Law Firm Considers Class Action Suit Over Xbox Live Bans

[Cyberjester]

And....? Legally, does it matter? The customers were still in breach of the terms of service, and Microsoft had the right to check for the modded consoles every year, month, week, day, second, if they wanted. So long as the terms of service doesn't say when the scans for illegal boxes will occur, they should be in the clear.

MSFT XBL EULA's have been challenged before and broken. People still haven't gotten it through their heads that they're there because MSFT lets them, they think of it as a God given right.

And lawyers are pretty good at going after MSFT by now.

 

[Doug]

And....? Legally, does it matter? The customers were still in breach of the terms of service, and Microsoft had the right to check for the modded consoles every year, month, week, day, second, if they wanted. So long as the terms of service doesn't say when the scans for illegal boxes will occur, they should be in the clear.

MSFT XBL EULA's have been challenged before and broken. People still haven't gotten it through their heads that they're there because MSFT lets them, they think of it as a God given right.

And lawyers are pretty good at going after MSFT by now.

True, but you think Microsofts own team of crack lawyers would be experts and crack veterans of defending Microsoft's ass.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Listen, if you don't want to get banned, don't do that in the first place! It just seems like logic to me. It's like being surprised that you get arrested for holding up a grocery store or something. If you want to play pirated games, then you get banned. That's that. Even if they did time it so they would still get sales, that's an action on their part. They're businesspeople and it's their job to squeeze every last dime out of everyone.

 

[Logic 0]

I just know that this is going to contribute to anti-video game propaganda some how.

 

[Cyberjester]

And....? Legally, does it matter? The customers were still in breach of the terms of service, and Microsoft had the right to check for the modded consoles every year, month, week, day, second, if they wanted. So long as the terms of service doesn't say when the scans for illegal boxes will occur, they should be in the clear.

MSFT XBL EULA's have been challenged before and broken. People still haven't gotten it through their heads that they're there because MSFT lets them, they think of it as a God given right.

And lawyers are pretty good at going after MSFT by now.

True, but you think Microsofts own team of crack lawyers would be experts and crack veterans of defending Microsoft's ass.

You'd think that, but it seems like the only thing their lawyers can successfully pull off is threatening mod teams who are making a game MSFT might try.. Halo RTS for example.. They fail at actually doing anything useful.

I just know that this is going to contribute to anti-video game propaganda some how.

Everything always does.

 

[Canid117]

So... were these the lawyers that slept through law schools and cheated to pass the BAR? It says in the end user license agreement that if you hack your console you can be banned for life.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Even if the bannings weren't against the terms of XBox live, isn't modding your console like this a violation of the DMCA? And wouldn't the class members be exposing themselves to criminal liability for participating?

"Of the DMCA"? The DMCA is for infringement on copyrights, not modifying pieces of hardware.

Consumer rights before corporate rights. Seriously.

 

[Starke]

Even if the bannings weren't against the terms of XBox live, isn't modding your console like this a violation of the DMCA? And wouldn't the class members be exposing themselves to criminal liability for participating?

"Of the DMCA"? The DMCA is for infringement on copyrights, not modifying pieces of hardware.

Consumer rights before corporate rights. Seriously.

The DMCA criminalizes bypassing DRMs, including hardware ones. But, it does have a provision that allows you to bypass ones to improve system interoperability. I don't remember the section numbers off the top of my head, and I don't feel like looking them up, no offense.

 

[Canus]

They don't deserve a refund for unused time on their subscription. If I get a season pass to the pool then go rub my d**k on a lifeguard, I doubt I'm gonna get a penny back. My problem with this whole case is whether or not Microsoft has the right to check if your console is modified. If you're using a chipped 360 to cheat, sure that deserves a ban. But if you're using it to go region-free, they shouldn't be able to arbitrarily include software to check on that, no matter what you agree to in the EULA.

Think of it this way. I have a gram of pot in my car while I'm driving around. While it is illegal, the police can't search my car just to see if I have drugs in it. Yeah, if I'm smoking a joint while I'm driving (IE: using a modded 360 to cheat) then the cops have the right to stop me and all. But if I'm just going to go home and smoke (IE: almost everything else you'd be doing with a modded console) then there's the fourth amendment between me and them.

Legally, I'm probably dead wrong. Microsoft's lawyers probably wrote up an airtight EULA that addresses this issue, but it seems wrong to me.

 

[MR.Spartacus]

Don't break contracts! Why can't people wrap their heads around that? Break a deal face the wheel, right? When one clicks "I Agree to the terms and conditions" that means get this! That they agreed to abide by those rules or face consequences.