Some Xbox LIVE members might experience some changes when downloading Marketplace content, as Microsoft strengthens the territory controls on the service with the Spring Update coming this week.

Over the past few months, Xbox LIVE Marketplace has seen considerable growth, with additional gaming and entertainment content, as well as a number of new partners; however, not all content is available for use in all countries. For example, as indicated in Microsoft’s Terms of Use, the movies and TV shows available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace are available for use in the United States alone.

Some of Microsoft’s contracts and agreements with content partners restrict the countries in which the company can make certain content available. There are a number of reasons for these restrictions, including legal rights and regulations. In addition, various countries, such as Germany, have regulations when it comes to what content is acceptable for distribution to their residents. As a digital distributor of content, Microsoft is responsible and accountable to comply with those government regulations and the licensing agreements they have with their partners.

So what does this mean to you? If you have an account that matches the country where you’re located, then you’ll probably notice little to no difference. However, if you’ve set up an account that doesn’t match the country where you’re located, you’ll find these new security measures will only allow you to purchase and download content licensed in the country where you’re located.

For example, if you’re not located in the US, but have created a US Xbox LIVE account, you won’t be able to download TV shows and movies available for use only in the U.S.

If you’re located in the U.S. and have any issue downloading content after applying the Spring Update, call 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

Source: Gamerscore