Xbox Owner Sues Microsoft for $500 Billion (Yes, Billion)

[Onyx Oblivion]

Hang on. I'm gonna read the Steam ToS...

 

[Nouw]

I hope he gets paid to MS points.

 

[Beryl77]

I'll be disappointed by Microsoft if that guy even gets 1$. He may have a point but I doubt that he'll win in the end. Just another idiotic attempt at easily becoming rich.

 

[Woodsey]

Kinda sounds like a dick. Sorry, but I have no time for fools like this. Of course he won't win anything, no one will take this twat seriously.

He doesn't seem to be out to make money, he's just chosen a ridiculous sum of money to get attention for the point he's trying to make.

Which I actually support, because the stupid sleight of hand that companies employ, as well as the hoops they make customers jump through, are a fucking pain in the arse.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Totally agree (as you can see by my edit which I must have done while you were replying). My point was that I think him being a dick has made it less likely that we're going to get a judge that goes along with this by issuing a broad verdict on these types of things, rather than a very specific one that can be tied just to this guy's case.

My head's a bit... sore, it's hard to focus, I'm afraid. That is my only excuse for not fully reading what you had typed, sorry.

But, I don't know. I don't think a judge would waste a perfectly good chance to feel like a hero just because a guy is being a little bit of a smug git.

 

[BaronIveagh]

Technically he might actually win, as the US has some very odd rules regarding acceptance of agreement.

I might further point out that most EULAs are illegal in NL, as there is no 'implied consent' rule there as there is in the US.

 

[mrdude2010]

i'd love to see him win. it would be a victory for consumers who have to deal with this stupid bullshit. like how when you sign up for a website, if you don't manually terminate service it automatically recharges the membership fee to your card at the least efficient rate (instead of signing you up for a yearly pass it charges you monthly- that sort of thing)

 

[thedoclc]

...so what?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_form_contract#Contracts_of_adhesion

There. Done. In this case, MS drafts, you take or leave, and stupid clauses are automatically thrown out. This guy won't even get a lawyer to spit on him if he were on fire.

 

[telocaster]

what a dick,i guarantee the case will not make it very far

 

[Truly-A-Lie]

"I want $500 Billion and win automatically if you don't get this message and respond, that I posted to the wrong division of your global company, within a day" doesn't exactly lend his argument much support. It was probably a week before anyone at Microsoft saw the letter, never mind passed it on the relevant party.
I would imagine there is a precaution to do with the fact he's being as unhelpful and unreasonable as possible. His argument reads like "I want $500 billion and a place on your board, and I win automatically unless you respond within the hour of writing and respond in Enochian with a complimentary Mars bar."

 

[spectrenihlus]

Silly and stupid but


imagine if he were to win...

What would you DO with that amount of money?

Seriously I would buy 10 aircraft carriers and go take over Cuba or something.

 

[Doclector]

This guy is going to get crushed, if it even makes it that far.

*EDIT*
Also, his attempt at this is completely useless. In the laws of court he cannot just default him to winning like that, and if anything Microsoft are liable to sue back.

Yeah, it's just insane to claim you can win a court case like that, like it's a gorram duel challenge or something.

If this actually works, it'll be the customers who suffer. He could have made a point with way less money.

I'm all for making a point to corporations, but I take a leaf from the hypocratic oath for these kind of things; "Above all, do no harm." Not to innocents at least, and definately not the people you're trying to make a point to.

 

[Tron Paul]

ToS and service agreement reform has been mentioned many times, but not enough of an effort has been made to help me and every other American understand our cellphone, bank, internet, Facebook, XBL fine print. If our legislators cannot bring themselves to reform what has been almost universally criticized then I am excited for the outcome of this court case.

 

[baconbaby299]

His tactics sound like the kind of thing I'd do when I was 7. Give me the ball, if you don't it means your an idiot and I get to have the ball anyway.

What I'm saying is that his logic is infallible.

 

[The Wykydtron]

This would get laughed out of court in seconds in the UK at least, since British Contract Law makes a fuss over how "reasonable" a contract is... I don't know the current exchange rate but $500 billion sounds far from reasonable

But it's just some guy trying to make a point/being a Troll i guess so i suppose Microsoft can safely ignore him... Tis the best stratagy for usual Trolls anyway.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

A couple of weeks later, on May 18, he contacted Microsoft again, this time with an offer to arbitrate a legal dispute in which he claimed $500 billion in damages. The invitation also carried a "forfeit victory clause" stating that Stebbins would win the case by default if Microsoft failed to respond within 24 hours.

"As you probably guessed, the Defendants did not accept the invitation to arbitrate within 24 hours of receiving it," Stebbins wrote in a legal motion filed in a Seattle federal court. "Therefore, I automatically won on May 19, 2011, per the forfeit victory clause."

By god, he can win this...

It sounds not-entirely-insane, until you get to the part where Stebbins explains in his motion that he won't be offering anything to the court in paper because "to do so would put an undue strain on my printer." Instead, he created a YouTube channel with screenshots of the changes he made to the Xbox T&C and the invitation to arbitration he emailed to Microsoft. The channel, sadly, has since been taken down.

SERIOUSLY?!

You had a chance! and you blew it!