Reports of abnormally high bannings from Xbox Live have swelled on the internet in recent days, suggesting that Microsoft anti-piracy ninjas are inadvertently banning players again for gaining early access to hit games like Gears of War 2, which launched last Friday.

Without specifying how falsely banned Xbox Live members can get reinstated (customer service presumably can take care of it), Xbox Live evangelist Larry Hyrb announced on his blog: "In our continued effort to keep gameplay safe and secure for our community of more than 14 million members, Microsoft has taken action against a small percentage of Xbox 360 consoles that have been illegally modified in order to play pirated games. You should know that modifying your Xbox 360 console is also a violation of the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void your warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE."

This isn't the first time owners of advance games have been banned from Xbox Live. In 2007, privileged gamers with early access to Halo 3 cried foul after having their Xbox Live accounts accidentally banned as Microsoft took measures to stop dirty-rotten pirates.