Microsoft says Xbox 'abuse' caused baby killing fire

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 2nd 2007 at 6:27PM }

Microsoft has finally responded to the lawsuit filed by an Illinois couple who lost their baby in a fire allegedly caused by an Xbox. Microsoft, in court papers filed last Friday, says, "Losses and damages, if any, resulted from misuse or abuse of the Xbox console at issue." Microsoft is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

Microsoft did have to replace power cords on the original Xbox back in 2005 due to fire concerns. These cord fire stories even make the rounds at local news stations years after the original incident occurred. Details are still weak as to what's going on here. We know that an original Xbox cord can burn down your house, but we don't really know what the family of the dead infant did to cause the fire like Microsoft claims. Microsoft tried blaming consumers for RROD incidents for the last two years and we know how that ended up.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: lawsuit, microsoft, powercord, recall, xboxpowercord

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neebs @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:36PM

This fire happened nearly two and a half years ago...shouldn't they have sued a LONG time ago?

Joe Smith @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:41PM

Before the inevitable storm of venom towards Microsoft, accusations of bad parenting, bashes at trial lawyers, etc... start. Can I mention that no one knows a damned thing about htis case or what happened outside of the family and Microsoft. YOu say "details are weak..." how about details are non-existent and making snarky comments in your piece don't do anyone any good. This is in the courts where it will be settled one way or the other. A family had a tragic thing happen. Microsoft is doing its duty to teh shareholders by defending against their claims. How about nothing more on this until there is a resolution in court?

TK00 @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:35PM

"YOu say "details are weak..." how about details are non-existent and making snarky comments in your piece don't do anyone any good."

Read the article Jackass - "The filing does not provide details on the manner of abuse Microsoft believes the Xbox suffered."

ssuk @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:07PM

how does that differ? Either way there's no information...

Raikage @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:49PM

There is a difference between a video game system breaking down, and one bursting into flames killing babies...

I'm pretty sure MS wouldn't want the latter to happen...

Joe Winders @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:57PM

No, there isn't much of a difference. If you don't do your engineering right, people can die. It is pretty obvious Microsoft can't do their engineering right.

As a refresher: there is no defect in Xbox 1 power cords. The defect was inside the Xbox power supply. Instead of fix the power supply, Microsoft sent out a power cord that has a fuse in it. If the Xbox 1 power supply goes into a flaming short-out, the fuse in the power cord will trip and prevent it from actually causing a fire.

So any Xbox 1 is still dangerous if it is ever used with any other power cord. Talk about evil.

marcandrer @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:13PM

that's always been MS philosophy.. Take the windows update for instance, when something doesnt work the right way they patch it, when the patch is not working correctly, they patch the patch and so on. It's been that way for a long time.

Bloo @ Aug 2nd 2007 6:54PM

What? Parent's fault? Not possible!!!

Strider_J @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:22PM

since we're on the subject, Microsoft might as well just redesign the power bricks anyway.

they've been ugly from day one. and over sized. i wouldn't mind shelling out for a redesigned, slimmer version 2.0 of that thing.

Jason B @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:52PM

hrmmmm. Seems you can dish it out but can't take it...

Skippy @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:01PM

I have to wonder if doing the "towel trick" to temporarily fix the red ring problem could cause a potentially dangerous amount of heat to build up.

Spartacus @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:01PM

You know, although technically the Xbox PSU was faulty dn you had to use a "special" power cable with a fuse in it- how many people's cable fuse ever popped? I know mine never did, not any of the 10-20 people I know persoanlly with Xboxes- one of which was a launch box which never even got the new fangled cable. So I think the probablility of the PSU shorting out was miniscule, MS just sent out a simple fix just in case. Nintendo did the same thing with the Wiimote straps remember? A few random cases of TV's being broken and heads swollen and Nintendo sent out bigger straps.

In light of such a tiny fraction of Xboxes having short out issues, I don't think it's too much of a stretch for MS to call out foul play here. Maybe the baby spilled water on the console, or was messing with the power cable, I mean WHO KNOWS what actually happened. The fact is that MS issued a recall on the power cable which "fixed" a rare instance glitch. How are they to blame? If Firestone issued a recall on all their tires claiming that they had a defect in them which caused them to burst at random and I ignored the recall and ended up in the hospital witha totalled car, how is Firestone 100% liable?

While I don't think MS is a perfect company that seeks the best interests of all their customers, I doubt they are the evil baby killing bastards these parents (who are suing them for cold hard CASH) are making them out to be either...

paul246 @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:50PM

and why are you so quick to take MS side? you pointed out all of MS defenses, but NONE for the family of the dead infant. i guess to you MS can do no wrong.
and your whole Firestone example is flawed. there is a chance that the family never knew about the recall. i didnt. MS should have done the hardware properly at the very start before this incident happened. so ya, it is MS fault.

BNinjaC @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:52PM

Just pick up on a couple of things;

MS didn't issue a recall on the power cable. There wouldn't be a need as the fault was with the PSU. Your firestone example isn't the best, check out this article from 2000;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/911983.stm

It ended in a $149 million settlement.

Neither does your comparison with the wii strap hold up; a broken T.V./black eye does not equal a fire in your home/possible death. Your scale is unbalanced.

The simple truth is this; MS didn't recall the faulty units because it was cheaper to issue a cable, which circumvented the problem but did NOT fix it.

Every business wants minimize costs to increase profit. That's a simple fact of capitalism.

Who is right in this case? Who knows right now?
Weighting on either side at this stage is plainly ridiculous and maybe we should all shut up until it's resolved in the courts.

Kip Kirwan @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:16PM

I am getting sick to death of posters on here using the erroneous and altogether worthless argument that since it's never happened to them or anyone they know it must've never happened at all.

I couldn't care less if you personally traveled door to door for years gathering tens of thousands of affidavits from Xbox users declaring, in writing, that they've never had a single problem with their power supplies. If even a single person had a faulty power supply then, by default, it is a problem that exists. Furthermore, if the issue concerning power supplies were one that didn't warrant further investigation or consideration then Microsoft wouldn't have replaced the existing power supplies.

Spartacus @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:24PM

Oh, I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean to offend you. Here, let me try again...

"Microsoft is obviously as guilty as OJ here. Burn them at the stake! They knew fully well their product would kill babies! Why even hold a trial?! This isn't America!"

There, you all can now pull those bunched up panties out of your tightly clenched butt cheeks, your head will need all the space it can get in there...

BNinjaC @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:49AM

I just replied to you on another thread and then I see this.... You genuinely take these things to heart don't you? lol, you really need to calm down. Also you should try accepting that maybe, just maybe your opinion isn't shared by everyone.

/opens chill pills
/hands one out

paul246 @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:33AM

"Microsoft is obviously as guilty as OJ here. Burn them at the stake! They knew fully well their product would kill babies! Why even hold a trial?! This isn't America!"

see Spartacus, it wasn't that hard was it?

"There, you all can now pull those bunched up panties out of your tightly clenched butt cheeks, your head will need all the space it can get in there..."

the only tightly clenched butt cheeks i see are the ones you got your nose stuck up into. oh, and look who they belong to....MS. not surprised.

paul246 @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:35AM

i can can give childish, uneducated replies too=)

Spartacus @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:24PM

Yeah, I replied to two comments last night and was very tired and cranky, so I do apologize for being overly sarcastic.

That said, my whole point was that in America you are innocent until proven guilty. Now I know that it is growing to be a popular notion that corporations are evil, but there IS a possibility that MS isn't to blame for this- That's all I was saying. In the end I couldn't care less if MS gets sued, it's not my money. I just think there are some people here that WANT to see MS lose regardless of fault. If Sony or Ninitendo had this suit come against them I'd be saying the same thing (although their court system is different).

paul246 @ Aug 3rd 2007 3:39PM

i guess we'll have to just wait and see.

peace

Hard Gay @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:07PM

Without knowing what happened...how can you say that this accident should never have happened? Accidents happen, none of them should, but they do. That is why they are called accidents.

Yes, a baby is dead. Not to be harsh but babies die every single day. Why is this one more important?

Maybe the parents were suduced by the eveil videogame and had no choice....Saysaysay....should we ask Jack?

Hard Gay @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:23PM

What happened to the post I was responding too?

Post disappearing....wwwwhhhhhhhoooooooo

GRANTED @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:31PM

in other news, ps3s are curing cancer =P

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:45PM

In other other news, so are wiimotes in Second Life.

YoRone22 @ Aug 2nd 2007 10:19PM

In other other other news, so is my PC and it has been for years. :)

KHCloud @ Aug 3rd 2007 8:14AM

In other news certain magnetic and electrical impulses from PCs, PS3s, 360s, and other electronic devices could be speeding up the development of cancer...IRONY!

Phranctoast @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:51PM

this could be any number of things and not necessarily the xbox. Most likely some faulty wiring. The extended three year warranty saying MS knows of a problem with their hardware will not help at all in this case, and may inadvertently hang them out to dry.

hotnutz @ Aug 2nd 2007 9:17PM

Microsoft's track record for Operating system, console and application failures definitely doesn't help them here. I mean, they haven't got one right yet and they've been at for decades!

That being said, MS is painting a bad picture for the family so maybe it is their fault that their baby is dead and nothing to do with their fire producing hardware.

How is that for a one sided argument? Have I met all of Joystiq's posting rules yet? Insensitivity? Bias? Poor arguments? Check.

I'm with Joe Smith - let the courts decide it and let the mudslinging go to the defense and prosecution.