It would be amusing if they actually won the lawsuit. But with that harem of MS lawyers, it's nigh impossible.

why even bother suing if you are going to lose the case for cheating...

This will go nowhere.

Oh noes, an Internet petition! I mean lawsuit!

I'm sure Bill Gate is quaking in his little space boots.

I kinda agree with Crab with this. Unfortunately it seems there were some cases of banning consoles that didn't use pirated games. Anyway its MS's right to ban any modded console whatever reasons they may have.

These guys knew the risk they were taking. Accept the punishment and move on with your life.

people modded there xboxes, got caught by MS and now thay want to take legal actions against MS for for following their terms and conditions?

this is one of the most stupid things I've heard or it's a very extravagant trap to get names and places of the modders.

Blu-ray MKVs!

Some of you people above me need to read what the lawsuit is about again. Its not about the bannings or the modded Xboxes and whether they were right or wrong. Its about Microsoft taking money for a prepayed service that the banned people can no longer access do to the direct actions of Microsoft. And Microsoft not giving a calculated return for the days not used.

It is also not being filed by the people that got banned its being filed by a law firm that thinks they might get some easy cash out of it.

This will probably never see the inside of a courtroom any way.

If Microsoft imposes a console ban on any person for any reason, they STILL have the right to claim a prorated refund of the services paid but not rendered on XBL. There is nothing in the ToS that covers a nonrefund. A group of lawyers would not take this case if they didn't have good evidence suggesting that these contractual obligations were not met.

Yes Microsoft reserves the right to ban consoles or XBL accounts, but they do not reserve the right to keep the remaining prorated fee for someone who paid for 12 months of service, but only received 3 months of service before the ban. Agree with the principal or not, the timing of the ban does not help Microsoft's "innocence" in the banning scenario since it can be easily shown to be timed on a big release game when they possessed the capability to carry out said bans months prior to MW2 or even ODST's release.

Whether you like or dislike pirates or not, these lawyers have a good case. Microsoft's ban on what they define as a pirate (game copiers and innocent case modders) does not reserve them the right to keep paid monies for unrendered services caused by a ban they decided to enforce... there is another word for that, it is called extortion(especially sense it was a timed ban and can be proven as such). Any half decent judge and jury will pick up on the pattern of the ban right away, as I am sure the lawyers will make it their duty to point out. Microsoft better get that bribe money ready, because a team of lawyers looking to take home 25 to 35 percent of a class action suit is millions for each attorney... and they won't let that go without a fight.

For argument sake, let's say Microsoft did ban 1,000,000 people. Let's say on average those accounts had 6 months of XBL remaining at the time of the ban. That means using Microsoft's cheapest subscription plan, they owe in Class Action dollars a total of $25 Million dollars to those banned users. The lawyers take a generous 35 percent ($8,750,000) and the rest is mailed out to those who bother to file a claim in vouchers or coupons of $16.25 to 1 million folks.

Possible End result:
Lawyers get rich and buy a house for their mistress.
Microsoft loses $25 million plus legal fees (or more).
Pirate or innocent gamer gets shafted and gets $16.25 and a banned 360. LMAO, gotta love justice.

So. Pirating is theft, yes?
What's the term for when you sell someone a good or service under false pretenses, one that they won't be able to use? If the bans were timed for MW2 then isn't that exactly what MS was doing?

I am not oledog5150 i am his wife.. he has another gamer-tag on xbox360 live and I talked him into getting his console modded.. My fault.. I did not know that would get him banned.. He was a hold out on new technology and it is My fault not his.. So I have made it up to him by buying him a xbox360 Elite which is being shipped to us as a surprise from me to him.. Microsoft I apologize.. Here is MORE money for you... Now can anyone tell me if his gamer-tag has been banned as well he still has like 11 months left on his xbox360 live account....

microsoft demands you buy a new xbox :P

bots bend over before your overlord.

MS will argue all involved with the class action suit violated terms of service which forfeited their accounts. Xbox-live is a privilege just like driving. Both can be taken away when you break the rules. It is MS choice. Just because you pay to play or drive does not mean you are guaranteed to.

Get in line...

"refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription"

if i read it right, the most anyone will get is less then 50 bucks. it just sounds like a law firm tring to make some money by taking advantage of a lot of piss off gamers. big deal you might get some of your money back but the law firm will get a good 10 to 20 percent form everyone the joins. maybe is just me but it seems like a waste of time for the xbox owner.

Even if you cancel your account m$ does not refund you for the time left on your account - So I don't know what these people are barking for.. Should not mod and think your going to get the perks of everyone else when you get caught.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!

How can the moron (And I mean that in a respectable way, in charge of this lawsuit, actually get past the virtual agreement that EVERY Xbox 360 owner agrees to...when making an account? People who got caught need to accept it, and either work on their street smarts, or go back to criminal/hustle school. (LOL) An investigation/lawsuit should be put against the idiot's, for actually having the balls to ask the court system to money and time on their whining. YES, IF YOU PIRATE GAMES....THEN YOU ARE A CRIMINAL! Instead of Jon and Kate, American Idol, and Monday Night Football/RAW..people should learn just a little bit about the Criminal Justice system and legal/civil rights.

SHUT UP AND BUY ANOTHER XOBX 360. (Although I do feel kinda bad for mis-informed people, who bought used 360's from Gamestop. Would not object to a Class Action Suit against them (GS)....for not checking the trade in units.) By now, people should know that used stuff from Ebay and Craigslist is pretty much a "Crap Shoot" these days. I know it sucks, but the American Criminal Justice systems takes better care of crooks, white collar, and super rich....I know a lot of 360 owners mods were not ment to pirate games, but that was the risk/chance most of you took when modding. NO REFUND...take responsibility.

what waste of time this is for Microsoft , its not like the pirates are going to win , they broke the terms and conditions of xbl that would most likely make any refunds null and void

All I am saying is that this is a team of lawyers, and they ain't showing up to court empty-handed. So all of our best wishes won't keep Microsoft out of court.

Trust me, these lawyers have been vetted, they have something good and admissible in court; they have something in writing. I am sure hey have a very good client's case as an example witness (a non game copying one), a EULA/ToS agreement from Microsoft and XBL, gone over with a fine-toothed comb. And they have paid subscriptions with services unrendered to the paying customer.

You guys can talk all the shyt you want, but the things above my friends is the perfect storm for a lawsuit, which is why it has passed muster to be tried in court. We can try to reason against it and rationalize all day on N4G... but this is going to trial. These lawyers want a chunk of Microsoft's money, and will ride the back of a single disenfranchised gamer if that is what they have to do.

I quote from the filing:

"If you are an Xbox Live subscriber, had your modified Xbox console banned from Xbox Live, were not refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription or have experienced other problems as a result of being banned, and would like to participate in a class action against Microsoft, please submit your information below."

So I guessed right. This lawsuit is not only due to the "timed" ban, but it is also on a lack of Microsoft refunding the prorated for the remaining XBL fee.

This language is solid, and it makes sense, and unfortunately for Microsoft, the ToS DOES NOT legally forfeit an XBL user's right to reclaim his prorated refund money for no longer being able to use XBL. This action is ILLEGAL, and it is IRRELEVANT if some other company got away with doing this to people before. Microsoft is a huge company, they will attract more Class Action lawsuits than an average size company. (Blockbuster got away with charging late fees FOREVER before the Class Action Suit hit them - remember that?)

Check the verbage on the law firms website: http://www.abingtonlaw.com/...
Unfortunately for Microsoft, this type of law these guys specialize in... maybe they shoulda hired them to write their EULA/ToS.

Oh, also people forget that modding your 360 to play "backed up" games from the original copy is not illegal if you own the copy. But then again who does that?

u do realize that the people who got banned are just that people. they hacked there xbox because some dint wanna to pay 60 for a game. some dint wanna pay 100 for a harddrive, some dint want there xbox to break. but the point is there are entitled to the money they paid. Most of you partake in some kind of illegal activity. whether it is drugs, stealing porn, music movies etc. so its really hipocritcal of you to complain.

... otherwise I don't see this one even getting out the door.

As far as I'm concerned Yanks have too many "rights". "Hey! You scuffed my white shoe! Im suing you for 2 million! or "My latte was cold! Im suing this starbucks for 1 million" or "I found a finger in m french fries...sue for 20 million" or "I tampered with my xbox knowing full well it would void everything and then I got banned. WTF?! Im sueing MS for 9 million." Good fvcking luck twats. Sue for this, and sue for that. What a waste of the courts time. Stupid people should be held accountable and counter sued for stupid lawsuits like this. Maybe only then would the retardedness end. Losers