Looks like the recent wave of Xbox Live bans – in which as many as one million users were cut off from the service – is ready to evolve into a into a full on legal showdown. A Texas-based law firm by the name of AbingtonIP is reportedly organizing a class-action suit claiming Microsoft timed the bans to extract the maximum amount of money out of customers.
According to AbingtonIP, this "convenient" timing may have resulted in more Xbox Live subscription revenues for Microsoft than it would have if the console bans had taken place at some point before the release of Halo 3: ODST and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The company is also said to have earned plenty of game sales revenue from these two titles before dropping the axe on infringing users.
Microsoft for its part says the bans were made to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay, though the law firm contends that it also locked out users who had modified their Xboxes for reasons other than piracy – which they admit is "arguably" against the terms of service.
AbingtonIP is recruiting plaintiffs through its website and looking for people who have had their Xbox banned from Xbox Live without a refund for their remaining subscription. What's your take on the issue, do they make a convincing case, or is this just a shady attempt to profit at Microsoft's expense?