Microsoft blames baby's parents for deadly Xbox fire
By Evan Blass 
posted August 1st 2007 7:25PM
posted August 1st 2007 7:25PM
In what's probably the appropriate legal move given the situation -- but what will probably not earn the company any warm fuzzies -- Microsoft is asking the U.S. Central Court for Central Illinois to dismiss that wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of young Wade Kline, arguing that "misuse or abuse" of the family Xbox was the cause of the deadly blaze. Specifically, Redmond claims that the suit, which also names Wal-mart and and an anonymous power-supply maker, lacks merit because the Klines "knowingly, willingly, intentionally, and voluntarily exposed themselves to said danger and assumed the risk of incident, injuries, losses, and damages" -- though it's not really clear what "danger" they're referring to. Besides looking to clear its good name, Microsoft also wants the now house-less family to cover its likely-steep legal costs, which probably won't do much to win back the Klines as return customers. We'll keep you posted as the case progresses.
I don't have an XBox, but I imagine the user manual does tell you to unplug the console when not in use. I know Nintendo has said that for as long as I can remember.
http://assets.xbox.com/en-us/HardwareManuals/Console_Ins_Manual.pdf
That is one version of the manual, and the precautions are listed. It does say to unplug the console, not to overload the outlet or cord, etc.
Even if you don't unplug it, turn it off. If it smokes while you're using it, unplug it. Take the baby. You can't have a 360 in '04 and you loose all credibility if you file it after three years. Even if you got it in '04 it would have so many bugs it would probably be unplayable, and seeing that it would not have been fully finished no games would've been finished for it.
Dad: "Hey honey!, we had an xbox during the fire!"
Wife: "So..."
Dad: "So..., Microsoft makes Xbox!"
Wife: "And..."
Dad: "The richest man in the world owns it, hes like a trillionaire and the company has like a gabillion dollars!"
Wife: "So we sue them and we'll be rich! Lets say its one of those new ones with a defect, those, ps... umm wii... umm"
Dad: "360's?"
Wife: "Yah!"
Dad: "Trips to Hawaii"
Wife: "Expensive Cruises"
Dad: "New Car"
Wife: "Expensive Jewellery"
Dad: "Mansion in the hills"
See where I'm getting at? See how tempting that sounds? Probably figured microsoft wouldn't mind paying because they wont feel itin their bank account.
More holes than swiss cheese.
I know fire spreads, but can a flame, the size of an XBOX, or two really spread through a whole home that quickly? I would imagine that it wouldn't produce that much smoke anyway till it spreads a bit. Did they have this thing on dry leaves and stuff? What the hell is a smoke detector? Isn't it one of those things that detect smoke when a product Inevitably messes up, or something else happens. They make a loud noise, the baby may even cry, two alarms for the parents.
Had this been made by a small company owned my a middle-class man, do you think that they would be so ready to sue? Don't you think they would say " ahh we can only squeeze 40 g's outta the guy, leave him be"
Oh wait, I forgot that this is "Apple is God and the iPhone is Jesus" Endadget you forgot that the "iMac is The Holy Spirit" Steve Jobs must be omnipresent, omnipotent and the rest of it.
That entire post was not only nonsensical drivel that was factually incorrect (the richest man in the world, as has been mentioned already, has nothing to do w/Microsoft), but it showed that you didn't even bother to read the article OR any of the previous posts. You added nothing that hadn't already been said nor hypothesized, except for some delusional idea that 50K is going to get you a mansion in the hills or much of anything. Then, there's some ridiculous rant about Engadget, Apple, religion, and your inability to keep your petty, absurd hatred of some self-proclaimed conspiracy to yourself... because Engadget forces you to read its stories, and because if it does have any sort of human-like likings for any devices or operating systems, it can't be making those choices based on facts, usage, or free-will, no - it simply must be because they are blinded by RDFs. Keep judging others and hating based on your own self-induced bias. But most of all, keep hating Apple and anyone who likes them, because an article about a dead child and a game console made by Microsoft simply can't not be about Apple, can it?
You forgot the part where they said, "and let's throw the baby in so we can REALLY milk it for all it's worth! We can always make more!!"
You're obviously not a parent and by the sound of it, maybe you never should be.
I think in a way a big problem is the lack of standards so many have accumulated on their personal responsibilities to properly use the things they own - and their need to accept responsibility when they don't. It's like people who want to get a new item for free when they damage one, that 'something for nothing' mentality. Well, someone somewhere down the line pays for it. And all of this factored together kind of creates situations where someone doesn't RTFM, doesn't treat their property and stuff properly (many times not caring because they just plan to abuse the return/replacement system) and bad things happen. It's horrible when someone has to lose a life over such negligence, but we can't keep expectng companies to pay us because we don't use the products according to the directions we're too good to bother reading. And quite frankly, we should exercise more caution than what the instructions specify, because it's not worth losing a life to be able to point at a manual and say 'well you didn't specify that exactly'. So many of these products are so cheaply made, with no QA, because consumers balk at paying for quality. If you really care, then stop buying cheap crap. Stop buying stuff online to save $10 and support your community by buying at the local stores. If you can't or won't do that, every little piece of crap you buy is a danger to you unless you exercise some (un-)common sense. I'm not saying that is what happened in thi situation, because I don't have all of the facts yet and can't pass judgment. But we risk more instances of things like this happening when people keep buying cheap crud that they don't bother to use properly, and heck, it's not always safe even when they do.
Yes. People are massively discouraged from having any sense of responsibility. It helps to keep them happy little consumers who "know their place" and have no sense of power to change anything. It also makes the world a mess, because everything is "somebody else's problem".
That said, I don't think it's too much to ask of a company, especially one of this size, to manufacture things with some degree of safety.
Additionally, this is actually one of those rare situations where RTFM may have actually increased the danger. The Xbox isn't a badly designed machine (a bit ugly, perhaps), but the design fault on the original Xbox involves the connector where the mains cable is connected to the Xbox.
It is mounted directly to the circuit board by its soldered connections, and nothing more. This is a serious design fault, and it's actually a general requirement that a socket designed to carry mains should under no circumstances be mounted only in this way. It should be connected to the circuit board via flexible wire, and mounted by separate mechanical means, in a way that puts no strain whatsoever on the connection.
The reason it's a problem is because continued mechanical strain on the soldered joints will eventually shear them, making for increasingly crappy conductivity and giving rise to the sparky, overheated connection points that typify the start of electrical fires.
The reason why RTFM might actually make it worse is because the poor sap, following instructions, may opt to unplug the Xbox when not in use via that very connection, thus greatly exacerbating the problem with all that extra strain (hopefully, since said user will likely only connect his Xbox when using it, he will notice when something is amiss, like a bright hot flickery yellow thing). The new power cord may provide an increase in safety, but it's far from solving the problem. Only a redesign of the power connection board could do that.
No doubt the family are victims of some scummy, ambulance-chasing lawyers. I think they're going to wind up pretty screwed over this. But family's status aside, this is such a basic and well-known electrical engineering issue, and such a critical one. Companies have just as much responsibility as people, and I cannot excuse this from a company that should get this stuff right when even I learned about it in my first weeks at college.
I'm pretty sure this will be dismissed simply because they cited an X-Box 360, not an original X-Box. Legally speaking, an incorrect use like that is grounds for dismissal.
Time for people to take responsibility for their own action.
an amazing amount of venom, bias and assumptions being thrown around here. No one on this list has any real informaiton about what happened. No one here was involved in any way. Yet somehow you are all experts on not only the case, but Microsoft's motives, business practices, the parents' parenting skills, etc. And people wonder why the majority of the world thinks blogs are full of uninformed bullshit.
Let's not miss the point of 'financial punitive damages'.
They exist in a capitalist economy to ensure that a company takes adequate and reasonable measures to ensure that it's products are safe and fit for purpose.
We all remember the car that exploded on bumper impact because a component instigated by bean counters was 'one cut too many' ?.
This is quite the same.
Microsoft are either
a) cutting quality for financial gain in which case MASSIVE punitive damages should be awarded as a message and a warning to both Microsoft and all other companies who would otherwise think that 2007 is the year when they can begin 'trimming' once more!
or
b) they made a design error in which case it is a tragic and regrettable example of human error which should result in some form of legally binding recommendation that Microsoft implements sufficient standards to ensure such a failure in it's design process does not occur again.
If in the case of B the court should also examine Microsoft's efforts in ensuring that all defective components were removed from existance. If this was found to be a weak and deliberately half-hearted effort, again to save money, then a punitive example should be made for this 'element' of the case.
Let's be clear here folks - WE the people need to ensure the courts police these corporations because accountants and executives, and even ordinary everyday folks, can become rather weak and compromised human beings when they are embedded inside a corporations and expected to get results regardless of the costs on our world and the people that live in it.
or c) the parents did something stupidly negligent that caused the fire. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but you don't know any more than I do about this.
the only question i need to ask, was did they exchange their power supply when it was recalled?
i know microsoft sent me a lot of notices about my power supply. so if they ignored those and then had a fire sounds like negligence on the part of the parents. the manufacturers did their due diligence with recall and replacment.
The parents may or may not be negligent. I don't know all the facts. It seems to me like a good lawyer could present a case with relative ease that will show Microsoft not liable. These lawyers are paid big bucks for a reason. Just for myself, I could think of quite a few defenses. The child was not being supervised, which is neglectful (But we don't know to what extent, in this case), They left the Xbox plugged in which the directions tell you not to do (probably enough of a defense alone), They said xbox 360 (I don't know how errors such as this effect lawsuits).
Even if the baby was a sleep in a different room, they should have a baby monitor and a smoke detector. If there was any smoke, they would know... way before the baby could die from asphyxiation. Hell, in my apt. the detector 2 rooms away goes off when I leave toast in the toaster for a little too long.
And, obviously, there is the fact that Microsoft is defending this case instead of settling for a measly $50,000. Settling would have kept this out of the media more. They had the option of keeping it on the downlow and having people that stumble upon it label them as a baby killer, or let the world know about it and prove they are not baby killers.
Either way, I have a very strong feeling that there is negligence by the parents..Because it happens all the time anymore. Parents don't know how to be parents... They want to do as little as possible. I've spent my last 3 summers as a counselor at summer day camps, and I see it all the time. Parents don't teach there kid manners, values, morals, responsibility, etc... There are a few excellent parents out there that have outstanding kids, but for every good parent there are 5 that are bad...
There's a lot of unsubtantiated stuff flying around here. I think it's pretty common practice in any lawsuit for a defendant to issue a statement denying wrongdoing. I also think that Microsoft chose to defend instead of settle since probably any admission of guilt would open the floodgates to anyone who'd got so much as a sliver in his finger while playing XBox.
I do hope that whichever way it turns out that everyone who wronged the family or wronged Microsoft will come back here and apologize -- yeah right!
I'M CALLING BS ON THIS ONE, I'M SORRY.
REASONING:
1. The suit was brought up almost 3 years later, conveniently enough right when everyone else is talking about the xbox 360 problems. Why did they wait so long? I'm guessing they knew they were negligent, and never thought they had a case until a lawyer came across their case, explained to them how this case would be a PR disaster for Microsoft, and explained to them that they can probably get a settlement out of it.
2. The suit names the Xbox360 as the problem, although the XBOX 360 wasn't out until a year later then the accident. This is clearly an Xbox "1" that caused this. I know this is the fact because I got a new power cord for my xbox, and THEY HAVEN'T RECALLED THE XBOX360 POWER CORD, OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER.
3. It is a common tactic for lawyers to sue for a small amount in hopes that the company being sued will find it easier/cheaper to settle rather than pay lawyers to defend themselves.
Truth is, unless anyone here is involved in this case, then we are probably all guessing as to what the problem is. The reports I've read explain that the family knowingly used the system in a way that compromised it's safety. If that is indeed the case, then as sad as it is to hear about the loss of a child, it is the parents responsibility. Hopefully the facts will come out in the course of the trial, and justice will be served.
If Microsoft is negligent here, then they owe that family a hell of a lot more than $50,000. Try $50,000,000. I am a father of a 3 year old and if some company's negligence caused something to happen to her, I will tell you that no amount of money would ever make me whole again.
So why don't we all just take a chill pill and see what the court has to say. From where I'm looking at this thing, I'm guessing there is a hungry lawyer involved
I dunno guys, maybe we are looking at the breakout summer game here, where you battle Microsoft in a game of legal and financial wits that you must win before your baby burns to death. I smell a sleeper hit... oh no wait, thats just my baby burning, smells like a recall.
Customer sues McDonald's for Hot Coffee. Enough said.
Hmm...as much as it has been debated, I still have to wonder where the parents were. Seriously. If this was a baby, it really shouldn't have been too far from their sight. Additionally, how could they think it was an Xbox 360? Didn't someone realize this was an issue?
Why on earth are they suing Walmart and the power supply company? I'm not a big fan of Wal-marts but how is it their fault?
If I recall correctly, the recall was on the Foxconn PSUs in these boxes. The simple problem was that the connector wasn't soldered on too well. So the replacement cord simply would detect a short and cut power. If this is all the case, I suppose the only real fault would be found in Foxconn...they assembled the PSUs. They were given specifications (dimensions and power) and built a power supply. How is Microsoft involved? If I buy a new iPod but don't open it and sell it to you and it electrocutes you, then are you going to sue me? I wouldn't think so!
Just throwing some points out there. Hopefully we get more information about this soon.
Ok someone correct me if I'm wrong because I dont know the U.S. Legal system all that well not being an american and all but shouldnt the statute of limitations be kicking in if its been more than three years. In Ireland for a case like this I think you got 2 years and then its barred from coming to trial because evidence can disappear, witnesses can die etc. I would have thought the law in the U.S. wopuld have been even more stringent. Then again there are still jurys deciding awards of damages in the U.S. and when its a company like MS the awards can often be far above what they should be. MS must really feel they have a point if they are taking this to court because a jury can hit them with millions in punative damages if they so wish. the 50k is just the opener for the case that may have been settled quickly.