Firm considers class action over Xbox Live bannings

You clicky "Agree" button, you agree to TOU.
From there on, what you do is your fault.

Just tell me and the other people I'm finding who have had their UNMODIFIED consoles banned where to sign up.

I think that there is some merit to a legal suit. Maybe not what was outlined in this article in particular, but something else. My theory is that, because Microsoft seems to be falling behind in terms of monthly console sales, they are trying to artificially increase console sales by conducting this ban. There are going to be a lot of people returning these consoles after they play blockbuster games or swap the internal components to get out of ban.

Sales alone are normally reported, they don't include return numbers. This artificial increase in reported sales would look attractive to investors and shareholders, at least for now. They will likely try to find some excuse to blame for the returns later on. This would be deceptive and fraudulent if it is the case (assuming they planned it this way).

Assholes.

I don't think its bad bootleggers got banned. But I do admit does seem shaddy with the timing. There have been rummors that MS has done this before too with bans to boost holiday sales. And if these folks are not buying games it is not a fair representation of the number of units in home. MS is not going to subtract these systems when they list total units purchased but is not an accurate representation of install base.

It also seems they are only banning the systems so people can use these accounts with unmodded systems. This serves two purposes in my opinion. One you have some bait in the achievments earned existing friends and leftover time to bait people back a little bit. And it does protect the unsuspecting person that plugs in at a friends house on a modded system without their knowledge or those that buy used, though stupid as it may be its not their fault if they were to get banned for that reason.

But appearently the new systems DVD drives are not flashable yet so maybe this was just planned this way to get the old stock out of the way. Put out a system that is much harder to compromise. Let the pirates get sloppy and clear them all at once I mean if they banned the day they find out someone is cheating it may prompt a better firmware they cannot detect or takes more time so by holding off they know how to detect it they may be able to stop more pirates. I suspect a little column A and little column B.

The most hilarious thing about this whole banning issue is how people with terminated systems believe they're entitled to something. Were you to enter a store and steal dozens of games, you would probably get arrested and face court. In Microsoft's case, they allowed thousands of people to modify their systems, turning a blind eye to theft of a massive level. Then, the worse that they did, was just lock your system from going online.

Compare that to the first example, that's the weakest slap-on-the-wrist ever. If you mod out your system and steal games, you aren't entitled to squat. Quit crying about how your gay modded Xbawkz got banned, and quit being so cheap. The real greedy bastards here isn't Microsoft. It's the whiney babies who not only stole games, but now want even more money because they need to be compensated.

They banned them all then because it was easier.. All they had to do was look at all the people playing MW2 3 weeks before launch!

Its the people who actually signed into Live, playing an unreleased game that is to blame here

i got banned x2... yeah it was moddedx2. Not a big deal. Its like a f****ing holiday. It for the most part always happens in november every year. stop making a big deal about it and get a new xbox you VERY cheap bastards!

Its cause their consoles are fucking modded those scum piece of shits.

C'mon, we just wanna eat your skin.

My 360 is ex-modded. I was burning games faster than I could play them, so I never got to enjoy any of them. I flashed back to official firmware on my DVD drive and started buying and using GameFly, and games are fun again.

I just love these stories that bring out all of unintelligent, entitled morons of the Internet. It is so entertaining.
I can't believe some jackass said it's not their fault if they didn't read the end user agreement before agreeing to it, yes I can.

Pretty straight-forward. EULA says modding is bannable. Banning is at Microsoft's discretion. Period. If a user doesn't want to be banned and wants to get the full year's value form a subscription, they can simply not use a modded box.

Lawyers behind this one should be ashamed of themselves.

Still Modded. Still online. I guess i'm just lucky like that. Anyways, we definatly deserve the hammer, but it's the HDD crippling methinks has the strongest legs. Also, if just ONE person out there caught the hammer without being modded, there could be a whole new case. Out of a million, people are out there. This case is crap however. MS needs to have a contact/appeal process to deal with people wrongly banned. It's lack of such a dept. could be it's undoing in this.

Fuck em. That's really all I got to say to people with modded systems. The overwhelming majority are used to steal games, so if their console MAC address got banned until the end of time, I could care less. Props to Microsoft for trying to make as much change off these ass holes as they can before pulling the carpet from up underneath them, cause they 100% deserve it.

I ain't condoning breaking the law, but man, you would think modders/pirates are breaking into some of these people's houses and raping their little sisters. Please, put the high horse in the stable. I haven't seen one person on here say that they didn't have it coming, yet their assholes, and F them, and so on. And before you get on the "their messing it up for everyone" tip, being called a N-gger methinks is a tad worse then some person I don't know from Adam backing up their prized MW2: Overpriced Edition so little Johnny won't use it for a frisbee like my Borderlands. They got theirs. Move on.

I know quite a few people whose consoles were banned... and non of them are bitter... they just went and bought new ones... Stupid ass lawyers.

I agree with the ban, it's Microsoft's prerogative as a violation of the EULA. However, they should refund any pro-rated balance on XBL, for sure, otherwise it's legalized theft.

As a modder and user of DL'ed games, I could care less about the EULA or TOU, simply put cuz its ass, whether or not we play free games on paid for subscription is moot. You can't circumvent getting DLC unless it comes out retail. XBL is a online community for playing games together, it should be moot as to whether a person on live is playing that game free or paid for. Since all in all, your paying for a service and not a material good.

I think the lawsuit is buttcheeks simply becuz it has no real merit! Most modders that do it themselves research most of the risks involved and the banhammer is the least of them when you really think about it! i still have my modded 360 and use it to play any and every singleplayer game out that isn't worth putting out my hard earned $60 bills!

And for the people who keep calling modders idiots, think of this! Would you rather pay 60 bucks for a modded system and 25-50 DL DVD's or 1 game, maybe 3 if its a great sale on some old stuff. All I'm saying is eat cake and ice cream, CTW (Cheat To Win) people, the gov't does it all the time!

Anyone else taken the time to track down Abingtonip?

http://www.abingtonlaw.com/class_actions.html

This group seems more like ambulance chasers than a legitimate law firm.

Eff 'em.

How original.

When the gaming community doesn't care about these people, what chance would they have in court against MS? I just hope that MS doesn't settle with the suit. If anything, I hope that MS counter-sues on the count of the original suit being frivolous.

Really?

I modded my console and I don't care now i get single player games for free

That's what the service agreement contract is for. To make idiots who mod their Xbox, understand that playing copies is illegal and against the agreement. Ban. Done.

MS's ban and this lawsuit make no difference to any of the situation.

Piracey will continue at the same rate, more or less. Not all modders got banned and those that did will pickup a console for £50 and reflash that one.

MS wouldn't make a lot of money off new consoles from pirates as most would buy second hand. It doesn't effect XBL, as gamertag isn't banned, so no new revenue there.

Completely pointless other than making MS look like they're doing something.
The lawsuit potentially holds water but it depends on how the hardware end license user agreement is written.

You've got to be kidding me.

these people should be taken to court for piracy and made to pay ridiculous amounts similar to the music industry... they are getting off lightly

Here in libya, most consoles are sold already modded, and legal copies of games are very hard to come by, a lot of people go join live, not knowing that their console is modded.

I'm curious if ANYONE on this thread can HONESTLY say that they've taken the time to read and comprehend EVERY SINGLE EULA you've EVER been confronted with? Your credit card? your cellphone? your OS? DVD Purchases?

I'm just saying, 'casue everyone is ripping Hooch a new one, when he's only just calmly pointing out what we all actually know and understand: People Do Not always (possibly rarely) read EULAs. It is absolutely our own faults for doing this. Does this mean the system in place can't be made to work better with their customers?

If cars required you to solve some complex math before it would start, you could blame stranded drivers for not studying harder in calculus, or you could try to work with your customers to make sure that your requirements for driving the car were more compatible with your target consumer... (odd analogy, i know, but I'm too busy to think of anything better).

Many people are saying great ban the pirates, but not everyone that mods their 360 is pirating games I know atleast three people who have modded their 360 and only did it to back up the games they ow. They also only play those backups in their system. It is a worthwhile investment when you buy $50 games and you have roommates (things tend to get messed up). I have no issue with MS banning people from live, but since their whole campaign was around stopping piracy and they have no way of discerning who pirated and who only backed up their own games, they should have to provide a refund for services terminated. And just so you don't think I am biased I don't even own a 360 let alone a modded one.

Something to keep in mind with modded consoles, it's not always about pirating copies of games.

There are tons of games available overseas that you CANNOT play here. The only way to do so? Hack your Xbox.

Wanna upgrade your system? Hack your Xbox.

Wanna improve the cooling of your system? Want to open the case and make it custom? Hack your Xbox..

Unfortunately, all of those things rendered your system "modded" and thus in violation of the EULA and TOU.

Not everyone pirates, and not everyone deserves to be banned for this. Also, the only way you can use your Xbox Live account is on a different Xbox. Which, unless you want to play at a friends or go buy a new one, renders your unit a paperweight for Xbox Online play and you SHOULD be allowed to recover any money that is on an active account.

I am getting that "This place is full of ignorant Americans" feeling in here today.

Things are not as cut and dry as the Joystiq writer and their legal adviser claim, and a lot more complex than the American readers believe it is.

The situation outside of America is a little more pro consumer. Many countries have consumer laws that state that "the goods must be suitable for the intended use". The only place the consumer laws were tested in a court battle was in Australia (though MANY countries have the same basic law), and Sony who took the case lost spectacularly in court when they tried to sue the "pirates".

There may be little reason to Mod a unit in USA, but outside USA, things get a lot more messy. If you purchase a region locked DVD, a region locked Game from an online store, more often than not that store is based in USA, and the wrong region. The DVD/game will not work unless you mod your hardware. You also have many advertised games taking up to six months to be released for the "European Market". The Europeans need a lot of translations, so it supposedly takes a lot of time. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the world falls under "Europe" for distribution even if they are literally on the other side of the world and ONLY speak English. Finally, there are a number of games every year that NEVER and will NEVER be released for the "European Market". The decision is made never to release these games for all sorts of reasons. The only way to play these games in many cases (I do not know about XBox 360 because I will never again purchase anything made by Microsoft) is to mod your console.

This does not cover the many other reasons you may want to play a pirated game. Such as you have young children who destroy game disks, so keeping the original locked away while the children are destroying a copy is a good idea. Microsoft does nothing at all to protect your investment in the software. They d not have anti scratch coatings on DVDs, they use DVD, one of the most vulnerable formats to child abuse in existence, they only license software to you so if the format is damaged by children you should still own your license, but Microsoft do not offer free media swaps or any other way for you to continue to use the software you licensed.

Simply Joystiq, to claim this is cut and dry is CHILDISH! How much is Microsoft paying Joystiq for this hatchet job today?

@Tiptup300
That SHOULD have been the case, problem is most where profile banned, console banned and recieved a false update that currupted the HDD data and profile info on it. I know this as I got profile banned from playing my friends xbox and my HDD got a false update that made my info on HDD unusable! I get home put my HDD back on my 360 and it says the system needs to update, only my system was OFFLINE! I did the update anyway like a moron and now my HDD is blank. the info is there on it but says its currupted. AWESOME. He got console banned, profile banned AND lost his HDD data as well. If all it was was a console bann then all would be just but NONE of the extra sneaky **** they did was in the EULA and if someone got banned for unknowningly playing on a friends modded console is that fair as well?

Abingdon IP or abingtonlaw.com list of attorneys here:
http://www.abingtonlaw.com/attorneys.html

A whois reveals the only attorney listed is also the domain registrar also.
http://whois.domaintools.com/abingtonlaw.com

Po-Dunk operation that's getting more press than it should. Probably hoping to get a settlement, collect a bunch of peoples info, and make a name for itself.

Mitchell
http://www.InteriorLiving.com