November 19th, 2009 at 03:01pm
Under Xbox 360
Boutique law firm AbingtonIP is “investigating” what it considers the “convenient” recent Xbox Live bannings. The firm posits that the “tens of thousands” of banned Xbox Live subscribers who used modded consoles deserve recompense due to the timing of the action. The firm believes that said timing — i.e., after Halo 3: ODST and shortly before Modern Warfare 2’s releases — was executed to net Microsoft as much money as possible out of potential Xbox Live subscribers before banning the modded devices. The class action lawsuit would attempt to obtain a refund for the prorated sums left on the banned Xbox Live subscriptions.
According to Joystiq legal columnist Mark Methenitis’ analysis: “To me, this certainly sounds a lot like a cash grab directed at a company with deep pockets, but perhaps there are more facts than they are letting on.” He explains that a user savvy enough to have a modded console would also know not to connect it to Live without “serious risk.” Methenitis concludes, “If, in fact, Microsoft is inducing people to buy a service only to terminate them, then there’s certainly a deceptive business practice concern. But this seems far more cut and dry than that.”
[Thanks, C. Carl Carlston]
Firm considers class action over Xbox Live bannings originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading Firm considers class action over Xbox Live bannings
Tags: abingtonip, banned, banning, class-action, law, lawsuit, mark-methenitis, xbl, xbox-live, xbox-live-bannings
By Mister-X
Continue Reading Firm considers class action over Xbox Live bannings
June 17th, 2009 at 05:00pm
Under Xbox 360
There’s going to be some drama when folks really start to catch on, so let’s get it out of the way now: residents of Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Vermont, and the great province of Quebec, are not eligible for Xbox Live Primetime’s 1 vs.100 prizes. This isn’t spite on Microsoft’s part, because, according to the company there are laws.
The statement from Microsoft’s lawyers is that “due to gaming laws, which vary from state to state, ‘1 vs 100 skill-based prizes’ cannot be offered in every state.” The response neglects to provide any concrete reasoning why those four states and Quebec were unique, but does mention that players can participate through a sweepstakes.
We contacted Joystiq’s Law of the Game columnist, Mark Methenitis, to see if he could give us a clearer explanation regarding the exclusions. The attorney — who just happens to have gambling law as one of his practice areas — explained, “When you see restrictions like these, it’s either because Microsoft’s legal department or the contest administrator isn’t comfortable with some aspect of the state law. Taking Iowa as an example, their laws are such that many scholars believe participation in a game for any property of value would be illegal gambling. There’s also a provision that if, for a fee, anything of value is delivered, and given that this is limited to Xbox Live Gold members, it may be the wording of the statute that leads them to believe the paid membership plus the game may be problematic.”
Methenitis expresses that it’s difficult to conclude why Microsoft chose those particular locales, but that it’s “the direct result of the patchwork legislation among the states.” If this seems unfair, then might we suggest contacting your congressman or, um, member of parliament? Something spooked Microsoft’s lawyers into excluding those particular states. Find the full statements from Microsoft and Methenitis after the break.
[Thanks, Justin F]
Continue reading 1 vs. 100 prizes unavailable in certain states and Quebec
1 vs. 100 prizes unavailable in certain states and Quebec originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Continue Reading 1 vs. 100 prizes unavailable in certain states and Quebec
Tags: 1-vs-100, laws, mark-methenitis, microsoft, rules
By Mister-X
Continue Reading 1 vs. 100 prizes unavailable in certain states and Quebec
