Summary: Almost one million customers of Microsoft are permanently banned and sales of Xbox 360 drop considerably

MICROSOFT is being rather tactless with its more 'naughty' customers, up to a million of whom it is reportedly banning, even permanently. From Microsoft's own 'news' site (joint venture with NBC, maybe to be inherited by Comcast):

"All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live," Microsoft said in a statement Wednesday.

At Groklaw, in relation to the above Pamela Jones wrote: "So. If all those who insisted Microsoft would never use terms of use like this would please line up and apologize to me, I'd love that."

Other reports confirm the numbers, but they are filled with propaganda, comparing these people who hack their own hardware which they paid for to people who attack ships, murdering and raping in the process. This is merely echoing the same ugly terminology that Microsoft is using despite the ironic truth. CNN is among those who use propaganda terms and even Charles Arthur uses improper words like "pirated".

Microsoft Nick continues to show that Microsoft endorses this misuse of language by even creating an "Anti-piracy" Twitter feed. We wrote about Microsoft's role at Twitter under the following posts:

1. More Microsoft AstroTurfing (aka 'Technical Evangelism') in Twitter
2. User “Microsoft Incentives” Wants to be Your Friend, Too
3. Microsoft's Twitter AstroTurf Continues
4. Who is Pumping MSFT and Pimping Microsoft in Twitter?
5. Microsoft Hires Federated Media for Twitter AstroTurfing
6. Does Microsoft Still Create Twitter Accounts for Guerilla Marketing?
7. Microsoft's AstroTurfing, Twitter, Waggener Edstrom, and Jonathan Zuck
8. Microsoft Twitter Bots, FTC Blowback, and Paid-for Vista 7 Glorification
9. Microsoft Feeds Hundreds of Korean Bloggers to Promote Vista 7
10. Are Microsoft Employees (Technical Evangelists) Using Spammers in Twitter?

Regarding the Xbox 360 bans, it is a subject we alluded to last week, after we had explained that Xbox 360 is merely rented, not sold. A lot of Microsoft products are like that.

With such policies in place, Microsoft will only be putting off and driving away customers. According to US-only statistics, Microsoft has dropped to 4^th place in its very own home ground (losing to the Japanese).

507k - Wii 458k - Nintendo DS 321k - PlayStation 3 250k - Xbox 360 175k - PSP 118k - PlayStation 2

Xbox 360 is going nowhere, fast.

Adding insult to injury, Microsoft blocks young people from entering Facebook on the Xbox 360.

Pre-pubescent and teenage Xbox 360 users looking forward to blending their online gaming and social networking habits are likely feeling a little disgruntled today after Microsoft revealed that the Xbox Live integration of Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm will initially be limited to over 18s only.

In Microsoft's eyes, Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm must be the new "porn". At one stage, Microsoft also blocked Google from youngsters [1, 2].

But anyway, why would Microsoft deal with Facebook like that?

Microsoft has already decided to lock/shut GNU/Linux users out of the Winter Olympics, including the many who just use an ARM-based appliance to access something as simple as this popular Web site. Microsoft is now doing to Facebook what it has done to the Winter Olympics, according to reports.

Microsoft on Monday unveiled Microsoft SDK for Facebook Platform, enabling use of Microsoft technologies such as Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) in conjunction with the Facebook social platform.

There is more information about this in:

• Microsoft releases SDK for Facebook



• Microsoft Releases SDK For Facebook Platform



• Microsoft releases updated Facebook SDK

We previously showed that the management of Facebook is close to Microsoft and even its patent troll. On the other hand, in the news we now find that Facebook supports the rival of Xbox 360:

• Report: PlayStation 3 To Add Facebook Integration



• LEAKED: Facebook is Coming to the PlayStation 3



• Rumour: Facebook Coming With Next Playstation 3 Firmware Update

Will Sony also have an adult-only policy for Facebook? Will it ban its users? Perhaps it's Microsoft's attitude that made Xbox 360 such a commercial failure, raking in billions of dollars in losses. ⬆