However, it’s undeniable that the raging of thousands of gamers could not compare to the raging of Datel, who specifically produce memory cards and hard drives for the Xbox 360 (like the one pictured in our header, which handily utilize MicroSD cards). The update meant their entire line of products were all of a sudden useless, and that every customer who’d ever bought one from them would soon be giving them an angry call.
Said Howard Rice director Marty Glick:
They compared Microsoft’s actions akin to a car company which forced users to buy only one official select brand of tires, eliminating all other competition. Indeed, the comparison is undeniably accurate: Microsoft clicked a button and literally killed the third party competition. Microsoft are at a high risk of violating industry anti-trust laws and may be forced to not only reverse the changes, but pay for their actions: Datel has not only demanded that Microsoft pay three times the cost of any damages they endure from the third party ban, but also that Microsoft foot the bill for Datel’s attorney and court fees too.
Microsoft has yet to respond to the legal challenge, but a response is expected soon. Microsoft has a vast domination over their console’s accessories (especially compared to, say, the Wii and DS Accessories) and the stakes for losing this fight would mean a lot of lost cash to the company.
What do you think of the situation? Do you agree with Datel, or do you think Microsoft’s actions are okay?
Source: GameSpot
