I can’t say this is a surprise. We’ve all been waiting for Microsoft to throw the switch and boot all the modded consoles. Personally, I think it’s about time.

Major Nelson and Gamerscore Blog are both reporting on the new security in place for the Xbox 360. If you get a Status Code: Z: 8015 – 190D, basically it means your SOL. Reports are coming in from all over the intarweb of users getting banned. Go buy a new 360 if you have any intentions of playing online.

With the Halo 3 Beta starting up, Microsoft decided this was the best time to start dropping some ban-hammers on fools. I remember the day Halo 2 dropped they did the same with the original Xbox.

I can’t say I blame Microsoft one bit here. Last gen was different, with many people, myself included, modding their Xbox to rock Xbox Media Center. It was, and still is, one of the best streaming media center applications you can use. With the Xbox 360, the only modding you can do is to play burnt games. Piracy hurts the industry. Glad Microsoft is finally stepping up and addressing the issue.