Banjo-Kazooie
Member
Good. Sick of people breaking NDA because they think nothing will happen to them. It ruins it for the others who aren't irresponsible with theirs.
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Kotaku - Microsoft Punishes Gears Leakers By Making Their Xbox Ones Unusable
- Thread starter Fracas
- Start date
Doesn't change the fact that MS shouldn't have that level of control over people's consoles in the first place.
Please don't.
BananasWithGuns
Member
I'd say that the disabling of their Xbox being temporary is a lucky break for them. At least they'll get access to their console back at some point. That is, assuming we're talking about months and not years anyway.
No VMC is user based testing from home. Anyone can sign up - https://www.vmc.com/games/GBTN_Testers/
Also MS has said in the past that XB1 devkits are the same as retail units.
Visualante2
Member
Get what you pay for, maybe do you QA internally next time Microsoft.
This is what is called a straw man argument. You are not actually arguing the point, but rather some hyperbolic and stylized version that is not relevant, nor possible in this scenario. There are laws in place to insure that people don't become beholden to ridiculous shit in agreements such as these, so anyone who says "you signed it, you deal with the consequences" are not implying that anything (up to and including the murder of your parents) goes. Instead, this NDA was written with an appropriate penalty in mind - one that will probably be very difficult to litigate against in court, especially when you consider the damages each side respectively incur.
IDKAboutThat
Member
If it was in the NDA, it was in the NDA.
FunkyDealer
Banned
I'm sure this was possible last gen as well. Not the slightest bit surprised or sorry for them. People who can't be trusted deserve what they get.
SliceSabre
Banned
Are some people in this thread actually suggesting the testers getting their pants sued off them is actually a better result than Microsoft bricking their console or stopping them for using it for a time? Even though litigation is universes more problematic than a bricked console?
Really!?
Really!?
Hockeymac18
Member
Unnecessary.
I know MS is the devil and all, but:
I'm not sure what you would have MS do? The testers, employees of a company contracted by MS (so, essentially, the testers were contractors of MS), broke their NDA. Which has consequences. Honestly, having their consoles taken offline is probably the least of their worries (although it makes for good click-baity Kotaku headlines). They should be worried about other things much more.
All companies would react similarly to someone breaking their NDA. This isn't a MS thing.
I agree that a kill switch is a bit...scary. But I also think that MS would come under serious pressure if they started using it on people that don't "deserve" it. I suppose if you're not doing anything illegal, this should never be an issue.
I'm sure Sony has something similar. The reality of the digital future.
gamechanger87
Member
Kit is a stupid word to use, but its their home console. Nothing special regarding the consoles themselves
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
Sony most likely can too. Similar punishments would be dished out on any platform. In fact they REALLY got off light. I'm not gonna go into any details because, well, obvious reasons, but the extent to which you can be punished is VERY clearly explained in the contract, and had they paid any attention to it there is no way they'd have posted those shots. Believe me they certainly got off light with just a dead system.
Garrett 2U
Member
Steverulez
Member
I do feel its questionable that Microsoft have a kill switch on their console and perhaps it is being used in an overly harsh way here, they are obviously sending a message to other testers though.
I think the reality of the situation is that if piracy/hacking or anything else of a similar untoward action became possible through the console, they want it built in a way that they can stop that, is that an unfair reasoning to have something like that? Im sure someone will tell me, and obviously its not been used for that purpose in this instance so thats another factor.
I think the reality of the situation is that if piracy/hacking or anything else of a similar untoward action became possible through the console, they want it built in a way that they can stop that, is that an unfair reasoning to have something like that? Im sure someone will tell me, and obviously its not been used for that purpose in this instance so thats another factor.
Dragonborn
Member
NDAs exist for a reason. Can't say I feel bad for them
Hip Hop
Member
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
This might be the single dumbest post I've read on GAF.
Bingo. MS shouldn't have this power, and that they're prepared to use it as punishment for breaking NDA (when there are far more appropriate courses of action to take) shows they are not even fit to use it responsibly.
I should add I personally don't care much for people who break NDA. I just don't like MS having this level of control over other people's property.
gunslikewhoa
Member
notsureifsrs.jpg
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Except they have professional businesses to take care of. VMC Games company is going to get punished hard, heads might get rolled, and there are shareholders to answer to. Its essentially leaking company secrets.
Perhaps you should start thinking.
Like getting sued for thousands and thousands dollars ? I would take the Xbox one being unusable for whatever time Microsoft wants.
That's... the dumbest comparison, even for sarcasm I've ever seen
gamechanger87
Member
Both of those things are happening. VMC will pursue the legal action against the testers, and they will easily win. They contact MS and MS bans the accounts and disables the console for awhile.
Leakers get punished. That's what you agree to whenever you sign up an NDA. Why do you think we don't have devs posting all their inner details on a daily basis? Signing up to work on a game, you sign an NDA. You violate it and you get railed.
Gucci Messiah
Banned
Stop
Zomba13
Member
With VMC you are doing work (for money) playtesting games. As part of their NDA you aren't meant to disclosue anything about the game you are testing, even in emails directly sent to you about the game the projects are just named after elements and not the game name. If you break the NDA (by sharing information, video or screen shots) of a game they are very much able to take actual legal action against you as breaking the NDA not only hurts the devs and pubs of the game but VMC themselves as they are then seen as untrustworthy and won't get future alpha/beta tests run through them.
I know I'd much rather a bricked console than face legal fees and shit like that.
Xaero Gravity
NEXT LEVEL lame™
They didn't. VMC testers use our own home consoles.
StalkerUKCG
Banned
Dumb post.
When you sign an NDA you agree to not disclose anything for a reason. You start breaking that contract and they can start coming after you for damages or potential damages. That is a slippery slope. Potential damages could be in the millions.
An extra on the Batman v Superman set broke his NDA and is potentially getting sued for $5 million.
Microsoft revoked the ability to use a console worth under $500. It could have been way worse.
If you read the EULA and VMC's ToC and NDA agreement they outline the potential steps they can take.
Breach at your own risk.
hah, keeping secrets is my specialty. oh the things i can tell.
Hip Hop
Member
Would you suggest some, because I doubt "Not being able to participate in future tests or no online play" like some suggested will be a deterrence for leaks.
That NDA has to be over the top, really.
Oh believe me, I know. I'm not paranoid, it's just interesting to think about how interconnected these new consoles are and how they are constantly evolving. I know neither Microsoft nor Sony will brick consoles for no reason, and like I said before, these people definitely had it coming and should have known better.
ehehehehehehe
Dreamwriter
Member
Especially leaking videos of an unannounced game. You can be sure that if someone contracting with Disney leaked a clip of an unannounced Star Wars movie, that leaker would have been bricked...
Do you find it questionable that Apple can kill any iPhone?
Hari Seldon
Member
I have never understood why the gaming part of the internet really seems to love to defend video game NDAs whose sole purpose is to allow marketing a clear shot at creating hype. Who gives a shit? Leak away for all I care!
I dont think theres anything wrong here, its temporary and we dont know what the NDA between MS the testers and VMC said would happen.
If MS starts randomly bricking consoles of users for no reason im going to be outraged but I dont mind this at all atm
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
The irony here is that some tester still isn't fazed by the email contents and threats and decided to leak it to Kotaku...lol
Compsiox
Banned
On the other hand publishers are shit at managing expectations. It's never so simple. That said they signed the nda.
All I'm saying is that we would never be surprised and the idea of playing the game would get boring. Obviously the purpose of the NDA is so that the game's/company's reputation doesn't get destroyed from public seeing early possibly buggy gameplay. It's not like the movie industry as suggested by someone else.
FinalStageBoss
Banned
Lose the Xbox or get sued(which they would lose because they signed an NDA). They got off easy.
100% REALLY. These were consumer grade, store bought consoles that they were using. *No* company on earth should have the ability to have a remote kill switch on a consumer product like that. Not a single one. It's absurd that this is a thing. It'd be one thing if they were Microsoft provided work units, but they were regular every day Xbox Ones and it is insane that that capability is built into them.
Some contract breakers having their "pants sued off them" is in every single possible way better than allowing a corporation to have that kind of power.
benicillin
Banned
Needs to be reiterated again and again that NDA's are a lot more serious than an EULA or something. These people who broke NDA could easily be sued, so bricking their console for a while really is letting them off easily.
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