US Supreme Court Will Hear a Nine Year Old Xbox 360 Disc Scratching Case

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal over a nine year old Xbox 360 disc scratching case, the AP reports. 

Justices decided last Friday to hear the appeal from Microsoft on whether it should be faced with a class action lawsuit to settle the matter. The plaintiffs allege that a design defect in the Xbox 360 console led to their discs being damaged. 

There have been numerous appeals before this point, with the case never reaching trial. Microsoft argues that as individual claims have already been dismissed there should be no class action suit in this case. 

In 2012 a federal judge ruled that there were not enough complaints to merit class action status; a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2015. 

The plaintiffs argue that the Xbox 360's disc drive is too sensitive and spins out of control into other parts of the system, scratching discs and making them unusable. 

Testimony from the case alleges that Microsoft knew of the console's potential to scratch and damage discs if the system was re-positioned by users. A program manager at the company revealed that Redmond considered three solutions, each of which was rejected. The possible solutions uncluded slowing the disc drive's speed and adding new parts that would have added 50 cents to the cost of producing each console. 

The case claims that 55,000 complaints were received by Microsoft about disc scratching by 2008. Microsoft argues that if disc scratching occurs it is as a result of consumer misuse rather than evidence of a design flaw. 

The Xbox 360 launched in November 2005 and has sold more than 84 million units.