There seem to be a lot of repetitive questions on this forum about what gets you banned, how you can protect yourself, etc
The answers are quite often conflicting, and false.
This is by no means a complete post, but a layout of facts that have already been proven. Hopefully this
will help those who are unsure of the whole "banning area" of playing burned xbox games.
Are there certain games that will get me banned?
-No. It's a popular thing for people to blame certain games as the source of bans, but it really all boils down to the person who ripped the game and the person who burned it. If the person who ripped it did not do the process correctly (or it isn't a
retail rip, or both), anyone who downloads and burns that game is subject to a ban. If the person who burns the game neglects the facts posted here, he is subject to a ban, regardless of the quality of the rip. There is no one game that
Microsoft is "monitoring", as it is not possible for them to tell a proper stealthed retail copy from a legal retail copy. Refer to "
Will playing games early get me banned?" for more info.
Does Microsoft have the legal right to take away the DLC that I have paid for, as well as suspend/ban my account and/or Xbox?
-Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Microsoft XBL TOS, underlined courtesy of Vegiee of Xbox-Scene
Any attempt to disassemble, decompile, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, modify, further sublicense, distribute, or use for other purposes the Service, any game , application, or other content available or accessible through the Service, or any hardware or software associated with the Service or with an original Xbox or Xbox 360 console is strictly prohibited and may result in cancellation of your account and/or your ability to access the Service, and the pursuit of other legal remedies by Microsoft.
Microsoft reserves complete and sole discretion with respect to the operation of the Service. Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (B) retrieve information from the original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, personal computer, and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this contract; and © upgrade, modify, withdraw, suspend, or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Service, any game or other content available or accessible through the Service, or any hardware or software associated with the Service or with an original Xbox or Xbox 360 console, or personal computer, from time to time without notice, which may involve the automatic download of related software directly to your original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, or personal computer, including software that prevents you from accessing the Service, playing pirated games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices.
Will unplugging my ethernet cord and/or hard drive protect me form being banned?
-No. Contrary to popular belief, lack of an internet connection or save device does not save you from the hammer of Microsoft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MD, part of abgx360.net
Correcting false statements of the past...
Unplugging the network cable or disconnecting from XBL will not 100% protect you from the ban hammer!
It was discovered and confirmed well over a year ago that, while it performs a reduced number of checks (PFI, DMI, SS, Capacity, etc.) when not connected to XBL, the system does in fact record violations offline and has a mechanism for transmitting that data upon the next connection to XBL. This type of data is not stored on the HDD, but rather in non-volatile system memory (NVRAM). As such, for non-stealth discs, it's strongly recommended neither to play, nor even to have the disc sitting in the drive, when connected*or* offline from XBL. Disc checks are performed periodically even if you're just sitting in the dash/etc, and not actually playing the game. With the offline recording of system violations, even being disconnected from XBL or having your network cable unplugged doesn't serve as any form of ban-proofing.
That said, make sure your games are stealth-checked with abgx360!
This has recently been challenged by users of this forum, but obviously it makes more sense to trust ABGX's team rather than strangers on the forum until further proof is given. Here is what those users are proposing:
The NAND does not store any game information, and has nothing to do with being flagged for a ban. The way Microsoft flags you for a ban is by observing the challenge/response time of whatever game you are playing. (Challenge/Response is this: Mircosoft challenges (sends a question to) the Xbox's drive for certain information. The Xbox then responds (Response) to the request with the answer to the question. The time it takes for this to happen, as well as the information given is how Microsoft tells a backup from a retail copy. One of iXtreme's main functions is to manipulate this data to look legitimate, but if your game is not properly stealthed (etc), iXtreme cannot do anything to mask it. Microsoft then flags your console for further review.
Will playing games early get me banned?
-No. What will get you banned is playing an early release that is
not a rip of a retail copy of a game (or playing a game online before the release date). These releases have different game ID's than that of the retail copy, therefore send up a huge red flag to Mircosoft about someone playing a review copy of the game that isn't supposed to have one. They (meaning the publisher of the game) send out a certain number of these releases for review. If more than (let's say) 5 show up from different gamertags/xboxes, it's obvious that the game has been leaked and they will commence the investigation which leads to bans.
Another common problem with early releases is that they are not the full versions of the game (Halo 3 ODST French w/ English subtitles, for example). Although they pass ABGX's various checks and are properly stealthed, they are easily detected by Microsoft as a modified version of the actual game. It is comparable to playing a game that has been hardcoded with cheats on Xbox Live. The way to avoid this is to use some common sense and judgment. read the descriptions for any obvious indication that this is not the retail version of the game. For instance, if if does not mention "Multi", then this indicates that the rip is missing languages, and does not match the retail version of the game. (Again, Halo 3 ODST French w/ English Subtitles)
The following is my opinion, and has not been proven to be completely true or false. Proceed with caution:
Attempting to play unreleased
games on Xbox Live online servers can be more or less suspicious. It know it sounds like a stupid thing to do, and I don't recommend it (I would never do this), but I will discuss it anyway for
educational purposes: You are 90% you have a retail rip of the game (You can never be 100% sure unless it passes the ABGX online database verification alter the game releases) and you go online with it. It is close enough to the release date that (insert game publisher name here) has sent out copies of the retail version of the game to stores to stock up for the release date. The employees take them home and play them. Technically that game has been released once the retail version has shipped to stores. Employees are going to play them, take them over to friends houses, etc. Microsoft has no way of telling whether the copies being played online are legal or not, because they have already shipped the retail disk out to stores (Providing that your rip passed the ABGX stealth check). Former GameStop (and *insert game store name here*) employees have verified this fact, and they have never been banned for doing it (some are even members of this forum). So again, if the rip is proper, and stores have the game ready to stock, you could POSSIBLY play the game online without repercussions. Again, I don't recommend it, but its useful information so it's here.
Credit to Treminaor2. 
Information On Banning and How To Prevent It
Modding Your GS twice will get Me Banned Though Right? 
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