Legal action against Microsoft Xbox Live ban

Posted by Rhiain Morgan on Sun 22 Nov 2009

Stick it to the man!

If you're one of many Xbox 360 owners who have been cast adrift from the console's online gaming network for having a chipped machine then you could have the chance to sue the ass off the Company.

Texas law company Abingdon IP is soliciting punished owners to join a mooted class-action suit against Microsoft, claiming there's more to to 'unlawful' ban than meets the eye.

Rather than just being about halting game piracy, Abingdon's lawyers say Microsoft's move was timed to avoid putting gamers off signing up for Xbox Live so they could play the recent Call of Duty and Halo epics online.

Abingdon claim the US computing giant waited for the games to be released before enforcing the ban, saying that had it occurred prior to the games launching sales and online sign-ups would have suffered.

The Texan law firm is also reported to be searching for people who were banned but have yet to have the remaining part of their subscription fee refunded.

Link: Xbox (via TechRadar)

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User Comments

By rcdicky

23|11|2009 05:46

meerkat - They aint modding their consoles to modify games to give them an edge, they're modding to allow pirated games to run...

freebie - It possibly could go somewhere, just because M$ have included that clause in the T's&C's, doesn't make it law.

Will be quite interesting to see where this one goes. I'm on the side of M$ for this though. No, they won't stop people modding by banning consoles, but they gotta try something to stem it don't they? And if you got banned just after signing up, ha! So funny... :P

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By meerkat

22|11|2009 20:17

Why MOD?, use it for what it's designed for, a gaming platform for all, to start "Equally" all person's beginning a game on the Microsoft Live arena, if you need to mod the equipment to have that"bit of an edge" should move to PC's, if a lad or lass of 12 is good at a certain game, and the modder is 18 or above.... well shame on you.

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By freebieconsoles

22|11|2009 17:23

Surely this can't go anywhere. You agree to the T&Cs not to mod your console in anyway when you sign up. I think the law firm is just being opportunistic and trying to make a name for themself.

http://www.freebieconsoles.co.uk

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