The justices heard arguments today in a case that involves the Xbox 360 owners' attempts to get class action status for their lawsuit, which was filed several years ago in the state of Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered.
Xbox 360 owners were initially denied class action status in the lawsuit. Several justices seemed sympathetic to Microsoft's argument that the Xbox 360 owners shouldn't be permitted to use a procedural maneuver to force an appeals court to weigh in after the appeals court declined to do so.
The company says consumers were warned both in the instruction manual and on a sticker affixed to the console not to move it while a disc was inside.
When a handful of Xbox 360 owners sued, a federal judge initially said the lawsuit couldn't proceed as a class action, and an appeals court declined to consider an appeal of that decision.
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The Xbox 360 owners then asked the judge to dismiss their case, a procedural move designed to get the appeals court to weigh in, which it did. Microsoft says that shouldn't be allowed to happen.
And Justice Stephen Breyer suggested the "simplicity" of ruling for Microsoft seemed preferable, asking Stris if there was "anything terrible that would happen" if the justices ruled against his clients.
Arguing for Microsoft, lawyer Jeffrey Fisher told the court that ruling for the Xbox 360 owners would "upend" the "carefully considered" rule governing an appeal of a class action determination.
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