I believe that most bans are for bogus reasons, no reasons, or petty reasons since the firms do not "divulge" the reason for the permanent bans. Telling someone "read the codes" is not a "reason." Therefore, claiming that all permanent bans are deserved is an erroneous assumption. Regardless, all have a right to use their own property or they must be compensated (issued full refunds) if a permanent ban is issued. It can't be that only some can use what they buy and some can't, especially when, I believe, most of the "reasons" for permanent bans are bogus/unjustified.

@Archangel3371: Because permanent bans renders the product useless. Someone with a banned Xbox account is no longer able to access any games or other items purchased through that account. That is actually stealing which again these firms have no right to do so.

A company does have the right to decide if they want to sell to someone or not; however, they do not have the right to destroy someone's property and not give them a full refund for that property. They need to remove all bans or give these people full refunds regardless of the supposed reason, real or unreal, "justified" or not.

@Byshop: They did not offer a full refund! That is part of the problem is that they don't offer any refunds. Mis-spelled words and poor grammar doesn't necessarily mean it was a kid and even so, is it okay to bully kids? I don't think so!

Here is an example of someone being banned for a subjective reason:

“Identifying Yourself as a Lesbian Gets You Banned”: http://consumerist.com/2009/02/25/identifying-yourself-as-a-lesbian-gets-you-banned-on-xbox-live/

Of course, Microsoft Xbox went to the other extreme and decided to specifically state that gamers can state their sexual preference in their bio and which terms they can use. This is totally unnecessary and is overkill. All they had to do was stop the practice of issuing permanent bans as this opens the door for discrimination such as in this player’s experience.

Someone on this site wrote the following article of the problems of some people wanting to act as “thought police”. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-2009-the-new-face-of-game-censorship/1100-6206796/

I quite agree that it is wrong to try to regulate morality – and that includes “cheating.”

It isn’t that I support such things as racism or cheating; however, people’s rights are being violated by the use of permanent bans and I believe that most bans are made for unjust reasons including no reasons at all. With apparently many players being addicted to games, these firms seem to think they can do whatever they want without losing revenue and even increasing revenue with banned victims repurchasing the products.

Our Country believes in property rights as it is an important part of Freedom. When someone – anyone -- purchases a game or console, the person has the right to use that item to its fullest potential. It is wrong for the federal government or a corporation to deny them that right regardless of their supposed reason.

We are not talking about someone taking a product, repackaging it, and re-selling the item as their own invention. So the argument that “you don’t buy the game” is invalid. You do buy the game/console and you do have the right to use it. However, I’ll admit that the way these firms work, gamers only buy the chance to play since their game or console can be permanently banned at any time and with no warning or reason. Given that, these items are grossly overpriced!

Microsoft Xbox used to simply state, “Read the codes.”, when someone asked why they were banned. This tells them nothing specific and when someone asked them for specifics, they claimed they could not do so due to “privacy reasons” as Activision claims. Apparently enough complaints have come Microsoft Xbox’s way so that now they claim that a specific site is set up for them to find out why a permanent ban occurred; however as you’ve seen in those links above, they typically still state they cannot do so for “privacy reasons”. Oddly, they do not always follow their own policy as in another case a mother was specifically told that her son “cheated” and supposedly told how he “cheated.”

Again, these firms can approach the issue of Modding in different ways as Mojang showed there is another way. The destruction of property is vandalism and vandalism is wrong, especially when it is done for no reasons, bogus reasons or petty reasons. Either all have the right to use their fully purchased property or no one does. It is wrong to claim that only certain people have the right to play and others don’t, especially when the right is taken from someone simply for subjective (no reason, bogus reason, petty reason, etc.) reasons.

To claim that the only issue is that “if someone breaks a code, then they should be punished” grossly oversimplifies the problem. Gamers are being abused and no one, gamer or not, should condone such practices.

@Byshop: See this link from the BBB as just one example in which Activision states it is their policy not to divulge the reason for a permanent ban.

http://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/video-games-wholesale-and-manufacturers/activision-blizzard-in-santa-monica-ca-13075134/complaints

This isn't just in a public forum that they won't disclose the reason as stated in an email by Activision support sent to a personal email account: "Unfortunately due to security and privacy reasons and non-disclosure agreements we cannot divulge why an account has been banned."

This link shows someone who states they were banned for no reason. You can see that Activision doesn't even want people discussing this topic: https://community.callofduty.com/thread/200882016 You can also see others bullying those who rightly complain about unjust permanent bans. Is this really necessary?

Microsoft Xbox has the same policies and mistreats customers just as much as Activision. See this link: https://www.change.org/p/microsoft-wrongly-banning-xbox-consoles-from-acessing-xbox-live

Although, sometimes these firms don't seem to follow their own policies. This link shows that they gave a supposed reason for a permanent ban in a public forum: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_support/xbox_360_support/f/41/t/1933834.aspx

This is not simply that people are not following rules. This is about gaming firms abusing gamers by banning them for apparently subjective reasons; not for "not following the rules."

@Bigboi500: All gamers and non-gamers should be appalled of anyone being abused. The policy abuses gamers who do not violate any codes. It does not stop the use of Mods or the creation of Mods, so it certainly does not "protect the gaming environment" as claimed. Instead it encourages bullying since permanent ban victims are automatically declared guilty and mostly "guilty of cheating". Since permanent bans are apparently really based on subjective, not objective, reasons you too could receive a permanent ban for no legitimate reason. You should be concerned about this not just for your fellow gamers, but for yourself as well.

Many of you have made it quite clear that you support permanent bans. However, you miss these facts regarding this policy:

• The firms’ policy is to not disclose the reason for a permanent ban. What are they hiding? If someone knowingly violated a “code”, then they would not be telling the person anything new now would they? It is only those who have been wrongly accused of violating a “code” that would naturally be upset about the reason for the permanent ban, especially if there is no real reason, if the reason were petty such as changing an avatar shirt, or if the reason was based on someone’s subjective, perhaps even bigoted, opinion.
• Permanent bans are issued to those who neither cheat nor violate any other “code.” Of course, how can they know if they are not told the “reason?”
• This policy does not stop Mods from being used or created.
• There are other “reasons” permanent bans are issued such as using a Youtube link in a bio. Yet, anyone who complains about permanent bans is automatically ostracized as being a “cheater”. This policy encourages bullying as many of you have shown examples of that in your comments while defending permanent bans by making false claims of the superiority of these firms and the inferiority of any gamer who received a permanent ban, regardless of the real or imagined reason. Gamers are automatically declared guilty based only on the firm’s action of issuing a permanent ban.
• Most sites have “Terms of Use”; however, the firms do not destroy the person’s computer for either a true or an imagined violation. Yet, permanent bans destroys the person’s property, therefore, the person is unable to “play somewhere else” unless they repurchase the item(s) -- something that benefits these firms.
• The system these firms use to issue permanent bans is not perfect as they foolishly claim since no human is perfect. I understand that the firms have players watching these games to “catch cheaters”. These people, being human, can and do make mistakes. Yet firms will neither discuss nor reverse permanent bans, declaring them all final.
• The property of these firms is not being harmed, but the firms are destroying gamers’ property. General Motors doesn't destroy someone’s car, claiming they committed a traffic violation, but “we won’t tell you which one.” Grocers don’t confiscate your food “because you violated a nutrition code, but we won’t tell you which one.” If their property were being harmed, then the firms would contact the police, not issue permanent bans where the “violator” could simply repurchase the product and harm their property again.
• There are other ways to handle these situations (if they really are problems) that would be more fair and not harm innocent gamers:
  • As for the Youtube link, the firm could issue a temporary ban until the gamer either removes the link or pays a small advertising fee.
  • A server dedicated to using Mods could be used so that players who do not wish to use Mods can simply use a different server.
  • Allow people to have their own servers so that they can make their own decision if they want to play with someone or not. Mojang used to do just.
  • They could create programs to disable Mods. If it can be done for virus and malware programs, I believe it can also be done for Mods.

This is not their property that is being harmed. It is the property of the victims of permanent bans. Their system is not "perfect" as they claim; therefore many many innocent players are being abused by this policy. You don't need these firms to act as your mommy and daddy to decide if you will play with someone else or not. You should be able to decide for yourself. Just let it happen to you and then you will change your stories and don't tell me that it won't happen to you because you "don't cheat". These players don't cheat either, but it has happened to them.

Again, these firms can use servers dedicated only for these mods and/or they can allow people to have their own servers in which they can ban a player if they want to, but the player can use other servers including their own. I personally think mods as in Gary's Mod and Minecraft shows creativity and does not deserve the vile reputation that these firms have given them. That is why I support a server dedicated to mods. It would stop the abuse of innocent players who have had their property destroyed by these firms. Of course, if these firms are afraid that someone else will create a better game then they do, then they should hire these creative individuals. These firms lack innovation as seen by Microsoft Xbox buying Mojang and Activision seems to only be able to make various versions of Call of Duty. The gaming world needs more innovation, but these gaming firms want to stifle it rather than embracing it.

Again I say, nothing justifies a permanent ban. Nothing justifies these firms destroying someone else's property no matter what their "Codes" claim. Thank you all for reaffirming that this policy encourages bullying as you have shown how much you "hate cheaters". Control the rhetoric; control the people.

Nothing justifies gaming firms destroying their customers’ property. These firms claim their "Codes of Conduct" are a contract; however, I do not believe they are since they are not revealed until after purchasing the products and because they are one-sided, meaning it only benefits these firms.

These firms state that it is not their policy to disclose any information regarding the reason for issuing permanent bans and they provide no recourse, stating that permanent bans are final. They foolishly claim that their system is "perfect", thus implying that all victims are guilty as charged without any discussion of the matter. No system is perfect for no human is perfect.

Supposed reasons for permanent bans include using Youtube links in a bios and the use of programs called "Mods". Activision has some of these Mods built into their games; however, using them while playing with others online -- even if you know the players personally -- is considered a big "no, no" . In fact it is considered to be the worst thing anybody could ever do in the gaming world, even worse than bullying.

I believe that thousands of gamers are being victimized by these firms. Since their policy is to not disclose the reason for the bans, I firmly believe that these are issued for either bogus reasons or petty reasons. The firms are claiming that they are simply "protecting the gaming environment" and declare that the use of mods is "detrimental" to the game. Seriously?! These are just games; not life and death situations! Even if a "code" is really violated, a permanent ban is like issuing the death penalty to a jaywalker!

I admit that I am not a gamer, but I see the injustice of this practice not just by a love one who plays games, but by many others who post on sites such as this one stating they have been unjustly treated. I believe them all. Unfortunately, many sites such as this delete comments about the truth regarding permanent bans. Only ones that are left are ones where victims are bullied further by others, picturing them as "nothing more than cheating cry babies". Control the rhetoric; control the people. We see from these posts that this practice actually encourages bullying and the illusion is spread that these firms are “just gods”. Microsoft Xbox is even furthered helped with their “godly” image by Youtube videos that claim a glitch in their system will allow permanent bans to be lifted if the victim simply puts vulgar words in their bios. There is no such glitch, but Xbox uses this as a further “justification” for issuing the permanent ban. At least they did in my love one’s case.

I sincerely doubt that the use of these Mods are "detrimental" as the gaming firms claim. If they are, then why don't they modify their own games to disable these items? They should ban the actions; not destroy the use of someone's property. Or, they could do like Mojang did and let people ban others they don’t want to play with on their own servers. They could even have a server dedicated for players to use as many mods/cheats as they like. Yet, these firms choose to vilify these programs to “justify” in creating a “need” to repurchase the product(s) due to permanent bans. These firms are the cheaters!

Perhaps other gamers find the use of mods/cheats as a nuisance just as a neighbor who plays his music too loud. However, the police would not blow up the neighbor's house! Instead they would simply tell the neighbor to turn down the music and perhaps pay a small fine if he continues to refuse to do so.

I believe that many do repurchase these products (although my love one did not) for various reasons. I can see how many victims want to prove that they are indeed as good as their scores stated and/or they simply want to play with their friends the games that they play. There is much talk of gamers being addicted to gaming. How does this affect those who truly are addicted? I believe it encourages gaming addiction or at least these firms certainly have no problem profiting from this addiction.

This is my first post and I hope that it will not be removed, but I am not holding my breath. The truth about permanent bans must be revealed. Permanent bans must stop and all permanent bans must, at the very least, be lifted.