|
Microsoft Reacts to Possible Class-Action Lawsuit over BansPublished by wes213 on Friday, November 20, 2009 Tagged: Gaming, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp. has responded to a possible class-action lawsuit over banning up to one million Xbox 360 consoles from accessing its online gaming service, arguing the company is well within its rights to ban users from Xbox Live.
U.S. law firm Abington IP recently announced on its website that it's considering filing a class-action lawsuit over Microsoft's worldwide crackdown on modified Xbox 360 consoles by booting them from the Xbox Live online network. The firm is asking those interested in joining the suit to contact them.
Microsoft "conveniently" waited until after the launch of two of Xbox 360's biggest holiday titles before banning up to one million consoles from accessing its online gaming service, the firm argued.
A spokesperson from Microsoft reacted to the possible lawsuit on Friday. "Piracy is illegal and modifying an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use. Microsoft is well within its legal rights to ban these users from Xbox Live."
The number of bans has not been released by Microsoft, but some media reports suggest between 600,000 and one million consoles were banned.
The law firm is asking Xbox Live subscribers who were not refunded for the time left on their subscription to participate in the possible class action.
A 12-month subscription to the service, which allows players to access the online marketplace and play online with other subscribers, costs about $60. More than 20 million people are members of Xbox Live.
"Although modification of Xbox consoles is ‘arguably' against the terms of use for Xbox/Xbox Live, Microsoft conveniently timed the Xbox console ban to coincide with the release of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game and less than two months after the release of the very popular Halo: ODST game," argued Abington IP, which specializes in consumer class action lawsuits
Abington IP said the timing might have resulted in more Xbox Live subscription revenues for Microsoft than it would have generated had the console bans taken place before the releases. The firm also argued sales of Modern Warfare 2 -- which launched Nov. 10 and set a new sales record by grossing about $550-million over the first five days of sales -- would have been hampered by the bans. Both Halo: ODST and Modern Warfare 2 have very popular multiplayer modes.
"As an aside, piracy is a legitimate concern for Microsoft and other content producers," said Abington IP. "However . . . Microsoft has chosen to use one of the most indiscriminate ‘weapons' in its arsenal in an effort to combat piracy."
News-Source: financialpost.com
( Subscribe via
)
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| Tuesday, May 14 | | CAPES releases this month on Xbox X|S, XB1, P |
Monday, May 13 | | Highway Police Simulator launches for Xbox Se |
Friday, May 10 | | THE SMURFS - Village Party launches in June o |
Thursday, May 09 | | 'Paper Trail' Sets Course for Consoles, PC an |
Wednesday, May 08 | | ESDigital Games and Storm in a Teacup team up |
Tuesday, May 07 | | 'Realm of Ink' Reveils New Map Trailer, Invit |
Monday, May 06 | | Puppet House creeps onto Xbox Series, PS5, an |
Friday, May 03 | | Toopan Games Unveils 2025 Release for 'Multiv |
Thursday, May 02 | | F1 Manager 2024 coming to Xbox X|S, XB1, PS4| |
| System Shock remake arives May 21st on Xbox S |
Wednesday, May 01 | | AAA Multi-IP Battle Royale “OPEN” confirmed f |
| Chrysolite announced for to Xbox Series, Play |
Tuesday, April 30 | | INDIE Live Expo Reveals First 2024 Showcase, |
Monday, April 29 | | Demolish & Build 3 is coming to Xbox, PlaySta |
Friday, April 26 | | Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game laun |
Thursday, April 25 | | Sleight of Hand launches Day One on Xbox Game |
| Space Invaders Deck Commander - The Board Gam |
Wednesday, April 24 | | devcom announces new venue, call for speakers |
Tuesday, April 23 | | Dune: Awakening Shows Off Stunning Unreal Eng |
Monday, April 22 | | Metro Simulator 2 is coming soon for Xbox and |
Thursday, April 18 | | Terminator: Survivors confirmed for Xbox Seri |
Wednesday, April 17 | | Build Your Empire: 'Rise of Industry 2' Comin |
Tuesday, April 16 | | Epic Fantasy RPG 'Dungeons of Hinterberg' is |
Monday, April 15 | | Delta Force: Hawk Ops gets a brand new traile |
| Perennial Order is set to bloom on Xbox Serie |
Friday, April 12 | | Umbraclaw hits Xbox, PlayStation, Switch & PC |
Thursday, April 11 | | TMNT: Wrath of the Mutants Hits XBOX, PlaySta |
| GIC’24 Early Bird Tickets Now Available |
Wednesday, April 10 | | Mars 2120 launches out of Early Access onto a |
Tuesday, April 09 | | Die by the Blade Slashes Its Way onto PC in M |
See All Xbox 360 News | Xbox 360 News Archive
|
| |