Good Morning Silicon Valley

You have to be living a sad little life to get your jollies cheating in online games, but enlightened self-awareness is not one of the strong points of such dweebs, and the losers who pump themselves into winners through artificial means continue to be a plague upon the fair players who build up their points the old-fashioned way. Now Microsoft’s Xbox Live network is making a get-tough policy even tougher, employing not just penalties but public shaming as well.

Members who get caught increasing their Gamerscore or racking up achievements outside of actual gameplay or with the use of external tools may log in one day to find that ill-gotten score reset to zero, their achievements snatched away and their chance of ever regaining them gone. Oh, they can still play and earn points anew, but they’ll have to earn them like everyone else. Good luck finding playing partners, though. Once convicted by Microsoft, you are permanently and publicly labeled, with no avenue of appeal. Your gamercard — your ID profile on the network — will forever proclaim “I’m a dirty Cheater.” So remember, don’t do the crime if you can’t wear the sign.