Microsoft sued over Xbox outage

Microsoft now faces a lawsuit over recent problems with its Xbox Live online gaming service.

Three Texas residents filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of themselves and others who have had trouble connecting to Xbox Live in recent weeks.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Houston, claims Microsoft's outages represent a breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation for which the software maker is liable. The suit doesn't claim specific damages, but notes the amount is in excess of $5 million.

In the suit, the plaintiffs allege that Microsoft should have known strong holiday sales would tax its servers. "Microsoft knew the increase in subscriptions would increase game-play on its servers, yet failed to provide adequate access and service to Xbox Live and its subscribers."

Microsoft has apologized for the outage and said it would allow Xbox live subscribers to download a free game.

A Microsoft representative was not immediately available for comment.

[jabberwolf]

all that valuable time lost

All that time lost, and people are forced to find something else to do. Even if that time was only small and temporary. **** you lost some time playing online games! What is the suit going to cover? - Loss of valuable game time?!?!

[Filipowicz]

all that valuable time lost

Amen, brother.

[coachgeorge]

You missed the point

By selling the service, M.S. is obligated to provide the service. If they gave it away like Nintendo and Sony, there would be no grounds.<br /><br />I hope they win, and I hope It costs MS much more than $5,000,000.00 They get you on the box, rape you on the games then have the audacity to charge you for the on line service.<br /><br />The only thing worse is the number of Lemmings who buy the Silly things and use them. My $0.02 Nuff Said

[SJ2571]

You don't get it

It's not just a case of "losing game time". The customers PAID for that game time, and Microsoft has taken their money but not let them play. How is that not grounds for a suit? Do you like paying for a service and not getting it?

[futonpimp]

too damn funny! people are stupid

LOL @ this! good times

[ladiesmanwc]

5 Million....?!?!?!?

Alright...if these people win 5 frakking million dollars for this, there's some serious issues. I'm sure they WON'T, but if they do....that's just...bad.<br /><br />Besides, I haven't read it, but i'm sure in the Live terms and conditions it does not guarantee uninterrupted use. Frankly, MS has done more than they need to already.

[DirtDiver42]

Microsoft Sued

This lawsuit is the pure definition of FRIVOLOUS! Perhaps Microsoft should file suit against parents for cursing and allowing their under age children to play on XBOX live in lieu of a babysitter. PLEASE this si so stupid and so are the people and the blood sucking lawyer representing them.

[The_Decider]

The fact it is a game is irrelevant

MS took peoples money in exchange for providing a service. They failed in their legal obligations to provide said service.<br /><br />That it is only 'games' is completely irrelevant.

[WJeansonne]

Scheister Trial Lawyers Up to No Good

It's obvious they found a few malcontents to try and go up against Microsoft. Good luck and lol. As Bill Gates once said to a major competitor at an executive retreat in Jackson Hole--"get in line", when the guy threatened to sue him.

[MTGrizzly]

Do you realize...

...that the spelling is "shyster" and the word is generally used as <br />an anti-Semitic slurr against Jewish attorneys?????<br /><br />Not bad on the phonetic spelling, the word origin is scheisser...

[elcapitaine]

This is stupid...

Here's a comment from the discussion on the free XBLA game that we're getting that's on xbox360achievements.org:<br /><br />--------------------<br />Posted by Gamertag "morgenes 47" on Friday, January 04, 2008 @ 05:58:02 AM:<br />Kudos to Microsoft -- they don't HAVE to do anything like this, so I'll be appreciative of any free game (as long as it's not one already out). Does the phone company give you free service or refunds when the phone line goes out? I don't think so. Does the electric company reimburse you for annoyance when the electric goes out? I don't think so.<br /><br />Thank you Microsoft.<br /><br /><br />I personally didn't mind too much, because I was on vacation without my 360.<br /><br />But one more thing, these guys are trying to collect $5,000,000????<br />That's basically saying that these three Texan plaintiffs believe that they should collect the damages for the outages that affected everyone else. The total amount of "damage" to them was at best $150 for their three LIVE subscriptions. But even then it should only be $24, because LIVE only had problems for less than a month.

[bs dr long jon]

People Need to Understand

Youprobably work for them or are another chump settling for poor service , disrespect and lies. IT IS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY. It is about teaching large corporations they cannot treat customers this way and get away with it. We pay thousands of dollars each between sytems, online service and $60 games plus money to download "updates". I have been here through the whole ordeal. As many of you were watching TV or surfing the web, me and my brother connect from NY to Chicago and play games together. I'm 29 and a middle classed worker. Understand the reason for 5 million. 5 Million is pocket change for MS.

[spacydog]

World of Warcraft outages...

happen much more frequently than Xbox Live outages. I'ma thinking copycat lawsuits will start rolling in if they haven't already. We are indeed a litigious society.

[Jahntassa]

Yeah but..

The Terms of Service state something to the effect that they aren't guaranteeing uptime. No guarantee, nothing to sue over. Granted when stuff runs 'really' long, they do sometimes give a day or two of free service to the players. (in WoW that is)

[DanceOfD3ath]

No...

While WoW outages are more frequent, they are also dealt with immediately. Blizzard has never had outages for more than a day, and when it was out for that long, they compensated. These lawsuits don't work.

[BamAlmighty]

They should be counter sued for being morons

So they're out $2.00 worth of service. Microsoft already apologized and offered a free game. <br /><br />Yet all these toolbags are going to accomplish is maybe getting a voucher worth $2-5 worth of service and the lawyers will get to walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[debasisg]

Sue Them

These three can be bankrupt. Good for them.

[lkrupp]

Make that...

"Yet all these toolbags are going to accomplish is maybe getting a <br />voucher worth $2-5 worth of service and the lawyers will get to <br />walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars."<br /><br />Make that "hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars." It's a closer estimate.

[DoohanOK]

I am happy with the free game compo

YOu bloody yanks and your lawsuits - the "free game" is likely to cost M$ over $150,000,00.00 at any rate.

[howieh60]

Are you Nuts?

Perhaps I missed something here.What is a "bloody yank" exactly?<br />Is it anything like a "dammed stupid englishman"?<br /><br />It seems like every week we in the "Free world" hear about another "silly lawsuit" against some scandal rag published in the UK for publishing untrue stories or violating someones privacy.<br /><br />Don't worry about M$ , BTW they employ more lawyers then people who live in London.

[scott12x]

Don't be too happy yet

When they say free game to get too happy just yet. You're thinking your going to get the COD4 or Halo 3 for free? Prolly they will offer only a choice of there arcade games. That will cost them almost nothing. Wait and see until they formally dicuss what they are going to give.

[cnetrl]

The courts should throw out the case

and give this loosers 1000 hours of community service for trying to bring such a ridiculous case to the court. XBOX Live Rules

[bob1xxxx]

It wont happen

judge allow the stupid lawsuits to go to trail because they know alot of these large scum bag class action suit law frims will hire them as "consulants" after they retire if they make favaorable rulings for these firms. Until there is serious legal reform ending these quid pro quo retirement hirings, the scumbag class lawsuit problem will remain out of control.

[tehrani625]

LOLZ

People make me laugh. I have a Xbox 360 I paied $600 for the thing and a few accessories and I never play the thing. I wish that I had live but I haven't been willing to pay for it yet... I think that this law suit is pointless and stupid. It's dumber then the fat guy who sues macdonalds for making him fat...

[Microsoft_Facts]

Expectations for any MS product should be...

...exactly this; shoddy product with poor service. Faulty hardware, faulty on-line service, hacked accounts, it is only a matter of time before the first XBox Microsoft worm/virus attacks and takes them all down.

[The_Decider]

Exactly

Microsoft has never and likely will never provide a quality service.<br /><br />People who give MS truly do deserve all the headaches that come with it.

[vini156]

Clueless idiots.

Who is telling you to use them? You are the only intelligent and 17 million people are fools who are using their consoles.Keep your mouth shut and learn the fact that if so many people are using their service how successful it is. You people I think are employed by suckers to keep criticizing MS. Go on keep baffling its not gonna effect its customers.

[bs dr long jon]

I got banned from there forums

I spoke the truth and got banned from their servers for a couple days. Since everybody is suing, maybe I can sue for violating my right of Free Speech. I have proof and can provide forum posts.

[The_Decider]

You have no case

Micro$haft owns the service, not the government. The first amendment does not apply.

[Belinus]

Research 1st Amendment

Private company, they can kick you off for whatever they want. You agreed to their terms and conditions and violated them.

[Neo_7899]

Excuse me ?

There.com staff will ban you from forums if you do not fallow the guidelines...But as far as you all know there.com is a great virtuel world that is pg-13. :-)<br /><br />~Neo

[concernedxboxplayer]

Lawyer - Good for him!

It is about time someone stood up for the small people. The server issues were totally uncalled for and Microsoft should have known there would be a huge influx of new customers. The lawyer seems like a good guy...I checked out his website...www.jag-lawfirm.com

[crazycrusher]

concernedxboxplayer MORON

you should be smacked uip side the head,,,your one of these idiots who sue for everything,,maybe every time my cable goes down ill sue,,and my internet dsl,,,,moron,,

[mb2706]

Get a life people!

Has the world gone crazy, $5millon+ just because you couldn't play online for a few days, it's not like the Xbox packed up altogether (yes I have heard about the RROD).<br />Seems to me like it's all to easy to sue people for the most stupid little issues.<br />Good for Microsoft though admitting there was a problem and offering compensation to everyone effected.<br />Time the courts actually done the decent thing and just tell these people to stop wasting everyones time.<br />Rant over!

[morlamweb]

Hear hear!

Finally, someone with their head screwed on straight. So, Xbox Live was unavailable for a few days. Did that cause 5 million dollars worth of damage to the plaintiffs? Hardly. this frivolous lawsuit should be thrown out and the idiots who brought it to court be thrown out on their *****.

[Belinus]

AMEN!

No wonder this country is so fat and stupid, this is what people sue over? "OMG! I can't play Halo3 and pwn newbs! My life is over!"<br /><br />Go for a walk people! Go socialize! Interact!<br /><br />Plaintiff's attorney should be disbarred.

[computerdude103]

If you want to sue, sue over DRM

This case will go nowhere. The TOS that you agree to clearly says that they are not responsible for outages. IDK what kind of idiot lawyer or idiot customer would try to sue over this. I do, however, think there is a case to sue over Microsoft's DRM. If you have a replacement Xbox (which 33% of customers do), you cannot play the content YOU PURCHASED when Xbox Live is offline. Now THAT is something you sue about. You don't sue over an outage, that is just plain stupid.

[dhavleak]

Inaccurate

The content can be 'rekeyed' to your console ID so you can play when you're offline. Contact support and they'll walk you through it.

[crazycrusher]

MS should counter sue

They should counter sue, and so should all the other companies who run into idiot morons like this, take the home there kids college fun IRA every thing, wipe them clean,,gamers my butt, they should be kicked and banned id love to know what there gamertag is.

[perfectblue97]

Money grubbers

Suing for millions for not being able to play a game? It's pure greed.<br /><br />These people should get a month's free gaming or a gift certificate of some sort to make up for loss of service, and then they should consider themselves grateful that the courts can't sue them right back for wasting their time.

[perfectblue97]

so?

Yeah, but you could learn that from watching enemy of the State.<br /><br />The term has moved on somewhat. It's generic now. It still means a slimy rat of a lawyer, but as with many things in America it's become integrated and can be applied to just about anybody.

[perfectblue97]

Is it?

Not when compensation is involved. A settlement should reflect the seriousness of the breach and in this case the fact that it is a game means that there was no appreciable low of earnings, health, or dignity.<br /><br />My cable TV goes out every now and then, they send me a $10 rebate in the mail, and I get on with my life. I don't sue for a couple of million.<br /><br />If Microsoft had in any way injured these people or infringed on their basic human rights, it would be another matter entirely.

[vanareb]

Liability Waiver

I jus wonder if Microsoft buried a waiver in the EUA on their free download requiring whoever downloads the free game to agree not to participate in the Class Action suit.