If there is one thing nice about lawyers its that they'll speak the truth if it means it can win them the case, even if that truth has a companies PR team grinding their teeth down to nothing. Recently Microsoft began to ban the use of third party memory cards and other accessories on the 360, the announcement of which prompted a lawsuit from Datel Design & Development who make such things as memory cards and controllers for the 360.
The lawsuit basically says that Microsoft is monopolizing the market for "Multiplayer Online Dedicated Gaming Systems," and is using that monopoly to get control of the related market for accessories and the like. As such Datel can't sell related accessories if Microsoft won't let them and is thus creating their own monopoly. This antitrust suit was filed back in November.
Now Microsoft has answered back with a motion to dismiss the suit and they're pointing out the success of the Nintendo Wii and Apple Macs to do it. The dismissal points out that Datel's suit seems to forget that the Wii also has online gameplay and has sold far more than the 360, but Datel doesn't mention it at all in its suit. How can the 360 have a monopoly on Multiplayer Online Dedicated Gaming Systems when they aren't even the top selling system with that functionality (they also point out the DS has the same ability and has sold more as well), Microsoft is arguing.
As if touting Nintendo's amazing sales and online capabilities wasn't odd enough for Microsoft, it seems that the real savior for the company in this legal battle may be Apple. I'll explain after the jump.
See, Apple previously stopped Psystar, a producer of non-Apple machines sold with the Mac OS X operating system, from making said machines. They can do this because of "laws that block antitrust claims in situations when purchasers in a "single-brand aftermarket" (in this case the Xbox ecosystem) were made aware in advance that any aftermarket products (in this case the memory units and controllers) would need to come from or be authorized by the same company that offers the primary product (the Xbox 360)."
Microsoft says that this rule applies here as well: "Xbox 360 purchasers knowingly and voluntarily gave Microsoft the right to prohibit the use of unauthorized accessories," adding that "each Xbox 360 comes packaged with a software license requiring consumers to agree that the Xbox 360 software can be used only with Microsoft authorized accessories."
The motion is scheduled for a March 2 hearing in San Francisco.
Microsoft cites Apple Macs as a defense in Xbox antitrust case [TechFlash]
Contest:
4:00 PM on 01.24.2010
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Either I'm missing the point here or Microsoft is cherry-picking some very specific stuff out of a pile of things that totally blow their point out of the water.
okey dokey!!!
I made sure to read that fine print even though you can't read it until after you purchase the console. I don't care where it comes from but I'm not paying 50+ dollars for a 20 gig harddrive (which is really only 13 gigs after Microsoft uses 7)
Apple through its PSyStar lawsuit is being used as an example of a single-branded market, where Apple claimed you can only use our OS, with our product, and that by making a product that we specifically told you would not work always, is not our problem. Apple went one further and stopped PSYStar from making products at all.
MS likes money. MS would make more of it if their accessories were the only ones that worked on their console. Either that, or they really don't like any kind of modded saves whatsoever. MS is really adamant about that stuff, so that might be a reason as well. Really though, I wouldn't be surprised if they just wanted more cash, that's kinda their M.O.
Datel, on the other hand, wants to make money off the 360 without playing by Microsoft's rules.
I personally side with Datel in this instance, as locking out peripherals for a product that the consumers have already paid for is more of this "you paid for it but we own it" BS that you get with modchips.
Microsoft would've had my support if, each time the console signed into Live, it had to read the HD and Memory Units to make sure that they were liscensed. If they were unnofficial, then you got locked out of Live.
Telling people what they can and can't do with your privately owned network is one thing. Telling them what they can and can't do with a product that they purchased and own is another entirely.
I was about to challenge this. But then I remembered that this is a world where people sue each other, and big business is all-dominating. I remembered that this is a world where the small print on a product gives an SKU manufacturer the right to retroactively disable functionality on a device under the pretence of providing an ongoing "service" to the consumer. I put these two sad truths together, and then I remembered that a consumer no longer buys products – they enter agreements, and even though nobody ever reads these agreements they are designed to give the big businesses leverage and autonomy in a court of law.
Does this renew my long-lost faith in capitalism? No, sir, it does not.
Of course, there are some accessories (like early versions of the Intercooler from Nyko) that can physically damage or break your system. Since most people are too dense to realize an accessory could damage the console, they immediately blame MS. So, in essence, they could very well be trying to protect what's left of the 360's reliability reputation.
For example, certain compatibility issues can arise too. Some third party PS3 controllers lack Sixaxis support, and are therefore unusable in most circumstances. That's the kind of thing MS is probably trying to avoid. Same thing happend with some PS2 memory cards that required one time interaction with included discs, as a result anyone who got a used one was immediately fucked without it.
Of course, this is the non-court side of it. I don't necessarily agree with MS banning the third party peripherals, but I do see why they might have a reason to.
/longcomment
Yeah, but now MS stands alone. Without competition, MS can price their products even higher if they so wish, because it will be the consumer's only option. This is terrible for consumers who don't have the money to buy expensive first-party items (One advantage third-party items have is they are usually cheaper).
I think you definitely have a point, but I still don't like the sound of this. This story kind of reminds me of the Atari. Unlicensed 3rd-party software flooded the market with crap shovelware and the consumer was typically unaware that they were buying an inferior product. So for their customers protection, Nintendo put the "Official Nintendo Seal" on their games for the NES.
However, at the same time, to simply ban 3rd-party accessories is definitely a "greedy" move that in light of M$ history is definitely not in our best interests. So while M$ is legally justified in doing so, I don't think it makes it any less of a dick move.
Of course, I doubt anybody will stop buying 360s because of this.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Particularly, there might be actual claims of illegal tying. That is to say, that by forcing you to buy MS brand hard drives for the Xbox, when other generic hd's will work, they are using their monopoly of the Xbox console (which is an OK monopoly) in an anticompetitive manner with regard to other things (in this case, hard drives).
When framed this way, it actually sounds a lot like FTC v. Morton Salt Co., where the court held that Morton Salt couldn't have a stipulation in their license agreement for a patented canning machine requiring users to buy Morton Salt brand salt tablets to use with it.
In this case, MS' activity gets them undeserved profits on HD sales (because using a 3rd party HD may be against the license agreement of the console) and it displaces HD sales in the market by forcing people to buy MS brand ones. Both of these are negative effects of their activity.
Really, this case is anything but a gimme.
"Microsoft is not banning third party products at all, their simply saying if you want to produce products for our hardware we will have final say on them."
Which is essentially a ban on any memory units that provide better functionality or cheaper price per GB/Mb.
My main grievance, however, stems from the fact that the 360 has been out for roughly 3-4 years at least? Suddenly pulling this on the customer screams of ethical misconduct towards the consumers who by MS doing nothing to stop 3rd party sooner have caused them harm. If the 360 had been out for maybe just a year, fine. But to pull this now that these people have likely already purchased these devices because they are cheaper or, in some cases, better really reeks from a moral stand point.
Not cool, to say the least.
If MS wins this case they'll be setting a precedence for future companies to capitalize upon.
Something ALL western court houses will have to follow when dealing with new cases.
In other words, if MS wins that is, prices WILL go through the roof.
And they'll have a legal RIGHT to charge whatever they please... Even IF it is a monopoly.
I hope MS loses... Because, as expensive as their merchandise costs are, I can still just about afford it. If this passes who knows WHAT they'll choose to charge!
Its kinda funny(actually, not at all) whenever I have to agree to an EULA or ToS, I always skim through it(more than most people do) and say aloud; "uh huh...yep...ok...blah blah blah, I am <Developer/Company's> bitch" because in essence, you are at the mercy of the company. Don't want to be? Don't use their product/service.
Whenever a new patch comes out for WoW, you'll likely hear me skimming through the agreement saying "I am Blizzards* bitch" as I click 'Accept' and pickup my torn clothes up off the floor after my rape-shower. Yeah, let that image sink in. Now picture THAT every time you agree to a ToS/EULA/NDA/etc.
If you don't like it, you could always create your own game console/game/product. :)
*Replace 'Blizzard' with Microsoft, Sony, Apple, whomever.
Which is essentially a ban on any memory units that provide better functionality or cheaper price per GB/Mb."
No, what this means is that Microsoft has the option to approve a 3rd party piece of hardware, the price point at which that piece of hardware will be sold at is determined after this approval phase of testing and is the sole responsibility of the company selling it. As such MS is NOT creating a monopoly and trying to raise their own prices, they're lashing out at someone who's releasing hardware that may damage their users console.
This isn't saying that I don't think it's a bit of an asshole approach, they could have just updated thier EULA to say that the use of 3rd party peripherals voids your warranty. A fair trade off, as the consumer enters the 3rd party market at thier own risk, and any damages that occur don't become a drain on MS's support staff, and they make a bit more money on replacement consoles.
However, this inspires absolutely no good will from me. I've always enjoyed options with my systems - it's a lot better when you try to kill your competition with actions that benefit consumers, not actions that only benefit Microsoft.
I mean, hell, I've seen tons of unofficial accessories for Nintendo and Sony systems. However, I still would pay for Nintendo/Sony brand accessories due to general quality and, usually, competitive pricing. Microsoft, no one would buy Datel products over your own if you didn't charge out the ass for something that has less functionality.
Just saying.
"Many of these comments make me bang my head due to all of the economic ignorance."
The last thing I come to the comments section for anymore is intellectual debate. Sometimes I click comments by habit.. sometimes I may want to know what some people may think about a game that just came out. Occasionally I'll throw out an argument or two, but I almost always regret it anymore it seems like, because I know it's going to go nowhere.
Hhahahahahahhhahhahah. Microsoft makes the shittiest accessories known to man. My old mad cats mic lasted longer than microsofts, and their play and charge kites are a piece of shit.
Really? Because I've never known anyone, beyond you, that's ever had a problem with a play and charge kit. It's a cord and a battery, unless you do something stupid then theres really no way for it to break. Same with the mics, I take care of mine, and all 3 of the wired mics I have lying around still work great, along with the wireless ones. So either a) you're an idiot or b) you just had bad luck. I've never seen a MadCatz anything last more than a few months, and I used to buy a ton of MC accessories before I lost all hope for them. You also quite obviously haven't managed the advanced copy and paste functions on your keyboard, which leads me more torwards option A above. Try actually taking care of electronic devices, instead of just throwing them on the floor like I somehow get the idea that you do.
If I want to use an unofficial memory card, I should be able to.
You say "Stupid buyer", yet the Datel products were smart buys at the time. For less money than official Microsoft memory cards, you'd get 4 times the storage capacity. I'd saying buying the official product would be stupid, unless you had clairvoyance.
And prices don't need to soar. They're already ridiculous. $150 for a 120GB hard-drive? I got a 250GB hard-drive for my PS3 for $45. There's no sense in that - it's highway robbery.
This really is a serious illegal tying issue, along with potential first sale doctrine issue.
It's a completely DIFFERENT thing for someone to sell their own hardware along with another persons unlicensed software compared to selling hardware, and then prohibiting the buyers from not only modifying the console, but from prohibiting them from using any 3rd party peripheral...
How is this any different from Nintendo banning Action Replay and Freeloaders?
And if there IS any weight behind them trying to avoid mutilatd gamesaves, then I'm doubly behind their actions. Anything to help stop the cheating muthafukkas is just grand by me.