Microsoft Corp. has responded to a "still up in the air" class-action lawsuit over the unceremonious banning of up to one million Xbox 360 consoles from accessing its online gaming service, arguing the company is well within its rights to ban users from Xbox Live.
U.S. law firm Abington IP (click here for more information on the lawsuit) recently announced details on its website that it is considering filing a class-action lawsuit over Microsoft's worldwide crackdown of modified Xbox 360 consoles by banning them from the Xbox Live online network (the user can get a new console and continue to use the old GamerTag). The firm is asking those interested in joining the suit to contact them. They are also claiming that the mega-company waiting until after ODST and Modern Warfare 2 were released before going forward with the illegal bans.
Microsoft responded by saying: "Piracy is illegal and modifying an Xbox 360 is a violation of the Xbox Live Terms of Use. Microsoft is well within its legal rights to ban these users from Xbox Live."
The exact numbers of consoles banned has not been released but reports are stating everywhere from one-million to a couple hundred thousand. Under every theory of law the Xbox 360 parent company is 100% correct in their statement, if a user violates the terms of service agreed to when connecting to the Xbox LIVE service Microsoft can legally ban the console rendering it useless for online play. Only time will tell if this ridiculous class-action lawsuit will move forward, but the best advice to come from this whole thing is not to illegally mod your Xbox 360 - pay for everything legit and you won't get banned. Crime doesn't pay!
