Autistic Boy Labeled "Cheater" By Microsoft, Has Gamerscore Deleted

[The Straight Story]

Autistic Boy Labeled "Cheater" By Microsoft, Has Gamerscore Deleted


An 11-year-old boy with Autism has been labeled a cheater by Xbox Live; his gamerscore was also deleted. Due to his autism playing multiplayer on XBL was his only social interaction. Jennifer Zdenek, the boy's mother, is furious Microsoft would do that to her son, Julias Jackson. She thought he was so good at playing games they must have thought he had cheated. Microsoft disagrees and claims "achievements were illegitimately modified on the account."
Last week when Julias signed online to play he saw his gamerscore reduced to zero and a label under his gamertag; it read "cheater." Zdenek claims her son excels at gaming and can master a game in as little as 3-4 days. She assured Julias she could fix the mistake by talking to Microsoft. After several phone calls she was given an email address that sent her this response, "The only actions that we take are to correct the player's current Gamerscore, and to label the player as a "cheater." This label can be observed on Xbox.com and through the player's view of their Gamercard on a console or computer that is connected to Xbox LIVE. The player can still legitimately gain future achievements. The player's experience does not change in any other way."

Autism is neural development disorder that alters the way the brain processes information, changing how nerve cells and synapses connect and organize. It affects communication skills, social skills and behavior. These symptoms made it difficult for Julias to socialize outside of Xbox Live.

Microsoft's Stephen Toulouse, the Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE, confirmed over twitter the boy had in fact cheated. "I confirmed that achievements were illegitimately modified on the account and contacted the customer directly w/ specifics." No other information was released.

Read more: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/710029/autistic-boy-labeled-cheater-by-microsoft-has-gamerscore-deleted.html#ixzz1CGDpPtCS

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. All men are created equally, except...

[qb]

2. WTF with the Scarlet Letter bullshit? Hey Microsoft... it's only a game!

sheesh

[Egnever]

5. Part of that game is earning acheivements

They either mean something or they dont. If you can cheat them and there are no repercussions than whats the point of having them at all?

[qb]

12. I'm not a gamer, but I can see your point. My main beef is with the "cheater" label.

That's over the top.

[BoWanZi]

15. If someone is a cheater, they should be branded as such as a warning to other players

[qb]

18. Kind of like adulterers, I guess...

:eyes:

Assuming Microsoft is correct, they should allow an 11-year-old some means of redemption.

[Demstud]

24. I agree, but there should be an exception in this case

if the kid is that socially disabled. The "cheater" label seems pretty cruel in this case.

[Codeine]

29. If you cheat you're a cheater,

and other players want to know so they can avoid you. Nobody likes playing a shooter against somebody using a wall hack or some crap like that -- it ruins everyone else's game.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Autism doesn't render a person incapable of cheating.

Many growth experiences are initially negative. I hope this serves as a catalyst to expand his social interactions.

[Egnever]

4. SO?

Maybe he is good at cheating too? I will have to go with microsoft on this one. They have logs of activity that are quite extensive they can go through and see what has and hasnt been achieved.

Sorry that the kid is disappointed but it doesnt mean he didnt cheat.

[Recursion]

11. If he can master a game in 3-4 days

He can also probably master hacking X-box live, you know?

[Angry Dragon]

6. Perhaps microsoft should fly the mother and her son

out to their headquarters and have him play the game in front of them
so he can prove they are just spiteful people.

[HereSince1628]

7. Achievements were illegitimately modified

What does that refer to? I don't know anything about these game boxes.

To me it sounds like a statement that some measure of accomplishment was altered. I am guessing that would require the exploitation of some security gap in the database that holds the information.

Can someone explain what MS claims has been done?

[Demstud]

25. I'll explain

On the Xbox 360 you get "achievements" for accomplishing certain feats in various games which add points to your "gamerscore". The gamerscore in conjunction with the achievement list basically gives the gamer bragging rights online, though it can sometimes lead to unlocking virtual merchandise in some games (or in the form of clothing/accessories for your little xbox live avatar), and I think there's some contests that have rewarded exceptional gamer scores too.

As far as modifying the gamerscore, I think it's unlikely he was so good at these games that Microsoft assumed he was cheating and wiped it all out. They usually do this only if there's real evidence of actual modification. A couple examples I can think of:

The first is downloading something off the internet onto a usb drive and inserting it into the Xbox 360 to trick it into thinking you unlocked achievements that you didn't actually accomplish.
The second would be giving your account information to someone else so that they can unlock achievements for you. They would probably be able to tell easily in many cases with IP tracking and seeing people logging on from suspicious locations combined with a sudden gamerscore increase. Both are big security risks in their own ways. I'm worried that this kid might of got talked into giving his account info over to a well meaning but misguided good samaritan trying to help out on achievements, or for more predatory reasons.

[HereSince1628]

38. thanx

[bluestate10]

33. Sounds like Microsoft need spend time figuring out encryption faults in the game's

code. Maybe MS should hire the boy as an expert adviser, if he cheated, he obviously understand the game and it's underlying software better than MS "experts".

[Lance_Boyle]

39. or he knows how to use google to find cheats

it doesn't take a genius, or a savant.

The real WTF here goes to the mom, for making a "news" issue of it, and trying to gin up sympathy by invoking autism. But hey, there's some good news out of it - who knew that autistic 11-year-olds benefit from doing nothing but playing (nevermind cheating at) "M" rated video games all day? Maybe the concerned mom can write a book about this amazing therapy - I understand Jenny McCarthy may be interested in promoting it.

[Lucian]

8. Everyone cheats.

Including autistic children. Just because he's autistic doesn't mean he's incapable of cheating.

Sheesh. Love the fauxrage. :eyes:

[Codeine]

28. Exactly.

Being autistic doesn't make a person a saint, and if all he does is play XBox all day he has lots of time to work the exploits and holes.

Mom needs to spend less time worrying about him being called a cheater and more time orienting him toward some alternate activities.

[bluestate10]

35. The child should not be able to break the code of the game.

Instead of labeling people cheaters, Microsoft should work on building robust encryption into it's application software for Xbox.

[Lucian]

43. But the kid did break the code, and thus, cheated.

[npk]

67. Right. People also shouldn't rob banks

But we don't blame the bank and their security because someone found a way to hack into the vaults security system. There are hackers all over the world and there is practically no security system on earth that isn't impenetrable.

[bleever]

9. "Bill Gates labeled 'Cheater' in Anti-trust Ruling, Has Fortune Deleted"

"We confirmed that markets were illegitimately modified and contacted the customer directly w/ specifics."

[Generic Other]

14. +100

ha!

[JVS]

47. That would be awesome.

[Yavin4]

10. Given How Gates Cheated to Create M$, You'd Think They'd Hire The Kid

I'm not saying that Gates stole from other people. Let's say--as the rappers put it--he "sampled" other people's work.

[stockholmer]

13. congrats MS, way to alienate an exponentially increasing (autistic children) potential client base

http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/tech-labs/disabilities/rates.php?s=&d=A

[negativenihil]

17. C'mon,

It's not as if Microsoft made a point to seek out Autistic users and label them as cheaters. The kid did something he shouldn't have, and now he's dealing with the outcome.

Good life lesson that in the end doesn't hurt anyone.

[Nihil]

59. It's educational: "Hey autistic kid: learn to play by the rules."

Ever thought about all of the other autistic kids whose hard work
and relaxation has been shat on by this cheat?

Maybe MS are actually helping more autistic kids than they're harming
by treating them by the same rules as for non-autistic people?

[negativenihil]

16. I'd be willing to bet

that the kid in question got caught cheating at say Call of Duty (which is rampant... its sad). There are several well known and simple ways to cheat at it, and well... it sounds like he got what he deserved, Autism or not.

He was treated just like any other person would be in this situation, and that should be applauded. There is no disease or disorder that should be used as a "get out of jail free" card or something to that effect.

[dionysus]

19. like camping out on a respawn point?

[ElboRuum]

20. Dunno, is that cheating or just being a dick?

The latter I think.

[dionysus]

22. my online days for shooters ended in the early 2000s, i am only vaguley familiar

with the new stuff. i'm just curious as to how someone can cheat other than just find douchebaggy ways to explouit design flaws in a game

[ElboRuum]

34. Aimbots, just to name one.

An aimbot is a hacked client in an FPS game which intercepts the data incoming about opponent positions. The client uses this data to update player positions on the client display. When the player presses a key, the hacked client will lock on to usually the nearest opponent to the player's aiming reticule using the position data. If the FPS has hitscan weapons (weapons where the ammo strikes the object in the reticule immediately upon firing, regardless of the distance, like in Quake 3 Arena you have the machine gun and the rail gun, a game where I've been the victim of many aimbots) the player can then just hit the fire key for guaranteed kills. If an aimbot player has the rail gun in Q3A, which usually takes one shot per kill, two if the opponent has full armor, you can see just how joy sapping that this type of cheater can be.

[Codeine]

27. As much as I hate campers and griefers like that,

it's not really cheating, just being an asshole. Camping a spawn point is weak sauce.

[negativenihil]

30. no no

more like leader board hacking or prestige hacking/hacked game lobbies - the sort of thing that would catch the attention of treyarch and ms.

(and yes, spawn camping is still what is known as "a dick move", but not really cheating)

[dionysus]

40. jesus christ, i am a dinosaur... they last online shooter i played was the original unreal.

i just prefer the single player missions nowadays.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

32. I always place claymores in those areas and wait for the sound.

:evilgrin:

[meow mix]

46. cheating is a serious issue, it can ruin a game for a million people

why should people who paid and play honestly, be punished by these people who cheat

[Nuclear Unicorn]

21. Maybe a few more days to see what shakes loose

Maybe MS had legitimate reason to be suspicious.

Maybe the child really is that good.

Maybe it is a big misunderstanding.

Maybe MS should be given a good faith opportunity to do the right thing IF a mistake was made.

Maybe no mistakes were made and the child did cheat.

The story is too new.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Playing video games is his only social interaction??

He doesn't go to school?

[Demstud]

26. Doesn't have to be social

You can go to school without interacting with anybody socially. Maybe online in games he actually talks and interacts with people.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. If he's as autistic as Mom claims then surely he'd be in special ed

And social interaction would be a priority goal. It is for all the autistic kids I know in school.

[earth mom]

45. You obviously know very little about autism & social interaction to make a statement like that.

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. I know plenty about autism. Thanks.

[Pithlet]

52. Sure you do.

This mom of a kid on the spectrum remembers past discussions. That's all I'm going to say.

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. Oh please. Say more.

[Ilsa]

49. Social interactions might be a goal, but he doesn't necessarily need to be in Sp Ed. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. If he's severely autistic, he's in sped

if he goes to school.

[Ilsa]

53. Yes, if "severe". I don't always trust how parents characterize their child

when there could be another motive.

[proud2BlibKansan]

54. True.

Just an odd story.

[Johonny]

31. can't believe they care enough to label people cheaters

can't believe people care enough that others are cheating at Call of Duty to want them striped of their game score. Can't believe people give a crap what their game score is... I can't understand this whole situation, I must be officially old.

[bluestate10]

37. Too difficult to build robust games, so Microsoft takes the easy way out. nt.

[Confusious]

71. While I don't want to, because microsoft sucks

It's hard to block every hole. Someone somewhere is going to find an exploit.

Even people like ID software have punkbuster.

Apples iOS is another example. Yes, even the gods of cool computing can't do it right.

[Nihil]

57. Maybe they care more about the majority ...

... than the piss-poor excuses of the cheats who are caught ...

[Arkana]

63. As an avid gamer, I will tell you that it's probably a generational thing

However, I know a lot of folks in their 40s who still play a ton of video games--so it's also a matter of interest.

My father, for example, hates them--but my friend's father will often beat his games first.

And the gamerscore thing is really a matter of "How Big a Perfectionist Are You?" I, for example, miss the days of cheat devices and push-button codes. All of it went out the door with achievements and online gaming.

[Confusious]

69. It's the cheating

I hate cheating, whether it's games or school, or whatever. The bankers were cheaters. Cheating is cheating.

If someone cheats, it ruins the game for others, so they leave.

[Odin2005]

41. What a bunch of assholes!

[MadBadger]

42. Its one thing to make his score zero, but to label him a cheater? What is this, elementary school?

I'm talking about the "adults" at microsoft of course

[Nihil]

62. Do you think they "special case"d him?

That they magically saw through the game, the network, the Xbox and realised
that he was an autistic kid and then - only then - decided to label the person
who was cheating "a cheater"?

They do it to EVERYONE who is proven to have cheated - regardless of educational
status, age, sex, religion, race or any other discriminatory factor that you care
to choose.

I dislike defending Microsoft on anything but how come *they* are the ones being
vilified here and the jerk who cheated is getting the "Aww diddums" treatment?
:wtf:

[MadBadger]

68. It doesnt matter if he was autistic or not. Its ridiculous to label anybody a cheater

[Confusious]

70. Why? Don't want to hurt their ego or something?

Colleges label people cheaters and evict them from school all the time.

I am reminded of the student code of ethics every time I start a new class. Should we not do that?

I think we need more of it. Maybe the bankers wouldn't have cheated if they knew they would get a label (Hopefully for life)

[earth mom]

44. Microsoft and Bill Gates SUCK! I hope the bad press from this b.s. bites them in the a$$!

:grr:

[dogday]

48. My sister is a 51 year old adult Autistic female. She taps over and over

repeating the same motion. She dances back and forth repeating the same steps over and over, never deviating from the steps or the tapping. She has and is exposed to others socially but still likes to come to my Dad's house on the weekend and retreat alone to her room to tap and dance.

I have no doubt this autistic boy repeats the same things over and over when playing the game and also never misses a step. I believe he did break the score and the MS owes him an apology and whatever might have been taken from him.

You have to know or live with autism to understand it. :hug:

[Teaser]

66. stimming

.

[mistertrickster]

56. On edit--nevermind . . . question answered above. MS sounds like they caught

the kid dead to rights.

Cheating ruins on-line gaming for others. It then simply becomes who can cheat most effectively.

I think the kid got what was coming to him.

Start over with zero . . . and EARN it this time.

[Arkana]

58. They can't prove he cheated, and there are no known cheat devices

for the Xbox 360 short of ripping open the console and softmodding the shit out of it.

I doubt this kid is capable of that.

Give him back his GamerScore.

[Nihil]

60. Bollocks. There are plenty.

And this kid can manage to use Google ... well done ... :eyes:

[Arkana]

61. If he was older than 18 or had a credit card, then yeah, probably.

But there are no companies--Datel, Pelican, or any others--that make a mass-marketed cheat device for the Xbox 360. If this kid was really cheating, he'd have had to do it the hard way. And he's 11.

[Nihil]

64. Ok .. so now we've gone from "there are no known cheat devices" to admitting the truth.

Well done - you're getting there.

FWIW, even the OP article recognised that there were options that should
have been investigated before going down the "Mah kid's a special case
and so shouldn't be treated the same as every other player on XBL" path:
>> It's possible the mother did not know her son was using a cheating device
>> when she spoke to Microsoft.

[Arkana]

73. Again: He's 11 and autistic.

The probability that he went to some black market site on the Internet and purchased a modding tool or something to cheat with is astronomically low. You seem to think this kid's a criminal mastermind, when clearly he just loves video games and is getting screwed by Microsoft.

[LisaL]

74. His mother admits he gave his Gamertag to someone else.

[Teaser]

65. "She assured Julias she could fix the mistake by talking to Microsoft"

speaking from my own experience, this was perhaps not wise.

[Freddie Stubbs]

72. Update: Mom admits son gave his information to a fellow gamer online

Now Julias' mother, Jennifer Zdenek, says her son did give his information to a fellow gamer online so he could get what is known as "Recon Armor".

Zdenek says, "My son did give his Gamertag. I did warn him about this but seeing it wasn't a bank password or anything big, it's just a game we didn't worry about it too much and the boy just offered to give him Recon Armor, which he did."

Microsoft says it doesn't matter who the player is, cheaters will be sanctioned.

Jennifer denies Julias meant to cheat, he only wanted that special armor, now she just wants to put it behind them.

more: http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-xbox-labels-autistic-child-01252011,0,5767271.story