Didn't see a thread on this and thought some of you would be interested in it.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Xbox-Banned-Import-Ban-Motorola-Patent-Suit-ITC-Ban,news-15334.html

Courtesy of the Steam forums.

Seems the xbox controller steps on the toes of a patent owned my Motarola in some way.

Wonder how this would affect next gen consoles if this follows through (Which I highly doubt).

Fortuantly, they're not going to pass a law stating that all current copies of the 360 need to be burned/destroyed, as that breaks one of articles in the Bill of Rights (the one that says you can't punish someone for having done something that violates a new law before it was signed and implemented. I.e. It's illegal to buy Cuban Cigars after the Embargo, but but if you bought yours pre-embargo, you're good.) It just says that all unsold consoles are illegal to buy.

Besides, the controller is (seemingly) using Motorla's wireless capabiltiy without their permission.

i doubt microsoft will simply roll over and let the xbox be banned.

worst case scenario they change the wireless technology involved.

although to be honest this is just another obvious case of companies abusing intellectual properties, and why its a bad idea to let people try to own and monopolize technology as an excuse to take money from other people who did nothing wrong or to stagnate competition.

Just makes me think of the brotherhood of steel.

I remembee there being a suite against Sony for the vibration technology they used in their controllers, but that apparently got cleared up since my PS3 controller still vibrates

This is more serious though, since it apparently touches the way the controller communicates with the console. No easy or cheap fix that one if they can't settle this. But i'm sure they can, the amount of money in this is quite a lot.

Still, funny seeing a game publisher get their fingers burned by intellectual property infringement

Patent lawyers, rejoice! We've entered the era of the tech cockblock. This will be great for consumers.

Hah! Gotta love those wacky patent infringements. My guess is that the ban won't go through, but Microsoft will still end up paying Motorola some money.

I see the Xbox 360 being the same as it is until the next console. As DarthRavanger said they may only pay some money to Motorola.

I hope they pay a lot of money. And I mean a lot.

Absolutely. This type of thing is always about delaying someone's product to decrease competition or corporate patent watchers getting money for their employers via their patent portfolio. Oh, and also patent lawyers getting phat czechs.

It won't be a lot to them. Remember when Sony hijacked the CD-ROM drives on thousands of personal computers via an audio CD rootkit? Of course you don't...all they got was a slap on the wrist, and that was for something that caused a LOT of problems for a LOT of customers. They'll pay a couple of bucks and then everyone will move on...just like always.

LOL wut?

This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of dumb [censored]. This ranks right up there amongst some of the dumbest things.

Why? So they can make up the cost by charging the consumers more, or cutting jobs? If you think the money's going to come right out of CEO pockets and they'll learn their lesson, that's not how business works.

Hahaha, no I know. I want them to increase the fee to use Xbox Live, just so all the Xbox users will groan.

It seems more likely MS would pay through the nose rather than cripple it's share in the market like that.

Also foreign constitutional laws are weird. In the UK we don't let our judges write laws, and we don't let the executive overturn judicial decisions.

They just pass weirdly specific amendments after the fact.

Why can't Motorolla just not accept monetary settlement?

Can you even do that?

Oh, okay. As a PC gamer, I would respond to this with a resounding "Whatever".

Personally I hope it accelerates development of the next gen console, so we can move beyond 2005 already.

Really? You hope for people you will never know to have hardships?

I love how technology companies themselves are barring the expansion of the technological field with ridiculous stuff like this.

They could, depending on how the law works, appeal the Judge's decision, but if they were negotiating out of court they would be on more equal ground.

Of course, that's moot, since the Judge is going for a total ban, and the only way from that is down for Motorolla.

For what reasons? Why do you want to make people you don't know to pay more money for something completely unrelated to you?

There is no logic to that.

Anyway, whatever they do pay, will be like pocket change to them and be regained a few months.

Intellectual property rights are ridiculous.

Yes, because they use a competing console, therefore they are the enemy and must be crushed.

Was Microsoft or one of their consoles responsible for some kind of personal harm? I'm curious why it is that you want this to happen. Obviously, Microsoft has done something very seriously bad directly to you or a loved one. Or maybe it was one of us Xbox users?

Or do you just hate them because "everybody else" does?

Ignoring the countless devices Apple has had held at customs for any period of time (which is more numerous than any other tech company):

1. Motorola get's first injunction against Windows 7 and 360 in Germany (not yet enforced due to appeal) for wifi patents

2. Microsoft gets injunction against Motorola in the US on smartphones for mail and calendar patents

3. Motorola is on the verge on an injunction in the US on the 360 now as well.


Seriously, the whole system is a mess. The above is just a small sample of how screwed up it is right now. Google Apple and ITC bar for a list of all the products Apple has barred from various countries.

I think it's just human nature to divide into 2 groups that then proceed to feel animosity toward each other for belonging to the other group. Some folkd don't have much to worry about outside of the stuff they buy, so that's where they draw their dividing lines...thus, console wars, Intel vs. AMD, nVidia vs. ATI, Mac vs. PC, Sega vs. Nintendo (oops...I'm old), etc. It's juvenile, but it happens...every time...about everything. I guess it's just who we are.


Yep...like I said, now is a good time to be a patent attorney. I have to say, though, that Apple seems to be the current cockblock-fu champ.

As I recall, that suit was against both Sony and Microsoft. MS settled, Sony fought. And lost. Which is why the first PS3 controller was the "Sixaxis", with no vibration. But they clearly managed an agreement, since the Dualshock 3 eventually was released.

edit:

My main grudge against MS and the XBox? (Well, besides the generic lifelong "Apple vs MS" thing )

One word: Bungie. Bungie was one of the big "Mac first" game developers. Halo was originally announced for the Mac, even showcased during the keynote address at one year's Macworld convention. And then Microsoft decided they needed a "killer app" to sell the original Xbox, and threw lots of money at the problem. Bye, bye Bungie, independant game studio; so much for them producing Mac games; and heck - it even took forever for Halo/Halo 2 to show up on PC (with H2 having the annoying "gotta use Vista!" to strongarm you into upgrading). And Halo 3 never showed up on PC.

So, yeah. Got a few minor issues with MS/Xbox. Not enough to stop me from having MS Office, and Windows 7, obviously.

Doesn't help that I've also always been a Playstation owner (1, 2, and 3); and I find the Xbox controller to be a bit odd.