Microsoft hit with another class-action suit over scratched 360 discs
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jul 19th 2007 10:40PM
posted Jul 19th 2007 10:40PM
Reports of Xbox 360 consoles scratching discs have have been widespread for several months now, leading the EU to launch an official investigation into the matter -- and Americans to deal with it Uncle Sam style: by filing lawsuits. Mirroring the Florida suit filed earlier this month, two California plaintiffs have filed a class-action suit against Microsoft, alleging the negligent design of the 360 causes damage to game discs and asking for damages in the neighborhood of $5M. Based on how widespread this issue seems to be and the legs it's had, expect to see some speedy settlements involving a lot of tedious paperwork for affected consumers and a lot of green for the plaintiff's lawyers.Disclaimer: Although the author of this post is an attorney, it is not meant to be legal advice or analysis and should not be construed as such.
[Via Joystiq]
smooth save nilay. very smooth.
Wait, huh? Who's an attorney? Nilay Patel, Ludwig Kietzmann, or Paul McDougall?
Yet again! These suits SHOULD be thrown out, they have no validity, Microsoft is not responsible for the drives, the manufacturers are, it's their fault, get it right!
Exactly, this is totally what I have been thinking since the start of these Reports.
They should go complain to BenQ and LiteON for having drives that scratch discs when you rotate the drive while spinning the disc. *rolls eyes*
They all should have read the several warnings on the Xbox and the documentation that clearly states: DO NOT MOVE WHILE DISC IS IN DRIVE. Hell, I remember there was a sticker covering the drive when I got it.
I don't believe for a second this is Microsoft's fault. I learned my mistake after moving it with Tiger Woods in there. All I had to do was go to the CD store that repaired it for 2 bucks.
Evan: My 360 is scratching my disks and it hasn't moved in atleast... 9 months. Makes a horrible grinding noise and check the disk and its put another small scratch into it.
As for those saying this isn't Microsofts fault, it is, since they choose to put poor quality drives into the 360. Isn't the fix putting in $2 of rubber into the top of the dvd drive? Seriously, how many dvd drives do you know that have these kind of problems? Microsoft screwed up. As someone said, its up to Microsoft to then sue the dvd drive makers.
I hope that those plaintiffs lose every cent and Microsoft comes out on top. This is just another frivolous lawsuit being filed by smart ass attorneys and some lazy, instant gratification addicted losers. Suing Microsoft over broken units is one thing but this is text book case frivolous. Why don't we do something useful with our lives and perhaps make your own console if you don't like what's out there? Yea...think about that.
I didn't realize the Microsoft legal team posted on engadget.
Make their own consoles? Some people aren't multi-billion dollar companies with hundreds of employees...
You know, I think you're right, I will make my own console. I was thinking about that on the bus ride in this morning, actually, and I think your comment just put me over the edge to doing it. You know, I really should make something of myself.
Let's see, what will I need... Ok, I need some plastic for the case. I need some electronics to put inside. Hmm...that might be tough. Oh well. What else? Oh yeah, cables, those are important for connecting things up. And a DVD drive. I know, I'll get a cheap one from China that scratches discs really easy. No... wait, CRAP!
Oh well, I guess it's back to law school for me.
Sue the drive manufacturers? wtf? Microsoft chose those drives to include in the Xbox360.
Consumers bought the Xbox360 from Microsoft.
The class action suit is against the company they bought the defective product, the Xbox360, from.
Then Microsoft is free to go after their subcontractors, the DVD makers, to recoup their losses. Trying to absolve Microsoft of any blame for this problem (if it is accurate) is just ridiculous. If your Honda blows up, do you go after their 3rd party gas line manufacturer? Of course you don't. I realize you want to protect Microsoft, which is quite touching, but that's not how it works in this case :P
If my Honda exploded due to the fact that the 3rd party gas line had flaws in it that caused it to leak gas all over the manifold and thus my car exploded, sure as hell I'd sue the manufacturer of the gas line. If you get in an accident, and your airbag doesn't go off and thus you remain paralyzed for the rest of your life, I'd sue the manufacturer of the damn airbag, probably Honda too.
But the defective product isn't the 360, but the drive itself - which is the product of another manufacturer. MS didn't build the drive that is causing disk issues.
That's just like the lawsuit of idiots suing Google because some clown had something offensive on his personal website but was searchable via Google so they went after them. Go after the right person if you wanna cry and sue.
No! Not at all, Microsoft had ample warnings on it's boxes, thus they ARE absolved from scratching, because the user(I assume for the case to be valid) followed Microsoft's warnings and instructions, meaning the fault is on the manufacturer because under optimal circumstances the drive still failed to work correctly.
My Honda blew up. It was awesome.
Warning stickers won't absolve a company of all responsibility. As merchants, all of Microsoft's products are subject to the "implied warranty of merchantability" standard. This means that their product has to be fit for the purpose it is intended. THAT is a question for the factfinder (judge or jury). However, as with most class actions, it will likely never get that far.
Honda wouldn't be stupid enough to use factory 3rd party parts and neither should M$
StrayBullet: You don't know much about consumer protection law, do you?
Oooh! But it makes such a pretty pattern on the disc!
I still don't get who is supposed to get paid if they win this law suit. One person didn't rack up 5mil in damages and they can't give everyone who got a disk broken new games! Someone please explain! :{
Class-action suit signifies that the money is equally distributed among the plaintiffs, which can go anywhere from 5 people to a million people.
However, a lot of times any big fines are scratched and just calculated into the companies worth. Its all some legal mumbo that in some way ends up costing the company lots of money, but the people actually only seeing a very small percentage of it.
HAHAHAHA...
What a hunk of crap that 360 has turned out to be.
Thanks for the laughs M$ as you try to XEROX your way into another marketplace wasting billions of dollars in the process.
what about this Engadget? http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1013920
Our 360 has been scratching discs like Mike Relm. We bought a new game, and it was unplayable within 12 hours of putting it into the drive.
It has been in a horizontal position for almost 2 years. We called MS up and they are fixing it for free. Also, we took the scratched discs to Wal-Mart and got free replacements.
You guys are forgetting the most important part about class action suits:
If MS loses a bunch of money for using defective drives, don't you think they'll watch the drive quality just a little closer in the future?
Reading some of these comments are just halarious. Consumers actually defending the company that sold them shotty products, wow.
Listen xbots, microsoft, sony, and apple are organization just trying to make money. They dont care about YOU. Thats what family, girlfriends, friends, and pets are for. So stop bending over and taking it for them. You just sound stupid.
OK, you purcha$ed a xbox360 from microsoft. So when it turns out to be a piece of garbage you sue microsoft, its that simple. Remember your purcha$e from microsoft was a contract with microsoft, not the other hundreds of Chinese manufactuers that were used to build the damn thing. This goes for everything your purchase.
Remember when Ford SUV's were rolling over and killing people, who got sued? Ford did. Sure they blamed bridgestone/firestone, for shitty tires. But it was Fords responsibility to test the SUV's with the tire, to find faults before selling them to consumers, just like it was microsofts responsiblity to test these drives before selling them. But who cares for testing they made that ohh so wonderful 2005 holiday rush
end rant/
Well, you now see MS in action yet again ... I said it before to my friends hyped up about buying a Xbox360 ... MS was soo worried about beating Sony to the market that they really skipped over some vital R&D as we see with the overheating issues on the console, power supply failures and now the disc scratching ability which has developed into an inferior product. Unfortunately for MS, they did not include Nintendo in their list of viable competitors and now they are getting whomped on (As is Sony as well).
Now, for you 360 Fanboys, let me say that I have nothing against the Xbox360 as a unit other than the fact it was built by those Donkey Raping Sh*t Eaters over at MS that are known for their crappy software/hardware (Win98, ME and Vista anyone?). Now, If it was built by Apple, HP, AMD or any other reputable company that is known for their quality or product, I would feel less malice towards the console as a whole.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. he just put HP and quality in the same sentence.
what a joke.
My friend couldn't get his disc to work because it was scratched, but it worked fine after he put it in boiling water for five minutes. I wouldn't try it unless it's a last resort, though...
-Haxxy
Hahahaha all you can do is laugh at these microsoft supporters who buy microsoft's crap products!! I thank myself for returning the crack box 3fixme so i don't have to deal with these peoblems!! The zune was a crap product too, i returned it after 3 days. I try to give microsoft a chance but they are just sumbags!!