Microsoft hit with (another) Xbox 360 "RRoD" lawsuit

Filed last month, the new class-action lawsuit is based in part on a recent—and damning—report that alleged Microsoft knew about the Xbox 360's "Red Ring of Death" problems well before launch.

VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi (who wrote the behind-the-scenes Xbox story last month; he's also got a new book out—entitled "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked"—that I'm dying to read) reports that the latest lawsuit was filed Sept. 19 in Sacramento County Superior Court.

In the lawsuit, plaintiff Reshelle Cable of Folsom, Calif., accuses Microsoft of "conceal[ing] the excessive failure rate of its Xbox 360 consoles" so that it could beat Sony and Nintendo to market, Takahashi writes.

The suit comes on the heels of Takahashi's recent, six-page exposé on the development of the Xbox 360, in which he claimed that at least one engineer repeatedly warned that production lines should be stopped because of manufacturing problems.

The story also alleged that Microsoft failed to set up thorough quality assurance tests before launch. Microsoft, in turn, fired back that Takahashi's story "repeats old information," "contains rumors and innuendo," and "is highly irresponsible."

The suit, which mentions Takahashi's story as well as other articles about the 360's "Red Ring of Death" problems. would force Microsoft to "disgorge" any profits from sales of the Xbox 360 (have there been any yet?) and begin a refund program for those with defective consoles.

Microsoft won't comment on the lawsuit (standard procedure), and I doubt we'll be getting any more Xbox 360 mea culpas beyond last year's $1-billion warranty extension.

That said, let's hope that every new "RRoD" lawsuit will make Microsoft that much more careful once the assembly lines start rolling for the (eventual) Xbox 720.

Related:
Microsoft sued for allegedly covering up Xbox 360 defects [VentureBeat]