While we've all seen Microsoft's response to the news of the Halo 2 "leak", Bungie were a bit more restrained, until now. As soon as a mention of the leak came up on the developer's Halo 2 forums, the company came out with all-guns-blazing.

Bungie was quick to speculate on the person responsible for the leak and claims:-

This is almost positively the work of some jerk in the manufacturing plant who pocketed the game as it is being printed in mass for world release on the 9th of November.

The company however has other worries on its mind and seems especially concerned about spoilers reaching the ears of fans of the game. In order to protect its own home and its forums:-

Clearly, this leak is highly illegal. By posting links to where it can be downloaded, or even by posting links to screens of the leaked game, you're contributing to the problem by spreading the leaked information. Further, you may spoil the game for people who have worked hard to keep their first experience of Halo 2 pure.

As such, expect harsh reprimand for the posting of leaked information. A link or offer to give out a link via private media on the forums will get you banned permanently. The same goes for any kind of leak-related spoiler information. Further, you risk having your XBox Live account's ability to play Halo 2 crippled as we can and will ban gamertags from access to vital parts of Halo 2's online experience. We are NOT kidding around here. There will be no warning, no appeal, you'll just be gone.

In fact Bungie is, pretty much, warning most fans of the game off their site, until the game is released since.

we all know that won't stop some idiot from running in here with a screen of some huge spoiler. My suggestion? Avoid Halo 2 forums if you want to make 100 per cent sure that you don't see any major spoilers. If you must visit forums, make sure you're very choosy about which threads you read. Avoiding spoilers is up to you, now.