Lawyer behind Xbox Live suit speaks out
by Richard Mitchell 
{ Jan 16th 2008 at 1:45PM }
Multiplayer caught up with Jason Gibson, the lawyer for three Texas residents that have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft for the problems that began plaguing Xbox Live at the end of 2007. Gibson was quick to dismiss the notion that his clients were merely trying to "get rich" and that the Live problems are "to them, a real issue." Gibson explains that Shannon Smith, on of the three plaintiffs, contacted him after receiving no response from Microsoft regarding Xbox Live's issues. Gibson explains that a class action lawsuit is the only method for dealing with large companies, saying, "When you have one person who is mad and they can't get a response, and they can't get their complaints addressed by a company like Microsoft, the only way to get their attention is in numbers." Gibson further asserts that Microsoft must have anticipated the rapid influx of Live subscribers at the end of 2007, which is what the company blames for the persistent problems. Microsoft, thanks to a recent gag order, will not comment on the status of Xbox Live due to the pending litigation, though they will be offering a free Xbox Live Arcade game to Live members as an apology.
So, would fixing the problems end the suit? Not according to Gibson, who claims that he has received emails from hundreds of gamers, most of them in support of the cause, and that fifty more plaintiffs have now joined the case. While the plaintiffs undoubtedly want the service fixed, they are also seeking damages in excess of $5 million for the money spent during the outages and other problems. So, given that there are 10 million Live members now, and assuming Gibson wins the suit, we're really looking forward to our $0.50 check from Microsoft.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
mattclarkie @ Jan 16th 2008 1:52PM
Don't give these people oxygen, and then their brains will die, wait, too late for that.
Anyway, this case is so ridiculous we should just ignore it.
If the length of the comments increases to 2 or more I will personally cut the phonelines of everyone who comments. lol.
Dick @ Jan 16th 2008 2:33PM
you're an idiot guy.
So we should just trust microsoft to do right by us?
I have tried to start matches in Halo and GoW so many times, only to have some bizarre log-off from xbox live, I stopped playing multiplayer games. It's absurd that I can't use a service I pay for and want.
But I'm supposed to just hold on, because all-mighty M$ will take care of it in due time.
Viridium @ Jan 16th 2008 2:44PM
Dick - pretty much you'll have to trust Microsoft. Given their track record, I trust them to do right by me way more than I'd trust Sony. I'm pretty sure the user agreement/terms of service that you agreed to says that there's NO guarantee about the uptime of the service.
mattclarkie @ Jan 16th 2008 3:07PM
O.K. I warned you, everyone give me your addresses and I try to cut your lines as soon as possible. I am busy at the moment so I might not get there for a few weeks, so if you want you can sue me for not keeping my word.
Oh crap, now I have commented again I have to cut my line as well.
Now onto a serious comment.
About 1 year ago my phone line ballsed up and I couldn't hold a DSL connection. I contacted BT and they sent a dude round, he fixed the problem, but 3 days later it went again, so they send another dude. In total I had no net for 5/6 days, I didn't sue them, I was happy they fixed it for free in a period of time I felt was reasonable, these companies have alot of work to do, and they can't always be on to an issue immediately. Now if it had been 2 weeks I would have complained, but 5 days was acceptable.
noxa @ Jan 16th 2008 1:52PM
Do you mean 50 cents? :P
Richard Mitchell @ Jan 16th 2008 2:05PM
Ahem. Yes. I did.
xenocidic @ Jan 16th 2008 2:28PM
and you forget the lawyers get a cut, so it's really like $0.25
IncredibleBulk92 @ Jan 16th 2008 1:59PM
Gotta say theres not a lot of point in you guys wasting your time reporting this story, its going to get thrown out very quickly and these guys are never going to get $5 million for the couple of days they missed on live. It was Christmas you dumbasses, go see your family, xbox live will be fixed in a week or 2 and then you'll be able to play online...
money grabbers
Diamondxp @ Jan 16th 2008 2:01PM
Here is my 2 Cents!
Keep My 2 Dollars.
Xboxlive Best Online gaming Ever!
xenocidic @ Jan 16th 2008 2:04PM
I once signed up for a class action lawsuit against PayPal and it was literally like $3.67 that I got.
sambob117 @ Jan 16th 2008 2:08PM
What's to piss and moan about? So live was down for a couple days, is there nothing else to do on a holiday? The same people that spend too much time playing video games also have to much time to waste bothering everyone else. Anyway aren't we already getting a free game or something?
Captain Obvious @ Jan 16th 2008 2:09PM
Yeah, you're forgetting to take this attorney's cut into your calculations. If successful, he'll probably get 40% of the settlement, reducing our share even further.
Mike @ Jan 16th 2008 2:09PM
Assuming the $5 million is right, that would be about 37 cents per user (less than the cost of mailing the check). But that's okay because the lawyer would get over a million all to himself.
Troy @ Jan 16th 2008 3:28PM
Lawyers get 40% (plus expenses) as a standard rate.
Patrick @ Jan 16th 2008 2:12PM
Does this mean I can sue the bus company when my bus is late and makes me late for work? Or when McDonalds gets my order wrong? Or the wind knocks down out my cable/internet for a while? (that last one actually happened and they refused to give any type of reimbursement, even though I'm taking courses through long distance learning and having the tubes at my ready is pretty important.)
Honestly, unless this drastically effected their lives, and they're suffering from emotional distress because of it they should just drop it and move on.
Just grin and bear it.
Intentless @ Jan 16th 2008 2:22PM
Having previously worked for the cable company just wanna ask.
When your cable go down. Did you contact them when it first went down? And was the 'outage' longer than a 24 hour period?
Larry *not allowed to say cheevo* @ Jan 16th 2008 2:28PM
Intentless has a point. You should really put live service on the same level with your cable, phone, internet, or cell service. You aren't going to put up with that for this LONG... are you?
When my internet or cable goes out, I call, right away. They fix it, and problem is over. I get a reason why it's not working, or/and a solution to the problem (DIY fix or scheduled service call). Try getting that out of Xbox.
It's a valid point.
Dick @ Jan 16th 2008 2:37PM
@ Patrick - You must be another corporate shill, trolling boards and wiki-pages searching for your company's info and doing nothing but saying glowing things (whilst denegrading your enemies/competition).
@Intentless/Larry (CHEEVO!)
You guys are right on. I dont pay for something just to not use it, let it sit there, and piss me off.
Intentless @ Jan 16th 2008 2:48PM
Actually.. 'Dick' when it comes to cable you are paying for the availability of it being there not the actual use. If you don't watch tv for a whole month you still have to pay for that month.
What I was trying to get at is if you don't call the cable company when you lose service they don't have any legal record of lost service. And per FCC regulations they are not required to credit your service unless the outage is more than 24 hrs and only for full 24 hour blocks. In addition only for full service outages a single group of channels or in the case of old ladies the single channel being out for an hour shouldn't be credited.
Patrick @ Jan 16th 2008 2:49PM
Haha, yep corporate shrill that's me :D I'm not saying that everyone without service shouldn't get some kind of compensation, but 5 mil? Really? C'mon. I'd say a free month is more appropriate than a game.
@ Intentless, Yes, I talked to them, right away, it was down multiple times over the course of about two weeks. It was very frustrating. I was told, by two different people, to unplug my router and then plug it back in then call them back in 45 minutes. Like I'm an idiot and hadn't already done that. But the issue was resolved, eventually, and all's good now. But this is the new thing with companies. I dunno what it's all about but customer service is almost non existant anymore.
Intentless @ Jan 16th 2008 2:56PM
Being as I've worked in customer service for a few years now I can tell you it comes to the almighty dollar.
Aside from financial institutions company's that hire in the US are just hiring anybody and sadly Americans that care about their work and take pride in what they do are few and far between and sadly a large potential of those do mean well but they still lack intelligence...
Fezmid @ Jan 16th 2008 9:11PM
"When your cable go down. Did you contact them when it first went down? And was the 'outage' longer than a 24 hour period?"
Actually, when I first signed up for broadband with AT&T (cable - before they were purchased by Comcast), I couldn't get through their edge servers -- I could see the entire AT&T internal network, but the MAC on my router wasn't properly registered with their edge servers... I was on the phone with AT&T nearly every day for at least 2-4 hours for an entire MONTH getting them to fix the service... After finally getting them to fix the problem, I asked for some compensation and you know what they said? "We won't charge you for the month you didn't hvae service."
XBL being down is far less, and MS is compensating us with a free game.
Sammy D Kat @ Jan 16th 2008 3:26PM
Shannon Smith, plaintiff: "It took me an extra 20 seconds to get matched up on Team Slayer! Waaa, waaa! I want a dollar! Mommy!"
DownwardMonkey @ Jan 16th 2008 2:23PM
I dunno, I don't really think it's going anywhere and I really don't agree with the US obsession with suing everyone but maybe they are a pro-clan and unable to meet up over Christmas. These pro gamers really do take their games seriously these days and when you look at the prize money it's not hard to see why.
mike k. @ Jan 16th 2008 2:23PM
The fun part is a large portion of that 10 million will go to that lawyer. In the end everybody will get a 5 cents... But the interesting thing I see, is that it may get thrown out by a judge considering MS is already going to offer compensation in the form of a free game, even before they were sued.
Larry *not allowed to say cheevo* @ Jan 16th 2008 2:24PM
Hahaha! Nice! I'll take my freakin' 50 cents thank you very much. Oh man!
Well, that's the way of the world and if enough people are pissed off about it they are going to do something. Stupid or not, they are out there making whatever point they have.
x silence x @ Jan 16th 2008 2:27PM
Personally, I was angry as well. Rather then filing a lawsuit I contacted the Better Business Bureau and reported that XBL was not working and that XBL customer support would not help me. I don't want an arcade game as I'm sure I won't play it. What I do want is XBL time that I paid for.
Yesterday I was contacted by XBL and on Friday we will discuss what compensation I will be receiving. I found this to be a much better way to solve the problem. A lawsuit is a little much if you ask me.
TORO @ Jan 16th 2008 3:42PM
What you did is a little much, if you ask me.
Phocas @ Jan 16th 2008 5:25PM
Agreed! That falls on the lame side of things. What do you expect, some lady in India answering a phone, is going to be able to do for you? Major Nelson was twittering like a madman with updates. With such a large network it is going to have problems that is a given. Compensation for a week of live cannot be over 2 dollars so the arcade game is more than fair. Take a step back and rationalize what you are saying and acting upon or just get a life.
Dale @ Jan 16th 2008 2:34PM
Clearly having no lives is "to them, a bigger problem."
Am I upset it was down, as a paying member? Sure. But shit happens, and I have plenty of other things to do with my time while I wait for it to return to full strength.
Ed @ Jan 16th 2008 2:49PM
Jason Gibson, those three Texans and Dick(poster#2) can suck my balls. Suck em dry.
mcwattersm @ Jan 16th 2008 2:58PM
Are people SERIOUSLY this upset they couldn't play online?
For fucks sake, this is a multi million dollar lawsuit! Do people really depend on their Xbox to get through their day? Go out and socialize with real people in person!
TheVMan @ Jan 16th 2008 3:04PM
Seriously...
"Boohoo, I didn't get to play my video games with people I don't even know online. I'm gonna sue MS for millions even though I only pay about $5 dollars a month for service, which I didn't even really pay, my parent's did because i'm a pimple faced loser!" -Crybabies
Sorry, maybe that was a little bit of an overreaction... Also, most of these games do have an offline version!
Terd Ferguson @ Jan 16th 2008 3:10PM
Is MS going to give us a free game that we won't be able to play online, oh the irony.
I love all these other posters saying get a life, you're on xboxfanboy, that's another ironic statement.
Anyways, live still isn't working, took us 10 tries last night with a party of three to get into 1 team deathmatch.
I'm sure Infinity Ward is getting pissed also, since it's mainly out of there control. Why else would gears move to the #2 spot a few weeks ago.
HaVoC @ Jan 16th 2008 3:08PM
Here is exactly why the lawsuit will fail, no matter what arguement gets made by this lawyer. Taken form the Xbox Live Terms of Use at http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/legal/?WT.svl=nav
16. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY
We provide the Service "as-is," "with all faults" and "as available." The Microsoft Parties give no express warranties, guarantees or conditions. You may have additional consumer rights under your local laws that this contract cannot change. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanlike effort and non-infringement.
Kev @ Jan 16th 2008 4:50PM
Thank you!
The Grif Reaper on XBLA @ Jan 16th 2008 3:12PM
If you can sue MS for technical difficulties on a service that you are paying for.....
Can you sue the cable company for all the times the cable goes out?
Can you sue the Phone company when your internet connection goes down?
Can you sue a bank when an ATM is out of order?
Legally no. Why? Read the Terms of Service that you agree to when you sign up for Xbox Live...
"Microsoft reserves complete and sole discretion with respect to the operation of the Service. Microsoft may, among other things: (a) restrict or limit access to the Service; (b) retrieve information from the original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, personal computer and any connected peripheral device used to log onto the Service as necessary to operate and protect the security of the Service, and to enforce this Agreement; and (c) upgrade, modify, withdraw, suspend, or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Service or any game from time to time without notice, which may involve the automatic download of related software directly to your original Xbox, Xbox 360 console or personal computer, and which software may prevent you from accessing the Service, playing pirated games, or using unauthorized peripheral devices."
Because of this, paragraph, they have the rights to provide no service whatsoever, even though you are paying for it. Cable and internet companies cover their butts in the same way.
AnOffday @ Jan 16th 2008 3:15PM
They're suing because MS is basically ignoring them. Which they do all the time. MS customer service sucks.
HaVoC @ Jan 16th 2008 3:12PM
I contacted the BBB too a few weeks back. I got a call from Microsoft, but I wasn't able to answer. They asked me to call back to their customer support number, but when I did they just told me they had no idea what the reference number left on my answering service was about.
AnOffday @ Jan 16th 2008 3:13PM
I agree with these people. MS sucks hard recently. And I know from experience that they honestly don't give a crap about a single person.
Intentless @ Jan 16th 2008 3:28PM
Welcome to corporate America. Oh yeah and general humanity as well.
All the people that complain about not being treated as individuals tend to be the individuals that only care for themselves anyway.... IMO...
Fizzle @ Jan 16th 2008 3:58PM
The Plaintiffs in these cases rarely ever stand a chance of getting a significant amount of money. The Lawyers on the other hand generally take home 50 to 80% of the settlement. So someone IS trying to get rich here, it's just the people that are already rich, so goes the American way.
AnOffday @ Jan 16th 2008 3:50PM
I'm a big MS fanboy, but something needs to be done about this Live issue. It was total crap. Also, something else to think about - where's our free game we were promised?
Intentless @ Jan 16th 2008 3:53PM
You can thank the gag order from the law suit holding back any details of any game.
Benjamin09 @ Jan 16th 2008 4:19PM
Ummm, we would be lucky to see 50 cents out of this if they won the class action lawsuit. Lawyer fee =....depends on hours. SOO we might be lucky to see ....10 cents!
I'll stick with the free game they are going to proved us with!
Premo @ Jan 16th 2008 4:30PM
Fifty cents isnt going to help anyone who can afford xbox live gold.
I would much rather they force microsoft to donate it to some charitable organization rather than to the consumer, if they honestly HAVE to sue over this.
Besides, were already getting a free arcade game.
If its worth even 400 points normally, theyre basically giving us 4 dollars each, which is 8x more than the suit anyway.
c4v3man @ Jan 16th 2008 4:42PM
Actually $5...
We need tort reform... when Microsoft can force the plaintiffs to pay for Microsoft's legal fees when this case is dropped is when we'll see fewer lawsuits like this.
Knight Marquise @ Jan 16th 2008 4:58PM
C4v3man,
THANK YOU!!! Yes...tort reform. We need it.
Jonman @ Jan 16th 2008 5:06PM
10 million subscribers. yeah, 60% of whom have Silver accounts, so (a): can't play online anyway, and (b): don't pay a cent for the limited service they get, so shouldn't be due any compensation.
So I'll look forward to my $1.20 cheque.
Frankly, the offer of a $4 or $8 XBLA game looks generous in comparison, does it not?
I advise anyone who's offerred the chance to join the class action lawsuit to turn it down. Frivolous lawsuits like this just line rich lawyers pockets. Screw 'em.
James @ Jan 16th 2008 5:13PM
I'm a bit confused: is the only reason we don't know what the game we're supposed to get is (or how we're supposed to get it) because of this lawsuit? Because that would royally piss me off.
Oh, and about the dollar figures: I could legitimately see it being worth up to ~5 dollars, because a 1-month card (which *somebody* must buy, 'cause they still sell 'em) has an MSRP of 10 dollars, and the outage was bad enough to complain about for close to half a month. Granted, *most* people probably paid more like a buck or two, but I could see a court figuring based on the worst-case cost, not the average.