The terms and conditions for use of the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live service indicate that if you modify your console you could face getting banned from the Xbox Live service. A number of those that have violated the terms of service have had their accounts banned. This is Microsoft’s attempt to deal with Xbox 360 consoles that have been modified to play pirated games.

Besides the fact that any modification of your console will void the warranty, Microsoft has had to take these steps to deal with those who choose to endanger the health of the video game business by pirating software and using it on modified consoles. Microsoft sees this also as unfair to those that buy genuine games and pay the costs associated with staying within the rules.

Microsoft has also warned that they will continue to deploy a variety of security measures to deal with piracy and console modifications. In addition, Microsoft wants to protect the integrity of the Xbox Live service and those that play on it from console modifications that can be used for cheating.

The vast majority of Xbox Live users welcome efforts by Microsoft to keep things on the up and up. It also just goes to show that Microsoft is paying attention, and the timing of this could be related to the upcoming dashboard update that they are rolling out shortly.