[UPDATE] Microsoft Devastates Autistic Child By Labeling Him a Cheater

[Something Amyss]

Pretty sure if Microsoft is aware the guy they're targeting is an 11-year-old autistic they're going to make damn sure he deserves it.

They might not be PR masters, but they've got sense enough to know that the public at large frowns on unwarranted humiliation of kids with mental handicaps.

omehow doubt they would have targeted him knowing he was autistic. Doesn't mean they wouldn't let the punishment stand regardless.

 

[Darks63]

Seems like people are being quick to label microsoft the devil but maybe his mom arranged somebody to hack his xbox or hacked his machine herself in order to have the kid feel better about himself since his confidence seems somewhat rooted in his gamer score its all too possible.

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

Ideally, Microsoft will investigate the matter to the best of its ability so that Jackson can go back to doing what he loves.

And the only reason they will do that is because he is autistic and because he is now on the internet. I'm not as much complaining that they might, even though i think we will forget this in a day, but I'm mainly complaining because they wouldn't do it for anyone else. Unless they were autistic and on the news. Which is exactly what i would do, so not too much complaining

 

[M4A1Sopmod]

This was gonna happen eventually. A mentally handicapped person would get banned and the media would jump to his defense and get those "shock value" stories they love so much. Im pretty sure devastated isn't the word to use in this instance either. Devastated would be losing a family member in a car accident, or watching a loved one die violently. That is devastated. Im pretty sure losing your gamer score and being called a cheater is around the "Inconvenienced" rung of bad shit.

 

[Facade-Intention]

If he cheated then Microsoft has every right to take away the achievements. If anything the kid learned a good life lesson.

Absolutely. It's confirmed now that he cheated and autistic or not, it's important for him to learn that when you do something wrong you are punished for it.

Of course his mother said that he didn't, mothers defend their kids regardless of the truth. That goes especially in front of the media and even more so because the kid's autistic.

Good job that Microsoft didn't reverse everything just because he's austistic though.

 

[Harkwell]

Interesing case...
Either
1) He cheated, 12-years-olds autistic or not, dosn't see the consequences of their actions and he's lying. Autism would be a good excuse.
2) He ran into one of the many scum of Live and a hacker boosted his stats to get him banned.
I'm thinkin' the latter was probably it.

 

[AK47Marine]

Cheating's cheating and Microsoft is fairly capable of determining what is or isn't cheating. Especially if they got contacted not only by the player AND the media... yeah someone double checked.

Frankly shame on the parents for turning this in to a media circus.

Also I like the idea of labeling gamertags with "cheater" for those who get busted, but then I also like the idea of marking criminals for their crimes in some manner. Someone mentioned murderers not having "murderer" tattooed on their foreheads in comparison to the "cheater" tag which is horrible comparison but a great idea, everyone write their congress critters on this one.

So you think it is a good way to treat customers. It may need to be looked up by people or whatever the case may be but the fact it is freely available to people is where I draw issue with it.

If a company I spent alot of money to own and use their products done that to me. I would no longer be a customer. Defirmation of character, Libel whatever you want to call it. It would be akin to the admins here insulting people and changeing their names to "FWL_Postsretardedthings" They can do it yes. But I won't be coming back. (Not saying they would or have a gripe with the admins here I acutally consider them excellent in the performance of their duties)

That's completely different though, Defamation of Character/Libel are criminal charges which apply when you actively say someone did something they didn't do or do things they don't do. If I told a bunch of people "FWL is a member of the Illuminati Mole People Who Hate The Poor Foundation and ritually eats a dead infant every monday night" that would be Defamation of Character(aka Slander), if I put the story in a newspaper, or broadcast it on the 6 o'clock news then it would be libel. (Notice, those only go in to effect if it's untrue) The kid agreed to a EULA (essentially) for XBL which includes all the "no cheating" rules, he broke the rules and Microsoft is perfectly within their rights to invoke a punishment. Similarly to run with your Escapist comparison, you agree to abide by the forum rules, when you break them the mods send you in to time out (probation) or drop the ban hammer, that all can be seen publicly on your profile and they even link to the post in which you became ban worthy.

Also Microsoft didn't make it public, they didn't do a press release, why the hell would they? "Hey boss we banned another cheater" "Quick send a press release to his home town news channel!". Dear old mommy went to the media to make it a public fun festival.

 

[FWL_MeRc]

There is alot of Anti-Mircosoft feelings out there. But I work a similar job. Human error can occur. So what Microsoft did in removeing achievements and such I don't care about. The fact the kid has autism I also don't care about.

Those are null points in this.

The problem is, They humalitated him.

He purchased their product. Their games. Gave them money, (or rather his mother but the point is still valid) he got his high gamerscore, he cheated. They tell the world.

He can't change it. Now some might see that as just punishment. But insulting your customers Microsoft? Really?

Why do we. As Gamers. As Customers, Stand for this abuse?

They didn't humilate him. He apparently did cheat (see post 201), and even if he didn't read the terms and conditions of using Live, common sense would tell him that cheating is not allowed. Logic would tell him so. Why have a score otherwise? Being 'humiliated' would be to make the judgement known to thousands or millions of people online, those who play on Live and those who do not.

Now who did that?? That's right, mum did!

It doesn't matter what was purchased, there are rules that come with that purchase, and most of those rules are common sense. Xbox Live is a community. Cheating and misrepresentation is never 'right' in a community like that. MSoft didn't tell the world. His mum did. They didn't 'insult' the boy. It is not an insult to be named for committing an offense, especially when such an offense undermines a major aspect of the community as a whole.

Would it be better if MSoft sat down with every purpetrator and 'sorted' everything out amicably? Sure, but considering how large the Live community is and that people pay a lot of money into it, a zero tolerance stance is better. Only people who have been at least pushing the line, will get accused of foul play.

Now, does that fact that the kid is autistic mean that he should be exonerated? Perhaps. Certainly, his Tag didn't metion his mental condition. Could Msoft let him go this one time? Sure they could. Would every single person accused on cheating, then try to squirm out of their charges with time consuming excuses? Definately. And would Live subscriptions go up or service slacken elsewhere? Most likely.

Yes moms antics didn't help.
The fact that it got to the news and used as a pity case against the big bad giant is pitiful in itself.

Yes the child deserves all his achievements taken. Yes he violated the ToS. But having read them I don't recall anywhere that they would be "Named and Shamed".

I have many issues with how Microsoft run their support its not Customer focused. And I can also see why many people agree to it. Because they would never "cheat" or be accused of it. A good friend of mine owned nearly every Xbox 360 game a couple of years back and they closed his account.

Now I know this guy and he despised cheaters as much as the next guy. But they closed his account making his xbox basically a brick.

He to this day has not bought a new one. His friends know his story. I know his story. For this very reason I have not purchased an Xbox. He has told me of his adventures with their support to get it sorted they were having none of it. If he did do as they claim I would have been in favour. But he didn't.

Renameing him in such a manner bascially does this. "Oh they removed all my achievements for nothing! See?" People see the name change, Prooves the person is telling the truth and is a bad mark on their PR.

If anyone of you had this happen to you. You would be very annoyed. (ok Most of you) Some will make a new account or whatever. Some will leave. Others continue. Each one will tell their story and thus Microsoft loses potental Customers.

I will make it clear, (as it claims to be prooven the kid cheated) I care not for his disablity. This is bad customer service and most people legitimise it because they Cheaters should be named and shamed.

Removeing the Achievements and an e-mail explaining to why they were removed and indication of further punishment should it continue be more than enough. Yes he can still say what he pleases. But there is no solid grounds that Microsoft didn't act accordinly.

 

[Giovanto]

Yea I don't think the whole truth is out there, Microsoft just doesn't go flipping through random people's accounts and labels them as cheaters, he was either reported as cheating or raised some red flags by having his score jump high in a short period of time.
Also really disgusted that people run to the media with something like this and parade it as a sob story just because the kid is autistic, and if they do find out that he for sure cheated his mom will still probably raise hell about it.

I second this notion. No one gave a damn until it happened to an autistic kid who "can no longer do what he loves". There's nothing stopping him from "doing what he loves" except his ego. And frankly I doubt he was innocent. Sure it sucks but autistic people are not immune to TOS. Not to mention that if I am not mistaken said TOS forbids an 11 year old from using XBL. Though I may be incorrect most of them require you to be at least 13.

 

[rutger5000]

How does this make the news?

 

[TeeBs]

Hes autistic, probably high functioning, my guess is he is able to play games alot better because of it.

 

[secretsantaone]

It's a fucking gamerscore.

It does absolutely nothing.

Who gives a shit.

 

[xqxm]

How about not cheating next time?

Or not caring about your gamerscore?

 

[Kakashi on crack]

Feel for the kid, and would like to see microsoft's proof, but meh.

If the kid earnt impossible to earn achievements [such as several story based achievements [i.e all the missions for Call of Duty 4] in such a short space of time it would be impossible [say 2-3 seconds] then they have amble proof the person has cheated. That's more than enough proof.

And the kid was cheating...see post 201.

Never said the kid wasn't, also just one more case of parents nagging without their kids telling the truth lol

 

[-Samurai-]

Microsoft seriously puts "cheater" in front of your name? How horribly immature.

 

[katsumoto03]

Well, he probably was cheating then. If not then well, that kid's got some gaming to do.

 

[automatron]

So him being autistic has what to do with this?
I think they might be using it to get sympathy for the kid.
I know I sound horrible but I legitimately believe that him being autistic has nothing to do with this.
Either way, if he did cheat, he deserves it. If he didn't, then microsoft is being unfair

 

[Requx]

Hes autistic not retarded probably cheated deserves it.

 

[Aabglov]

Gamerscore is already an arbitrary metric. Taking it away form an innocent kid is just cruel. I doubt Microsoft wants to go through the media-backlash-typhoon this incident is liable to cause. If I were them I'd just give him back his achievements, remove the "cheater" label and hope he drops the whole thing.

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

"Microsoft says it's confident that someone tampered with Jackson's account to boost his score in an illegitimate manner, and doesn't currently plan to give him his achievements back."

That's it? They're 'confident' that he cheated, no proof? I know someone on Twitter said they confirmed it. But again, I didn't read any details on how they found out. I really hope Microsoft doesn't see people as cheaters based on their 'confidence'

EDIT: Ok, not even the worlds greatest gaming Jesus can get All the CoD Black Ops achievements in 3 seconds. Now THATS the legitimate proof I was looking for.