Microsoft "Unapologetic" For Sweeping Xbox Live Bans

[Captain Blackout]

Fuck Microsoft!

1. Bill "I'm a thief" Gates started Microsoft with acts of technological piracy! Little hard to take the moral high ground against piracy and be "unapologetic" under such circumstances.

2. I have a really hard time telling if this is honestly just against piracy. I'm certain someone at MS (as mentioned before in this thread) said "Keep the accounts, there's money to made here."

3. When will MS and EA and whichever other morons are out there learn: This sort of tactic doesn't stop piracy! It pisses pirates, both moral and amoral, off. Pissed off pirates don't stop pirating, they go pirate more!

4. I'm nowhere near as stupid as Mr. "fuck all pirates, I want to be the last one!" Gates so I won't be screencapping and letting myself get caught.

5. Before you bring out the retard tired argument "Well of course Bill is smarter than you, he has more money." I'm calling BS: More money means you are more focused and/or ruthless in your pursuit of money, not smarter.

At some point, MS is going to have to learn how to deal with piracy effectively. Think Akido or Tai Chi instead of nukes. The force MS puts out into the world is the force that will come back at them. If MS doesn't want piracy in the world they should bloody well quit finding new ways to feed it.

I'm glad you numbered your points, because I hate making multiple quote boxes.

1. Not hard at all to take the high ground. Regardless of anything that happened in the past, this is his and his shareholders' company. He can do with it as he wishes.

2. So what. That's the point of a company. Making money.

3. Sure stopped all those people from going on LIVE for a while, didn't it? Maybe there are more effective ways to combat piracy, but they have to do something, and honestly, it's always going to piss off a pirate when they get punished for breaking the law. They aren't happy unless they circumvent the system and don't pay for a product.

4. Good idea.

5. I don't care how smart either of you are or think you are. It's his business, not yours. You have no right to dictate how he runs it. So what if he was ruthless? That's business.

Your whole argument is they deserve it? They brought this on themselves? It doesn't work like that. You aren't a vigilante, you're just a person who doesn't want to pay for anything using a very thin excuse and terrible reasoning. You want to make a difference in this world with your actions? Go volunteer your time at a PIP shelter or a food pantry. I understand you feel they are going at this the wrong way, but that isn't your choice to make.

This is going to get ugly (no, it hasn't yet).

1. Doing what he wishes with his company doesn't give him moral high ground. It sure as hell doesn't work that way for anyone else, it doesn't work that way for Gates. The fact of the matter is this: They have no moral ground. They have proven that time and time again. This being the case, their unapologetic stance is BS from any moral grounding, it only works in terms of control. They get to be unapologetic because there is no consequence otherwise.

2. The point of a company depends on the stance taken by the company's owners. While one company will make service it's top priority and the bottom line (money) is managed per that priority, others will make money the top priority and service will be managed per the priority of money. MS only gives a shit about piracy in terms of their bottom line, so their argument about "The good of the industry" is a bald-faced lie. If MS cared about the good of the industry, they would have been working towards that. They never really have.

3. In math, science, combat, etc. the elegant solution out-performs the brute force solution almost every time. Only in capitalism does that dynamic reverse. Now, I'm not rabidly anti-capitalist, but unfettered capitalism has serious consequences. Mr. Gates has never given a shit and has even gone so far as to attempt to foist utter crap on the public, hoping his tactics will carry him through. And sometimes, that's worked for him. The important point: If you're going to claim your tactics are about ending piracy then don't be a fucking liar and use your tactics to make money for yourself while only causing a temporary ripple in piracy.

4. 'nuff said

5. Mr. Gates has no right to dictate what I do with my Xbox, and only so much latitude in how I use my Live account. I don't give a damn that it's his company, if he bricks my Xbox or my Live account I'm vicious enough to return fire and he can just suck it up and get over it or start using better tactics.

I do work to make a difference in the world. I can't count how many projects I've been on in order to use my efforts to make the world a better place. These days its not projects, it's working my ass off to be a better father and husband, to provide for my family. I'm not looking for a free ride but if my options are begging or stealing guess what... I will work from the shadows, I will pick my targets according to their actions, and I will steal like a mad bastard. Before you comment on what makes a pirate, you should ask how one became so. Yes, plenty of kids are outright thieves with no moral standards. They can be managed, often because their lack of moral standards leave them vulnerable to management. The real difference between me and Bill Gates: We're both bloody pirates, I just have the balls to be honest about it. That leaves me with moral ground to start working with.

EDIT: I do realize that MS has taken huge steps towards a better world with the Gates Foundation. As near as I can tell, Bill was a self-involved, self-effacing lying bastard until he married Melinda. I know for a fact how much personal effort she puts into the foundation. Basically, Bill got smart and married someone who knew how to spend his ill-gotten gains well.

 

[chronobreak]

This is going to get ugly (no, it hasn't yet).

1. Doing what he wishes with his company doesn't give him moral high ground. It sure as hell doesn't work that way for anyone else, it doesn't work that way for Gates. The fact of the matter is this: They have no moral ground. They have proven that time and time again. This being the case, their unapologetic stance is BS from any moral grounding, it only works in terms of control. They get to be unapologetic because there is no consequence otherwise.

2. The point of a company depends on the stance taken by the company's owners. While one company will make service it's top priority and the bottom line (money) is managed per that priority, others will make money the top priority and service will be managed per the priority of money. MS only gives a shit about piracy in terms of their bottom line, so their argument about "The good of the industry" is a bald-faced lie. If MS cared about the good of the industry, they would have been working towards that. They never really have.

3. In math, science, combat, etc. the elegant solution out-performs the brute force solution almost every time. Only in capitalism does that dynamic reverse. Now, I'm not rabidly anti-capitalist, but unfettered capitalism has serious consequences. Mr. Gates has never given a shit and has even gone so far as to attempt to foist utter crap on the public, hoping his tactics will carry him through. And sometimes, that's worked for him. The important point: If you're going to claim your tactics are about ending piracy then don't be a fucking liar and use your tactics to make money for yourself while only causing a temporary ripple in piracy.

4. 'nuff said

5. Mr. Gates has no right to dictate what I do with my Xbox, and only so much latitude in how I use my Live account. I don't give a damn that it's his company, if he bricks my Xbox or my Live account I'm vicious enough to return fire and he can just suck it up and get over it or start using better tactics.

I do work to make a difference in the world. I can't count how many projects I've been on in order to use my efforts to make the world a better place. These days its not projects, it's working my ass off to be a better father and husband, to provide for my family. I'm not looking for a free ride but if my options are begging or stealing guess what... I will work from the shadows, I will pick my targets according to their actions, and I will steal like a mad bastard. Before you comment on what makes a pirate, you should ask how one became so. Yes, plenty of kids are outright thieves with no moral standards. They can be managed, often because their lack of moral standards leave them vulnerable to management. The real difference between me and Bill Gates: We're both bloody pirates, I just have the balls to be honest about it. That leaves me with moral ground to start working with.

EDIT: I do realize that MS has taken huge steps towards a better world with the Gates Foundation. As near as I can tell, Bill was a self-involved, self-effacing lying bastard until he married Melinda. I know for a fact how much personal effort she puts into the foundation. Basically, Bill got smart and married someone who knew how to spend his ill-gotten gains well.

This won't get ugly between me and you, just hope that Khell doesn't get involved. Then it could be bad. I consider myself reasonable.

1. This is not a moral issue. Just because you base your reasoning or morality does not make it a moral issue.

2. Of course they only care about the money. This is why they have PR departments that speak up for them, and tell people they really just care about their gamers. If they told the truth all the time, they would not make as much money. I fail to see how this is bad, rather I think it is just good business and tactics that most other successful businesses use.

3. There is no elegant solution yet. When there is one, it will be employed. Do you suggest they just let people keep stealing their products? They have every right to do something about it.

4. You can do whatever you want with your Xbox. You just can't access their LIVE service. It's all in the EULA, which is right there for you to read or look up. The burden falls on the consumer to understand it, not the company. He didn't brick anybody's Xbox.

I understand your situation, I am a husband and father as well. I have money issues just like eevryone else. But I just want to say: there is no excuse for stealing. You feel that the industry wronged you, but you never had to play a game in your life, nobody forced you. You can't go to the grocery store, say you hate the bread, then proceed to steal a loaf to teach them a lesson. If you're so upset with the industry, why don't you just stop playing games? Don't even waste your time or bandwidth. You are stealing, and are in no position to turn this into a moral issue. And, if you say Bill Gates pirated... how are you not on the same level as the company that you have deemed as evil? Just because Gates doesn't admit fault to some guy on the internet?

Also, you don't even know Bill Gates, who are you to make these accusations into his personal life? Do you have some inside knowledge, or are you just armed with a wikipedia page? You act like you know him on a personal level, and you're making it way too much of a personal issue. Bill Gates is probably just a figurehead at this point, how involved do you think one of the worlds richest men really is in his products? I'm sure there are a slew of other people you could put at fault before Gates.

 

[Captain Blackout]

This is going to get ugly (no, it hasn't yet).

This won't get ugly between me and you, just hope that Khell doesn't get involved. Then it could be bad. I consider myself reasonable.

1. This is not a moral issue. Just because you base your reasoning or morality does not make it a moral issue.

2. Of course they only care about the money. This is why they have PR departments that speak up for them, and tell people they really just care about their gamers. If they told the truth all the time, they would not make as much money. I fail to see how this is bad, rather I think it is just good business and tactics that most other successful businesses use.

3. There is no elegant solution yet. When there is one, it will be employed. Do you suggest they just let people keep stealing their products? They have every right to do something about it.

4. You can do whatever you want with your Xbox. You just can't access their LIVE service. It's all in the EULA, which is right there for you to read or look up. The burden falls on the consumer to understand it, not the company. He didn't brick anybody's Xbox.

I understand your situation, I am a husband and father as well. I have money issues just like eevryone else. But I just want to say: there is no excuse for stealing. You feel that the industry wronged you, but you never had to play a game in your life, nobody forced you. You can't go to the grocery store, say you hate the bread, then proceed to steal a loaf to teach them a lesson. If you're so upset with the industry, why don't you just stop playing games? Don't even waste your time or bandwidth. You are stealing, and are in no position to turn this into a moral issue. And, if you say Bill Gates pirated... how are you not on the same level as the company that you have deemed as evil? Just because Gates doesn't admit fault to some guy on the internet?

Also, you don't even know Bill Gates, who are you to make these accusations into his personal life? Do you have some inside knowledge, or are you just armed with a wikipedia page? You act like you know him on a personal level, and you're making it way too much of a personal issue. Bill Gates is probably just a figurehead at this point, how involved do you think one of the worlds richest men really is in his products? I'm sure there are a slew of other people you could put at fault before Gates.

1. It became a moral issue when MS claimed it was for the good of the industry.

2. Successful business tactics are often bad for the industry, and MS has made it a point to fuck the industry over to their own benefit in the past. Again, they chose to put this on moral grounds, not me.

3. I've seen elegant solutions. I loved the Batman game where some moves were inaccessible. I know for certain we can find at least some elegant solutions. If MS doesn't want to try, then it's their fault when their tactics aren't good enough and they continue to get "ripped off." (and that had to be put in quotes because of the likely-hood that most of the kids who pirate anything don't go out and pay for things they can't pirate. MS isn't ever going to lose as much money to piracy as they say they do)

4. They didn't brick Xboxes this time. If my information is correct, they have in the past. EULAs are only as good as their enforceability. More to the point: If I embark on this adventure, my Live account will be safe because a) I will understand the mechanisms involved (I already do to some degree) and b) I'm an elegant pirate, not an asshat like Mr. Gates.

I spent a long time working in data management and computer technologies. I've had one massive career headache after another thanks to MS. I spent a lot of time studying philosophy and ethics. I made it a point to study computer ethics. The things you know about Gates are nothing compared to the full list of stupidity his company has attempted. I've had friends who worked for MS and I got to hear how MS treats their employees and why. The stuff you read on Wikipedia about MS, I've seen the original documents that helped the Wikipedia writers create those web pages about MS. I've contracted for the Gates Foundation and seen first-hand Melinda's approach. No, I didn't just get to this point by reading Wikipedia. Nice try though.

Also, I made a choice to be an "honest" pirate because, quite frankly, it's how the world works. Do you live in a nice house? Have you considered how much blood your country has spilt so you can live a "theft free life?" I have. Living in the U.S., I know how much blood was wrongly spilt to create the "safe" country I live in. I don't believe in spilling blood. I do strongly believe in stealing from those who would steal from the world around them. It's not a choice for everyone, but it is a choice for me. I realize some of what I'm putting here is purely reactionary to issues I've never been directly involved with. The point is this: What I've written here is only the tip of the iceberg for my defense of how I live. More to the point: When the biggest tech thieves reserve the right to denounce theft and claim they're doing good, I reserve the right to my evil acts in defiance of their utter BS. Notice what I said in the original post: Note to self, go do X. I haven't stolen from MS in years, and the last time I did it was operating systems so I could put food on the table. MS seems to want to still be dicks, so I'll take up a brief moment of stealing games to show them how it feels to be on the receiving end of dickery.