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[Devedander]

OK first off I think lawsuits in the US are ridiculous (I live in the US) and don't support the frivlous, tax dollar wasting lawsuits that essentially are get rich quick schemes for some rather morally questionable people....

But when posts like this comes up it really does beg commenting...

QUOTE(BigSteel @ Jan 5 2008, 03:14 AM)

As a Canadian, I just can't understand how Americans think that they can sue for pretty much anything.  The stranger part is that they do sue and quite often win.  This seems like one of the more ridiculous ones that I have heard of.  How is not having Xbox Live for a few weeks worth $1.7M?

Edit: I am not is any way insinuating that all Americans are like this.

First off... 1.7mill?  You do understand how class action works right?  They are not splitting $5mill between them... they are suing on behalf of all live users who had problems connecting and any settlement would need to be split between all the plaintiffs.

Second, how much is 2 weeks of Live worth?  I don't know... how much revenue does Live take in a year?  At $50 a year with 1 million users it would be $50 million a year...  Now I do not have the exact numbers (and feel free to correct my assumption) but I am pretty sure there are more than 1 million Live users in the US, so how much is Live worth?  I don't know but it's sure not chicken scratch.

Remember lawsuits are often for punative value as well as compensatory value... the point may not be to compensate us for our loss as much as it is to remind MS this is not acceptable behavior and they shouldn't be expecting to get away with it.

Think about it, you are 30 minutes late getting home for curfew and you get grounded for 2 weeks... wait... it was only 30 minutes, shouldn't you only be grounded for 30 minutes?  No... it's not about making up the difference, it's about teaching a lesson.

And to those who are pointing out MS covering their butt in the TOS, I agree they did a great job with their lawyers but as much as we hate frivolous lawsuits, we also hate abusive TOS agreements... the courts sometimes rule in favor of a lawsuit to send a message more than to do whats right.

How fair is it to charge for a service you control entirely and yet claim no responsibility for failure of said system?  I don't know...

But fine print has often had a hard time holding up against the obvious right in court cases and if MS wants to play dirty with a 100 page TOS then users may fight back dirty as well...

MS may not be responsible for failures or outages of the system, but they are responsible for how they conduct their business... and this could be viewed not as a failure of the system, but a failure of the company to run themselves (that's where the negligence claim comes from).

If I was a doctor I might say I am not responsible if the nitrogen I use to burn off your wart causes a scar, but if I then pour 2 cups of it on you scaring your whole arm, I am still negligent even though I had covered my butt...

Remember... fair is fair whether you like it or not so do give these seemingly stupid actions a fair shake when condeming them.

And because it always happens, if someone is going to post that scaring someones arm is far worse than being without Live for 2 weeks, please don't bother.  You totally miss the point.... go look up "analogy" and see if you can figure out the point I am making....

[0794]

QUOTE(Devedander @ Jan 5 2008, 01:34 AM)

And because it always happens, if someone is going to post that scaring someones arm is far worse than being without Live for 2 weeks, please don't bother.  You totally miss the point.... go look up "analogy" and see if you can figure out the point I am making....

so true, so true, obviously you have been around here long enough to know that someone would go and try a line like that...

good points in your post about the all-encompassing TOS and how that may not be completely legal as well...also almost all common sense gets thrown out once present in a "court of law"

[Devedander]

QUOTE(SueMiBlitch @ Jan 5 2008, 05:21 AM)

what a bunch of douches...

i don't see people suing when power is knocked out or when their cellphones coverege fails etc...

M$ will probably give something to say sorry... this stuff happens... and 5mil is a bit steep

If a tree knocks down a powerline or a flood damages undergorund lines, no of course not.

If the power company is at fault though did you know they are responsible to cover your related expenses?  Like spoiled food in the fridge, batteries for flashlights and candles?  We don't sue becuase they pay us back for what they cost us.

Further more damage out of their control is one thing, but if the power company willfully does not upgrade a powerplant that supplies a city which is known will increase in population 100% in the next year then yes, they would be heald accountable for problems with supplying the power grid.

[StrictPuppet]

Many posts have been removed from this thread.

This is not the "Dump".  Please keep replies relevant to the news article.

No more anti-american, texan, canadian, w/e posts will be tolerated.  

If you are going to call the plaintiffs morons, do so as individuals.

[Devedander]

QUOTE(794 @ Jan 5 2008, 08:45 AM)

so true, so true, obviously you have been around here long enough to know that someone would go and try a line like that...

Believe me it's not only here... it's everywhere, although online it seems more prevalent than other places...

The irony is it's often the same guy who comes along and makes another analogy but totally ignores his own criticism when looking at his own analogy

[Lordscr]

I don't understand why they would sue MS, it's not like the service was out 100%. To tell you the truth, I'm amazed that MS is able to run Xbox Live so well with out a large interuption like this, for 5 years, across the world. MS didn't want this to happen and their doing there best to get it working properly.

[amak1131]

QUOTE(BigSteel @ Jan 4 2008, 06:14 PM)

As a Canadian, I just can't understand how Americans think that they can sue for pretty much anything.  The stranger part is that they do sue and quite often win.  This seems like one of the more ridiculous ones that I have heard of.  How is not having Xbox Live for a few weeks worth $1.7M?

Edit: I am not is any way insinuating that all Americans are like this.

Only the greedy/dumbass Americans are. This is exactly why we have stupid warnings on products. Take the ps2 network adapter. It states "Do NOT play console in bathtub". Sure, it should be obvious. But this covers for a $20 million lawsuit. Our court system needs some HEAVY repairs.

[faithlesssoul]

QUOTE(Xijar @ Jan 5 2008, 12:52 AM)

It's times like this I'm embarrassed to be an American.

it is so sad wtf happened to us dam one president take out a whole country

 

[Denders]

5 MILLION DOLLARS? How could they ever think that that's a reasonable price for compensation?

Xbox live only costs 60 dollar a year. When u buy a Toaster wich cost 15 dollars and the thing doesnt work u bring it back to the shop and they give u back ur 15 dollars. They dont give u back 2 million dollars just to compensate you.

Sorry, but as a European the first thing came to mind was "ONLY IN AMERICA". I know ur not all like that but this news always comes from overseas and to read that it was filled in Texas even makes it more "funny".

Stupid ass cowboys  

[xboxgamer733]

Xbox-Scene news articles are not places for continual, antagonistic remarks, especially ones that bash other members' nationalities.

By all means, you can freely discuss any aspects of this news topic; however, offensive posts [as deemed by Xbox-Scene staff] will removed, and the members who create the crass remarks will have their posting privileges removed. There's no reason why this topic cannot remain civil in nature.

[death trap]

I dont really understand your legal system.  If i went to my solicitor(laywer) with some bullshit like that they would piss themselfs before kicking me out of there office.

Is sueing someone as easy as filling out a form and posting it or do you have to speak to someone who knows what their talking about?

[GuntherMP5]

I really don't know why everyone is surprised about this. Yes, In the states we sue for everything. It is what it is, We are a Capitalist Country and it is all about Money. In Jersey we sue for anything, so this here is no surprise to me.

I think a lot of suits are stupid and a waste of Money and time for the system, The famous case of the Stella Liebeck getting $650,000 because her McDonalds Coffee was to hot is a joke. especially since the jury awarded her 2.9 Million and then the court had to lower it because it was totally unrealistic.

I personally don't think this particular case is anything near as frivolous as the McDonalds case. LIVE is a service, If there was a storm and the electric went out and JP&L (<- Insert your Electric Company) did not get things up in a timely manor, there would be a class action law suit. This is a good thing as it keeps companies in check to make sure they keep there service up and running without unnecessary burden to the customer.

I will have to keep an eye out on the CLASS ACTION sites for this particular sign up. MS did offer a game which which is a gesture of apology. But we have yet to see what game, It better be a new game because , what if I already Downloaded it, Points would be best, but the added 1 Month of service would be the most fair IMHO.

I happened to be off those last two weeks of December and if I didn't have to use up my days I would have been much better off at work. People say your only out $3 from the outage, thats unrealistic as well. If I am on vacation I alloted that time for Game Play and my time is a lot more valuable than a bunch of kid's time ( College Students included)  for the same recreation.

I think they will win but just as every other Class Action that you sign up for , maybe a year down the road you get a check for $3 or $5 maybe you get nothing but you already forgot about it, so it doesn't really matter. The suit has already been filed and I believe thy will Win ( settle out of court), I for one will be signing my name when it is posted to do so. It doesn't cost anything but it also lets the companies know that they have to maintain a quality service for their customers.


I know there will be people flaming this post, but thats my take on it. If you don't agree then by all means don't sign your name when the petition is posted on a class action site because  with the no LIVE fanboys on it, it might mean an extra $2 in that check for me.

[Merkaba]

Im still having problems connecting.  big deal.  get out of the house, its not like single player doesnt work.

[Viper323]

QUOTE(Denders @ Jan 5 2008, 07:51 AM)

5 MILLION DOLLARS? How could they ever think that that's a reasonable price for compensation?

Xbox live only costs 60 dollar a year. When u buy a Toaster wich cost 15 dollars and the thing doesnt work u bring it back to the shop and they give u back ur 15 dollars. They dont give u back 2 million dollars just to compensate you.

Sorry, but as a European the first thing came to mind was "ONLY IN AMERICA". I know ur not all like that but this news always comes from overseas and to read that it was filled in Texas even makes it more "funny".

Stupid ass cowboys  

Ever heard of a class action lawsuit?

[drjeckyl]

I had a 12 month subscription and Dec was suppose to be my last month and i never got to play most of my last month. So I am with the people who are suing. Microsoft did know about the hike sales during the holidays and knew people would be getting XBOX LIVE. I am really pissed off that I didnt get to play my last month. I will be on this people side on the sue part. I paid for a service which I did not get full axx too.