Players updating their Xbox games consoles will find that Microsoft has slipped a bit of code into it that checks to see if any of their software is pirated. The update makes chanes to the Gamercard, and re-enables booting from discs on the Xbox 360, may have a piracy check included in the update.

Some users have been reporting that the software runs checks against some of the more popular Xbox 360 games like Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Get Your Gadgets Going.com has an updated story which details how the update targets modders and anyone who does things that Microsoft does not like.

It will cause some headaches for those who are  playing pirated software on your Xbox 360. The new piracy check is similar to the AP 2.5 checks which appeared in November and will induce pirated software to render as unrecognized media.

The dark satanic rumour mill claims that the console is then flagged for a banning from Microsoft down the road, although there is little to prove this.