Xbox 360 gets US ban ‘recommendation’

GamesIndustry.biz have an interesting news feed up today regarding a possible ban of the Xbox 360 in America. International Trade Commission judge David Shaw has recommended that the Xbox 360 sales are stopped.

They spoke to patent expert Florian Mueller who said “I've never seen an ITC judge make any other recommendation than an exclusion order if his initial determination is that there is a violation. This is the normal course of business.

“Unlike judges at courts, ITC judges don't make the decisions: they merely recommend them. Their recommendations are very frequently not adopted by the Commission, the six-member decision-making body at the top of the ITC. Not only does the Commission overrule those judges with respect to the actual violations but the Commission also has the final say on remedies.”

According to the report, the ITC's Commission takes public interest considerations into account which in this case would be from people who develop Xbox 360 games.

Mueller added “What's more likely to happen is that a federal court in Microsoft's home state of Washington will set the terms of a license agreement that Motorola and Microsoft will have to enter into. As a result, Microsoft will be licensed and the Xbox won't be an infringing product.”

Kitguru says: It looks like a ban is a long shot. But it is possible.

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