Datel sues Microsoft, wants its Xbox 360 market back
By Vlad Savov 
posted November 24th 2009 5:19AM
posted November 24th 2009 5:19AM
Seems like we just can't go a week without some corporate power plays or mudslinging making our pages. Back in October, Datel promised it would "remedy" the situation created by Microsoft's forthcoming (now present) Dashboard update locking out its higher capacity memory modules. The accessory company was the first (and only) third-party supplier of memory cards for the Xbox 360, but it seems that MS took a dislike to the MicroSD-expandable Max Memory units and has since taken the unusual step of downgrading the console to being able to read only chips up to 512MB, essentially taking Datel's 2GB+ wares out of commission. Yeah, classy. Datel's retaliation is in the finest Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, namely to assert antitrust concerns and to claim its right to act as a competitor to Microsoft in the memory market for Redmond's own console. It all sounds rather silly to us too, and could probably have been avoided by a rational compromise, but what's the fun in that?
GOOD! I hope Datel wins this battle. Microsoft accessories are ridiculously overpriced. Competition is good for us consumers!
@WarpedZappa
Doubtful. Microsoft would buy them out or settle before letting them win. If this case is being handled stateside, its a sure bet they'll loose.
I love how its ok when Apple does it but when Microsoft does it then they are just evil... I'm not really a big fan of either, but it does seem a bit hypocritical...
@(Unverified) Actually it hasn't been decided that in this market, Microsoft is legally evil. That will be a factor in anti-trust. how much power does Microsoft have in this market. Also there are issues of relationship between the console and memory etc. It is possible that the courts will decide that in fact there's no anti-trust violation going on due to a limited marketshare and the fact that Microsoft isn't using their power to stiffle competition for an unrelated product (which is what happened in the computer side when they tried to force OEMs to load IE and only IE in order to preload Windows)
Apple totally lacks market power in the personal computer market so at this point they get a pass to do as they please. Perhaps for Microsoft and gaming consoles the same will happen. Let's wait and see.
@(Unverified)
Last time I checked Apple didn't lock out your computer to personal memory and hard drive upgrades.
@(Unverified) Do you think that MS is 'evil?' The article doesn't pass any judgment beyond a sarcastic 'Yeah, classy.'
Is this an issue of preventing hacking or just an issue of licensing?
Whats the difference between this and the whole Apple-Palm Pre debate going on? If Datel wanted to sell its products, they should just use the money they're paying their lawyers to get their stuff licensed.
And I'm saying this as a person who has had one of these cards in the past, which gave out in 3 months. POS.
@PBB Even if they got their stuff licensed, MS would not allow an expandable device. They'd lose money on their stupid Hard Drives they overprice. Plus, their console tiers would take a hit. Why buy a pro or elite when you can just but an expandable SDHC card?
When buying just the bare minimum of accessories (HDD, memory units, wireless) for the cheapest (Arcade) XBox 360 can more than double the price of the entire console, the customer is getting ripped off. Add-on controllers for the Wii may be expensive, but at least one gets to use any SD(HC) card with it. XBox owners get ripped off at every step.
Competition in this case is a requirement and I hope that the judge will recognize this. If only for the same of Microsoft, whose console is quickly becoming third in the current console race wherever it hasn't reached that position yet.
Hope datel wins, I wonder if they could use the carterphone ruling to help them.
MS has lost my brand loyalty over the past few weeks.
@(Unverified)
So basically microsoft is acting just like att back in the day when you could only rent att only phones and disallowed all third party devices...
@(Unverified) What's up with this new comment system? I was replying to a post halfway up the page and it ended up down here.
I would abandon the Xbox 360 in a heartbeat for the PS3 if I could transfer my Rock Band purchases (nearly $300 in DLC). The shit that they continue to pull that screws over consumers and other businesses in equal measure.
Off topic: Does it bug anyone else that there are more than one "Highest Ranked" posts? That honor indicates the *top ranked* post, so there should only be one in any given comment section. Same thing goes for "Lowest Ranked". Might just be me :)
Also, how does one become 'verified' for this comment system?
@(Unverified)
I agree with "Highest" and "Lowest" since they already have a "Highly" label too. Doesn't make sense!!
I came into the new Engadget site and saw I wasn't logged in. So I tried to log in, forgot my password, had it emailed to me, logged in, asked me to pick a username (even though I had already picked one before), and here I am. I'm not sure which part verified me O_O
Putting aside what MS did, it amazes me that datel could sue for this.
it's like me Sueing Ford motors for not allowing me to put in chevy parts in their ford engine.
@NinjaMonkey
That's horrible analogy, physical issues aside ford can't use copyright and eula to force you to use Ford only ports.
@NinjaMonkey Holy shit, what?
Please tell me you're not trying to use that analogy to backup what MS is doing?
I think my sarcasm detector is broken...
And the dick move of the week goes to...
What a cheap trick, Microsoft is the weenie of the week!
@(Unverified)
Um, Apple keeps a of the iTunes library just for third-party devs. Palm was just dicking around and being lazy.
I really don't think whoever put this plan of banning third party memory devices into action considered how much bad publicity would come from it.
Love my 360, but i really hate what MS is doing here.
Seems to me a compromise would be to format the SD cards that are used in the memory card with a special file system that is only readable on an xbox and not on computers. If they did this both sides would win. Microsoft wouldn't be able to say that the memory cards could be used to mod consoles and Datel couldn't say that their memory cards were blocked.
This does suck, and it's one of the few things that detracts from my otherwise happy end-user experience on the Xbox 360. This control over accessories is idiotic and only pushes customers away from MS.
So fine, MS... I can't use Datel's memory? Then I'll buy a knock-off 360 hard drive from the Hong Kong market. It's 100% compatible (because it's a perfect clone) and about 40% cheaper than the MS version.
Either way, I'm not giving MS any money for accessories if this is the way they're going to be. There are always clone makers out there, ready and willing to sell their stuff to me cheap.