of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Redmond has decided that it is better to punish the users who exploit it.

Stephen Toulouse, the director for policy and enforcement for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live online service said that players who abuse the "javelin missile exploit" will be banned from the entire Xbox Live service. In some cases it may even make a permanent if the exploit is badly abused.

The javeline exploit is a glitch in the online multiplayer. You switch to the javeline missile launcher after "cooking" a semtex grenade by holding down the grenade throw button. This locks the player's actions. When the player dies the javeline missile explodes, killing all enemies within an enormous radius.

In the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare the "martyrdom" perk, which dropped a grenade when the player dies. The javeline exploit creates a similar outcome, except the explosion radius is the same size as a javeline missile, which blows up a larger chunk of screen.

The news groups are packed with angry gamers, although Xbox Live terms of use does clearly state that abusing exploits, glitches, cheats, or unauthorized mods will not be tolerated.

Still it strikes us as a strange way of dealing with a problem. Why not fix the software glitch. We would have thought that punishing gamers was a lot harder to do. Imagine every time there was a security flaw in Windows, Redmond went after the pirate instead of fixing it.