Microsoft fires whistleblowing employee

By Ellie Gibson Published 15 September, 2008

For talking about Xbox 360 failures.

Microsoft has sacked games tester Robert Delaware for speaking publicly about Xbox 360 hardware failures.

Delaware's comments were published in an article by Dean Takahashi on Venturebeat last week. Now, reports Takahashi, the whistleblower has been fired for breaching his confidentiality agreement.

Delaware has been told he's likely to end up in court over the whole thing, but he doesn't sound too bothered. "I don't regret it," he told Takahashi. "I'll fight it. If they want to come after me, bring it on."

The now-ex-Microsoft employee reported he learned about problems with the Xbox 360 hardware while working for VMC, which tests games for Microsoft. According to Takahashi, he saw how "Xbox Live updates embedded in retail games could turn working consoles into worthless hulks". Delaware later went on to test games for Bungie.

So how does he feel about being fired? "Rock and roll," reckons Delaware. "It feels good. It was the moral thing to do."

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (102) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • woodnotes #1 3 years ago

    Delaware may have morals, but he doesn't have business sense. Good luck getting another job, Delaware!

  • phoopipe #2 3 years ago

    Jeremy kyle gets an extra viewer.
    Dont think you can claim job seekeres for six month if your fired poor bloke.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #3 3 years ago

    @woodnotes:

    Exactly. He wont get another job in the industry as he's proven that he's willing to break an NDA.

    It may have been the moral thing to do but publicly admitting he's broken an NDA is an extremely stupid thing to do if he intends to stay in the industry.

  • Lexx87 #4 3 years ago

    Why is it the moral thing to do? Just proves he's a bit of a self righteous twat really.

  • kangarootoo #5 3 years ago

    This dude is probably about 19 years old and isn't really thinking about his long term career. Good job for getting your name in the gaming press though mate, I guess your next job is more likely to be testing McDonalds non-slip shoes than games.

    Truth is, regardless of how you feel about failure rates of 360 (I agree, they were bloody awful, despite at the time thinking it was a mole hill), this guy broke his NDA.

    And it wasn't whistleblowing. Whistleblowing means something specific in law, and this wasn't it.

  • spudsbuckley #6 3 years ago

    Punishedfordoingtherightthinglol!

  • space_ace #7 3 years ago

    but have they fired any q.a.? especially the deaf ones

  • Gradius #8 3 years ago

    "Jeremy kyle gets an extra viewer.
    Dont think you can claim job seekeres for six month if your fired poor bloke. "

    No, no, he can sign on straight away. If you leave your job voluntarily (for no decent reason) you cannot sign on for six months but if you're fired there's no problem.
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 09:47

  • Tonka #9 3 years ago

    3-5%

  • #10 3 years ago

    xbox360lol

  • miiiguel #11 3 years ago

    "How does it feel to be fired?
    Rock'n'roll!"

    OMG!...

  • justsomeone #12 3 years ago

    i find it vaguely depressing that the commentators here are laying into this man for the simple crime of bringing to your attention the truth behind a big-business, corporate cover-up.

    personally i admire his bravery, and would condem MS for bringing shoddy products to market, knowing about it, doing very little to prevent it in the name of financial expediency and trying to crush any dissenters who dare attempt to rock their status quo.

    the mentality of those criticising delaware above is utterly amazing to me. clearly you people are all ultra-right wingers, and good luck with that.

  • miiiguel #13 3 years ago

    ^ OMG, you're a hippie!

  • cak #14 3 years ago

    Sounds a little too enthusiastic for someone who lost his job and may be brought to court soon.
    Maybe I'm too cynical, maybe I can't find anything particularly moral to be proud of in his public talk, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone was supporting him. Come on, he's fighting a videogame company, not an evil pharmaceutical company, he must have a reward....

  • Shakey_Jake33 #15 3 years ago

    Did anyone here read the 6-page VentureBeat article? While I agree it wasn't very sensible for him to openly reveal himself as the source of information (most other MS insiders who contributed were anonymous), if what he says is correct about the hardware problems and failures in the run-up to launch (and more significantly, the fact that management/executives were well aware), there's a big question mark over whether Microsoft could have legally even sold such a product,

  • woodnotes #16 3 years ago

    @ justsomeone

    "personally i admire his bravery, and would condem MS for bringing shoddy products to market, knowing about it, doing very little to prevent it in the name of financial expediency and trying to crush any dissenters who dare attempt to rock their status quo. "

    Did you miss the part where they admitted the problem and gave everyone a 3 year collect and deliver warranty?
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 09:52

  • miiiguel #17 3 years ago

    this is so stupid, I mean, now because I believe in respecting agreements, I'm an ultra-right wing and shit. Oh man..., I thought punk was dead.

  • #18 3 years ago

    @justsomeone

    My thoughts exactly m8.

    @Woodnotes,

    MS was forced to admit it and fork out or lawsuits and bad(worse) media coverage would have ensued.
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 09:55

  • Thamuhacha #19 3 years ago

    Yeah, whistleblowing is actually uncovering illegal activity for a start. The hardware failures might have been unpleasant, and they might have been higher than MS would have liked us to think, but they haven't done anything wrong really.

    Mr Delaware on the other hand is likely to be in a fair amount of grief. MS must have thousands of QA staff across all of their operations and they won't welcome any precedent in this area.

    Good luck matey.

  • phoopipe #20 3 years ago

    @ gradius

    ohhh i thought you had to be "layed off" to claim.

    Eurogamer is the new citizens advice.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #21 3 years ago

    "Did you miss the part where they admitted the problem and gave everyone a 3 year collect and deliver warranty?"

    It's funny how people think this makes it all okay. If what Delaware says is true, these were not problems that were slowly discovered post-launch, the problems associated with the 360 were known a good 6 months before launch, and it was an executive decision to launch with a faulty product rather than miss Christmas. They consciously sold faulty product, that changes everything, and this is why Delaware has been fired - the sheer implications of what he reported.
    Edited by 4 at 15/09/08 @ 09:56

  • Dizzy #22 3 years ago

    He is lucky they didn't send the Ninjas.

  • PearOfAnguish #23 3 years ago

    Why did he give his name? Surely he could have achieved the same thing anonymously. He was either stupid, or wanted 5 minutes of fame from getting his name in the article.

  • gaijin #24 3 years ago

    mmm. goose, gander, sauce. If he's under no obligation to abide by the legal commitment of his NDA, it would rather undermine the legal argument re microsoft's obligations to its customers in terms of quality of goods and services?

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #25 3 years ago

    I don't think he did it for moral reasons, I think he did it to get his name in lights. And even if it was "the right thing to do", he had to know he'd get fired for it.

    The 360 failure rates were terrible, and the console was definitely rushed to launch before it was ready. But I don't think anyone's really been ripped off, as they do have the 3-year warranty going on and current consoles are (AFAIK) working fine.

  • paulf #26 3 years ago

    'but they haven't done anything wrong really. ' apart from putting a machine to market that was blatently broken - and judging by the article it looks like they may of known about it before it was released - it may not of been the smart thign to do but i applaud him for it anyway (he's 29 btw)

  • konstantinos #27 3 years ago

    @ justsomeone...

    you are not alone (obviously, thank the gods!)...
    yes, it's amazing that people propagate such vicious sentiments (especially in such financially dire times where speculative capitalism is crumbling...)...

    @ the vicious people...
    now, y'all go back to being "good, loyal employees", ok...? and don't talk no crap about anything questionable, you hear...?
    not good for bussiness, you see...?


    sign of the times, eh...?

    cheers...
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 10:07

  • Xerx3s #28 3 years ago

    "Delaware may have morals, but he doesn't have business sense. Good luck getting another job, Delaware!"

    Indeed. Whistle-blowers rarely ever get another job anywhere. Companies don't like hiring a corporate bean spiller.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #29 3 years ago

    This guy deserves a bit more than being laid into by gamers, for doing the right thing and speaking out about the unacceptable hardware failure rate of the XBox 360.

    That being said, he could have broken his NDA in a more subtle way. Maybe keeping his identity secret or not being so bullish about it when found out. It saddens me to know that he will be penalised in the future for speaking out.

  • Xerx3s #30 3 years ago

    "the mentality of those criticising delaware above is utterly amazing to me. clearly you people are all ultra-right wingers, and good luck with that."

    I bet you donate to greenpeace.

    /can do this as well

  • ccfb #31 3 years ago

    Sounds like a right tit to me.

  • The-Bodybuilder #32 3 years ago

    STOP SNITCHING.

  • FooAtari #33 3 years ago

    "It's funny how people think this makes it all okay."

    Gamers are pathetic. If it was any other product such as a car or TV. the general public would not be so forgiving. It was a shambolic state of affairs for a company with resources that MS has.

    As for the rest of you jobsworths, why are you laying to guy and siding with a corporation? I'm sure he's aware of the risks he is taking, and I wouldn't be surprised to find he gets another job fairly easy. You hear of people doing worse and getting as good or sometimes better jobs elsewhere all the time.

    MS screwed up pretty big with this and they deserved to be called up on it. Only people on the inside know whats really going on, I'm happy someone had the balls to speak up.

  • the_dudefather #34 3 years ago

    This heretic has blasphemed the glorious name of Microsoft, our lord and master and should be cleansed by holy fire at the stake for his crimes

  • The-Bodybuilder #35 3 years ago

    The problem is that it seems he did this for fame, not for any moral ground (why then, would he openly release his name?)

    And to those defending him, put it in context folks. This is games, GAMES. Not a pharmaceutical company, not a softdrink company depending on opium or slavery, not a clothes company depending on sweat-shops. There is not ethical grounds to this, we already knew the issues of the 360, and to be frank, in the grand scheme of things, nobody really cares (it's just games).

    He's not a hero for liberating games or something.

  • Xerx3s #36 3 years ago

    "As for the rest of you jobsworths, why are you laying to guy and siding with a corporation?"
    Don't think anyone is siding with ms, just saying that he could expect this for violating his nda. What do you expect? That they gave him a raise? Every company has skeletons in their closet but those things don't come out for a reason.

    " I'm sure he's aware of the risks he is taking, and I wouldn't be surprised to find he gets another job fairly easy."

    I HIGHLY doubt it. First thing a recruiter does is google names and if even the slightest negative thing pops up, he strikes the name of the list. This is about the biggest offence you can have attached to your name job wise. We've had several whistle blowers over here doing the good thing, they are ALL permanently unemployed. You just don't hire someone that is a whistle blower because you cannot trust them to keep your skeletons in the closet.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #37 3 years ago

    I'd like to say that I wasn't laying into this guy for what he's done. Nor do I think that Microsoft were right to rush 360s out of the factory door. From a purely business related point of view, I was just saying that he's unlikely to get another job in the industry.

    I'm a programmer in the industry and know just how seriously games companies take their NDAs. There's absolutely no way in the world a company would take the risk of employing a guy that has broken an NDA under any circumstances.

    An NDA is a legal document. A legal document which he has broken. Therefore he should be taken to court and dealt with appropriately. REGARDLESS of whether he did it for good or bad or whatever. Like I said before, this is of no consequence to the situation. Unfortunately, the law is very black and white on issues like this.

  • Ranger101 #38 3 years ago

    Whistleblowing this ain't. Look it up.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #39 3 years ago

    +1 Bodybuilder.

  • miiiguel #40 3 years ago

    NDA's are made to prevent this situations, it's not to prevent "oooh it is so da perfect system..."!

    And, be honest, someone who says, beeing fired feels "rock'n'roll", is either with a serious grudge or with a deep mental problem... :D
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 10:35

  • konstantinos #41 3 years ago

    @ The Bodybuilder...

    whenever, wherever this happens, it's a GOOD thing... mainly because it's the right thing to do... to elaborate:

    the 360 issues were known but more information (and further clarification of the whole mess...) is always helpful...

    the videogames industry is HUGE and looks like it will only keep growing (for the foreseeable future)... the more people it reaches, the more people it conserns... you don't want your holographic gaming 10 years from now frying your brain, do you...?
    cases like this will only help to prevent the further shameless peddling of sub-par hardware...

    is this guy a hero...? yes and no... motives can be suspect, yes... but the goal (or at least part of it) was noble...

    cheers...

  • BEAR-ONE #42 3 years ago

    I dont believe there is a "did the right thing" justification to this guy's action. It's just plain silly. Companies would'nt write up NDA in their contracts if it was'nt to be taken into account. I play-tested a game for Ubi once, and of course I signed an NDA. Did I gush out about how bad or flawed it was on these forums or elsewhere? No, because I had signed a document saying that I would'nt.

    I have a friend working on a sci-fi movie at the moment, and he signed an NDA too. It does'nt matter if the film is good or bad, the production company trusts you not to talk about it because they value discretion before the film actually hits the big screens. If you want to mouth about the people paying your salary, then choose a company that does not need to protect it's work/script/image with an NDA.

    I would not hire someone for a job that requires trust and keeping-your-mouth-shut-lest-the-competition-learn-about-wha t-we're-building if I know that he has already broken an NDA elsewhere.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #43 3 years ago

    "I have a friend working on a sci-fi movie at the moment, and he signed an NDA too."

    I suspect your friend has already broken his NDA by mentioning this to you, however ;)

  • Cappy #44 3 years ago

    What a mystifying reaction, some of you people go above and beyond the call of duty.

    The claim that Xbox Live updates could turn consoles into 'worthless hulks' is interesting and needs to be investigated. It is something that Microsoft have always strenuously denied and claimed is impossible. Three year warranty Band-Aid makes it all better right? No cover under extended warranty for consoles broken by updates though is there? The warranty Band-Aid didn't help people who had to pay for repair previous to it's introduction, such as large numbers of gamers in the US either.

    Unfortunately somebody had to put their name to these claims, anonymous sources are far too easy to ignore.

  • mkreku #45 3 years ago

    It would have been one thing if he had broken his NDA by revealing company secrets that other companies would have stolen and taken advantage of. I would have understood that. But this guy revealed that Microsoft knew their console was flawed before release and yet chose to release it in its flawed state.. and you still rip on him for breaking his NDA..? Is that really the worst thing that happened i this story? Get a perspective.

    And to all you self-proclaimed life experts who keep typing "good luck finding another job", do you realize how stupid that sounds? Do you think every company in the world will now have his photo on the wall with a subtitle saying "DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN!"? Or do you think Microsoft tattooed "BROKE HIS NDA" on his forehead? Geez.

  • Kenshin001 #46 3 years ago

    NDAs are not signed to enable a company fobbing a shoddy, poorly made, unreliable product on the public.

  • miiiguel #47 3 years ago

    ^ why now, then? If it was so important, so "left-wingish" (aka "higher morals";), why didn't he blow the whistle at the time?

  • paulf #48 3 years ago

    the real issue here is not really about the mental state of this guy, or whether he'll get another job or what his reasons were for saying what he said when he said it ;

    What we should be asking is the simple question that when we bought our xbox 360's - were microsoft aware that they sold us a faulty product? If so regardless of extended warranties or not they are the ones who should be brought to court for breach of contract

  • Les #49 3 years ago

    I love it how people without any real understanding of law comment on the alledged breaking of an NDA: Legal problems are almost never as simple as "you broke an NDA so we can fire you". NDAs are there to protect the legitimate business of a company, not to help a company from preventing information that doesn't make it look good get to the public.

  • moggsy #50 3 years ago

    My take on this is that what he revealed wasn't worth him losing his job over. Nothing in the original article surprised me all that much. There were no really shocking new revelations. Everyone knows MS cocked up with their first batch of consoles and they've admitted as much.

    At the end of the day it's just a games machine and the problems were not safety related (unlike Sony's current problems with laptop batteries which set on fire). It's just not that big a deal in the scheme of things.

  • shinki #51 3 years ago

    There must be some situations where it's lawful to break an NDA, what if you sign an NDA then find out the company is killing babies?

    If only he could get Jack Thompson to defend him...
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 11:15

  • kangarootoo #52 3 years ago

    @justsomeone

    I'm certinainly not a right-winger. You seem to dismiss the significance of an NDA, just because this guy was apparently "doing the right thing". Without NDAs innovation in this business would be stilted into the ground. They are important, and obeying them is just part of being professional.

    This guy is not some modern Che Guevara. He is some daft kid who wanted his name in pront to impress his friends. He could have done everything he has done anonymously, but he chose not to. So lets not pretend this was about the "moral thing to do".


    "MS must have thousands of QA staff across all of their operations and they won't welcome any precedent in this area."

    I'm not sure firing someone that broke NDA is really setting any kind of precedent. Unless MS staff frequently break and publicly NDA without repercussions?

  • kangarootoo #53 3 years ago

    @Les

    Part of legitimate business is PR, and how a company looks to its customer base is a valid thing to be concerned abut. Contrary to what you state about the law (without giving a source I might add), an NDa is there to stop someone revealing company sensitive information. The nature of the information is not the issue, unless it is relating to illegality, in which case whistleblower legislation protects the blower.

  • Tomo #54 3 years ago

    Whilst it's dangerous territory breaking an NDA, I have an element of respect for the guy because the implications are pretty massive for MS. Perhaps it's made up? I'm not sure, but it did take MS a lot of time to admit they had a shonky product on their hands. It was good of them to do so, but they took their sweet time about it.

    Selling a faulty product though? That definitely needs looking at.

  • paulf #55 3 years ago

    @ kangerootoo - just for the record this 'kid' is 29 not 19

  • miiiguel #56 3 years ago

    "I love it how people without any real understanding of law comment on the alledged breaking of an NDA: Legal problems are almost never as simple as "you broke an NDA so we can fire you". NDAs are there to protect the legitimate business of a company, not to help a company from preventing information that doesn't make it look good get to the public. "

    @Les: while I know you realy believe you're above the general populace, by your speech, when EG signs a NDA regarding some game, it'd be ok to disregard it whethever they feel ppl should know that it sucks in advance ?

  • kangarootoo #57 3 years ago

    @paulf

    "just for the record this 'kid' is 29 not 19 "

    Really? That kind of makes it worse. Who the hell, after being fired for breach of contract, says things like "bring it on" and "rock and roll".

    Someone needs to grow up.

  • tnomad #58 3 years ago

    I think this guy is pretty rock and roll. He's the gamer's Rage Against the Machine! Nothing quite says FIGHTING THE POWERS THAT BE as much as exposing the failure rates of high tech luxury gadgetry for affluent young males.

    I feel safer walking the street knowing there are young attention seeking men out there willing to work against the corporate entertainment market. Now I can safely spend a few hundred quid on an iPod and be fully aware of the % likelihood that I might have to fall back on the generous warranty!

    ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!

  • paulf #59 3 years ago

    <a href = "http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2008/09/delaware-300x225.jpg">picture</a> of the accused - to put on dartboard, burn, pray to - depending on your point of view

  • miiiguel #60 3 years ago

    @Arbiter : Sony sold me a PSP with dead pixels, and they made it quite clear they wouldn't give me a proper one (some EU law regarding LCDs), but I wont go "over-the-top" everywhere saying "dead pixels! dead pixels!". Then again, I do not have nightmares starring Sony or any other big corp. (shit, I'm even going to buy a 3000, you only live once).

  • JeffGerstmann #61 3 years ago

    in the beginning M$ told us that the percentages of defect boxes were 2-4%, which stands as the acceptable failure rate for electronic gizmos. They lied. Delaware is a true hero!

  • ryohazuki1983 #62 3 years ago

    haha, I used to work @ VMC (based in Slough) Left soon after the 360 came out, they hired a whole new team to do the 360 stuff and left us on the 1st xbox then work slowed right down.

    He will probably earn more money at McDonalds as technically we were "temps" and only came in when required (was told on a day to day basis) for little Ł, was a good experience though!

    Not sure what the big deal is all about, we always saw crashes that would of bricked a retail box however that was our job and we just sent the crash dumps off to the devs to fix.
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 12:30

  • kangarootoo #63 3 years ago

    @tnomad

    Hehe, good call.

  • bonker #64 3 years ago

    "An NDA is a legal document."

    I'm certainly no expert in this area but I seriously doubt that any NDA can be considered a 'legal' document. Legal stuff may follow upon the breaking of the 'agreed NDA contract' on the basis of 'damage inflicted upon the company' but that's about it I'd have thought ...

    BTW, kinda surprised at how many people are giving this guy grief here.

    You young uns like to call evil at big corp's etc and this guy is actually walking the walk and sticking it to em - a pat on the back wouldn't hurt y'know - no wonder total fucks like Sony do so well here ...

  • kangarootoo #65 3 years ago

    @bonker

    An NDA is a legal document. I think what you are suggesting is that breaking a contract is not illegal in itself, and you are correct. If someone breaks contract, a court could decide (if it went that far) whether the law had been breached.

    Info.
    [link url=htt p://www.iusmentis.com/innovation/tradesecrets/
    ]http://ww w.iusmentis.com/innovation/trad...[/link]

  • Les #66 3 years ago

    "Contrary to what you state about the law (without giving a source I might add)..."

    I'm not really sure what you mean and for what kind of source you're looking. It's quite hard (and would add little) to give a source for the general principles of contract law, not in the least because legislation is not equal across countries. If it's about NDAs in particular, they're just a category of contracts and are covered by general contract law.

    But in general you could say that the Romans did it and Napoleon perfected it (for the continent)... ;)

    "...an NDa is there to stop someone revealing company sensitive information."

    Which is not contrary to what I say: revealing company sensitive information hurts the compay's business (it's the proximate cause). If it didn't hurt the company, there would be little wrong with revealing it in the first place (so covered by NDA or not). In fact, it can be dangerous to make the definition of 'company sensitive information' within an NDA to broad. Clauses that cover practically everything without a proper justification in the form of reasonably serving the interests of the party that drafted the clause can be declared void.

    Contracts are never absolute and when parties disagree over one and end up in court, the contract is interpreted given the relative positions of the parties involved (employees are often cut more slack than corporations because they have less power) and their respective interests are weighed against each other.

  • des #67 3 years ago

    Traitor aboard XBoat!?
    Burn him,then freeze him,repeat 1000 times...

  • Les #68 3 years ago

    "Part of legitimate business is PR, and how a company looks to its customer base is a valid thing to be concerned abut."

    I don't think MS would stand much of a chance with a PR argument. It would boil down to them accusing the guy for harming their ability to misinform their consumers (and the rest of the potential market) with regards to failure rates in order to protect their company/product image (providing the guy told the truth of course). But then again, they can afford excellent lawyers.

  • Stoatboy #69 3 years ago

    Interesting that people trust what this guy said, when the very act of saying it kinda proves he can't be trusted. ;)

  • Widge #70 3 years ago

    My fishcake had a slice of potato in it!

  • penhalion #71 3 years ago

    Bit confusing this one.

    There isn't an NDA out there that relates to what you can say about hardware failing. It would be against the law to try to shut someone up about that as it's deemed to be in the public interest. The only thing they could have fired him for is if he mentioned specifics about the software he was testing before the NDA on that sonftware (and that software alone) expired.

    I think he has a good chance of winning any case Microsoft can bring against him if for no other reason than Microsoft covering up the failure rate is seen as deception and can even be argued at be possible fraud i.e. knowingly selling goods that you are aware have a high likelyhood of failing within a year of operation. Consumer law would back that up as a company isn't allowed to knowingly sell you faulty goods.

    Edit: This is why companies like Sony, Dell, ford etc. etc. have to do recalls on sometimes hundreds of thousands of their products at a cost of millions to themselves. Once a fatal defect is found, the existing product is not legally sellable. If the true failure rate of the 360 had been known when the red ring syndrome first appeared, Microsoft would have had to issue a full recall of all units sold. Strangely enough there does not appear to be any paper proof available to back up the 60% claim that would have forced the issue.
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 13:30

  • crazyhorse174 #72 3 years ago

    Gamers are pathetic. If it was any other product such as a car or TV. the general public would not be so forgiving. It was a shambolic state of affairs for a company with resources that MS has.

    I'm sorry, but this DOES happen to other companies/products all the time and people dont make a big fuss about it. Car manufacturers send out letters to people all the time about dodgy parts which they need to recall. Its quite a common occurance. Happens with other products as well...remember all the laptop battery shenanigans a while back?

  • Xerx3s #73 3 years ago

    "And to all you self-proclaimed life experts who keep typing "good luck finding another job", do you realize how stupid that sounds? Do you think every company in the world will now have his photo on the wall with a subtitle saying "DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN!"? Or do you think Microsoft tattooed "BROKE HIS NDA" on his forehead? Geez."

    Actually, you are not far from the truth. This is a stigma that will be attached to his name for the rest of his career. All but the shittiest jobs do background checks on things like references, googling, etc. You just don't hire someone with such a thing attached to his name, for him you will find 10 others with the same qualifications without such a history.

    If you don't believe that that's how it works I would suggest doing a test and break your NDA that you signed for your employer and see what happens.

  • 3william56 #74 3 years ago

    What is sad is that, as the comments here show, the fanboys abused spouse attitudes are so ingrained that they could get sh*gged up the b*m by MS, get given AIDS, and have someone prove MS knew they had it, but the Xboxen would still be thanking MS for the priviledge of paying to get rooted. Whatever sacrifice is or isn't being made, these sads wouldn't care.

    I like my PS3, but if I found out (a) that it was designed f**ked, and (b) that Sony knew it was f**ked before they sold it to me, I'd be madder than hell.

  • Xerx3s #75 3 years ago

    "I love it how people without any real understanding of law comment on the alledged breaking of an NDA: Legal problems are almost never as simple as "you broke an NDA so we can fire you". NDAs are there to protect the legitimate business of a company, not to help a company from preventing information that doesn't make it look good get to the public."

    I don't think anyone was talking law here. This isn't about law. This is about employers seeing this attached to his name and hiring someone else. As for him getting fired or ms massive fuckups, that's another story...

  • crazyhorse174 #76 3 years ago

    What is sad is that, as the comments here show, the fanboys abused spouse attitudes are so ingrained that they could get sh*gged up the b*m by MS, get given AIDS, and have someone prove MS knew they had it, but the Xboxen would still be thanking MS for the priviledge of paying to get rooted. Whatever sacrifice is or isn't being made, these sads wouldn't care.

    I like my PS3, but if I found out (a) that it was designed f**ked, and (b) that Sony knew it was f**ked before they sold it to me, I'd be madder than hell.

    Isn't this just a fanboy post in itself?

  • MightyMouse #77 3 years ago

    There seem to be a lot of ad hominem arguments on here that it wasn't the right thing to do. He doesn't talk like you? He must be punished!

    The whole 'it doesn't matter if it was illegal because it's just gaming' (and I'm not claiming MS' actions were), seems remarkably odd since the same could just as easily be applied to games piracy, and more widely to anything which isn't life-threatening.

    I'm not saying that his actions were right or wrong, but judging that on the basis of the above is clearly imbecilic.

  • SpyroViper #78 3 years ago

    He is a complete idiot. He'll never ever be able to work in any job that requires an NDA or even any Testing area ever again. What an idiot.

    I'll have a cheese double whopper and fries Delaware!

  • drumbaby #79 3 years ago

    I think the horse has already fled, Msoft. Now you just look mean, as well as incompetent.

  • knightmt #80 3 years ago

    Can they take his xbox for this no won is a winner here.
    I do not understand what is going on and what has basketball got to do with it +)

  • knightmt #81 3 years ago

    that is so bad I am sorry.

  • BartonFink #82 3 years ago

    I just love the way all the law experts come out of the woodwork.

    It's simple the guy broke a legally binding NDA.
    If MS do persue it then he's got nobody to blame but himself. Idiot.

    Would you employ him after this? I certainly wouldn't.

  • kangarootoo #83 3 years ago

    @MightyMouse

    I don't quite understand your post. Are you saying that we are making judgements on this because we don't like the guy in question?

    Personally I am forming my opinion of this chap based on his actions, as I know nothing else about him and have nothing else on which to form an opinion.

    "He doesn't talk like you? He must be punished!"

    Its not about the way he talks. My comments about his use of terms like "rock and roll" and "bring it on" we not critisism his choice of dialect but were rather referring to his gung ho attitude, which given his age and the context of what he did seemed rather immature and inappropriate.

    This was a serious matter, clearly serious enough for his job to be terminated, but he himself doesn't seem to see things that way.

  • NewbieZilla #84 3 years ago

    Congrats on the terribly titled article.

  • penhalion #85 3 years ago

    @Barton Fink

    There is no such thing as one NDA covering all things. A software NDA doesn't cover hardware issues or specs and visa versa (except pertaining to the operating system of the hardware and internally stored system software).

    If he was a software tester, then it's doubtful Microsoft could have fired him for disclosing information about the hardware the software ran on. Most likely this is to do with his employment contract as that does have a claus about disclosing company specific information to third parties without permission from the higher ups.

    I suspect he is so casual about the whole thing because he is probably quite capable of disclosing far more damaging information about the matter if Microsoft choose to persue the issue. Choosing the legal route for them would pretty much release him from any further gagging that may currently be in place.

  • SEVQA #86 3 years ago

    VMC are an umbrella based in Slough set up by Microsoft so they can hide, make money out of thin air and essentially not give the testers any workers rights! ZERO hour contracts are dished out, even for those working over 1 year which is very disrespectful on their part! And everyone has to sign non disclosers allowing VMC and Microsoft the legal advantage.

    If the person in question that has been sacked, if he was on a ZERO hour contract, technically he couldn’t be sacked as the day he walked in to the day he walked out he had completed his zero hours!

    Hope the battle is won by the little guy as I also have first hand experience of VMC and Microsoft, spying and treating their workers like absolute shit! And this is no conspiracy ITS THE TRUTH! I’m surprised something like this did not happen sooner!
    Edited by 2 at 15/09/08 @ 14:58

  • SEVQA #87 3 years ago


    "What we should be asking is the simple question that when we bought our xbox 360's - were microsoft aware that they sold us a faulty product? If so regardless of extended warranties or not they are the ones who should be brought to court for breach of contract"

  • w00t #88 3 years ago

    The reason these type of places have NDAs is to protect other companies' IP. Imagine what would happen if a tester (for example) played an early build of FIFA on the Xbox 360, went online and said it was broken, and it wasn't the release build? Sales would be hit, opinion of the series and EA would drop due to a leak while Microsoft had possession of the code. If the tester had not signed an NDA, the Microsoft would be liable for damages.

  • TonCapone #89 3 years ago

    He did the right and just thing.
    If only more people had this man's integrity the corporate pigs who are ruining the world would instead be up against a wall facing revolutionary justice.

  • kangarootoo #90 3 years ago

    @penhalion

    Are you sure about that? I'm sure every NDA I have ever signed has related to any and all company information that is not already public. I don't sign a new NDA every time I start work on a new title, and I wouldn't expect a 3rd party visiting a studio to sign more than one NDA regardless of what they see during their visit.

    Edit:
    "Choosing the legal route for them would pretty much release him from any further gagging that may currently be in place."

    I'm pretty sure that isn't true either.


    @TonCapone

    "If only more people had this man's integrity the corporate pigs who are ruining the world would instead be up against a wall facing revolutionary justice."

    Oh puuuleeeese. I think tnomad's post above summed this up perfectly. Unless you are being sarcastic, which I kind of hope you are.... are you?
    Edited by 2 at 15/09/08 @ 15:47

  • SEVQA #91 3 years ago

    @Kangarootoo

    “I guess your next job is more likely to be testing McDonalds non-slip shoes than games.”

    You’re a heartless evil bastard just like the companies taking the individual to court!

  • penhalion #92 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Yes I'm sure. I've signed enough NDAs in my time too. You are referring to the employment contract you have for the company you work for. This is different to an NDA that you get with a Dev kit or the Microsoft XSDK stuff in the Eula.

    If someone is sueing you for breach of contract, the contract is in dispute (again I've had to go through this too) and you can't be bound by it unless a court hearing gags you. Usually you are asked not to disclose information until after the case has been resolved but, you aren't bound by any law to do so. It simply harms your defence and bargaining chips if the information is made public. No point someone paying you to keep quiet if you have already spilled the beans is there.

  • SEVQA #93 3 years ago

    If everyone who is on the 3rd or 6th Replaced or reconditioned Xbox and stood behind this guy! The big guys wouldn’t have a chance!
    Edited by 1 at 15/09/08 @ 17:04

  • kangarootoo #94 3 years ago

    @SEVQA

    I'm sorry, but I find it hard to have sympathy for someone who sticks their face in the press over this sort of thing.

    I've said it earlier in this thread and I'll say it again. This guy could have leaked the info he leaked completely anonymously, but instead he chose to get his name and face in the press. That makes ALL the difference to me, because it hugely undermines his suggestion that he "did it for the kids".


    @penhalion

    Oh, fair enough. I know I've signed both along the way. They may have even been part of the same document. Man, how daft do I look for not paying great attention to what I sign (I did read my last contract thoroughly, but I'd be pushed to recall every detail right now).


    Let me make a general point here. This thread seems to be drawing out quite a few posters who hail this guy as some angel out to protect the little people from the evil corps. Then those same posters seem to assume that everybody who thinks this guy was a bit of a tit, must also think huge corps crushing the world is a fine thing and much to be applauded. They are simply not the same thing. I am plenty left enough thankyou very much, more left than most of the people commenting in this thread, whose activisim likely extends to shouts of "solidarity brother" in this thread. This particular instance though does not strike me as having the good of the people at its heart. This strikes me as some temp fanboy who got annoyed working at MS, spoke to an author about some inside info that he shouldn't have been blabbing about, got his credit by the author (which he could have requested be kept secret), and then got booted as a result. What kind of result he expected, I don't know. If he didn't expect to get fired at the very least then he is a bit foolish.

    Rant over.

  • penhalion #95 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Agree with you that this guy is no angel, however, Microsoft really should have handled this more carefully. I suspect they have put themselves in a silly situation unless they got him to sign an agreement not to disclose further information before they terminated him.

    My boss confirmed that termination of employment releases you from the contract (he was a bit suspicious about why I asked until I told him about this guy and microsoft). He recons they got him to sign something first and doesn't think there is any danger of them taking him to court as that would have been part of any agreement.

    As for contracts. You should negotiate yours next time and remove anything you disagree with. this is what I did as I was lucky that they wanted me more than they wanted to hold me to some silly IP clauses they had in their employment contract. Basically I retain rights to my developed stuff but, they get first refusal to buy those rights at an agreed rate + royalties. I'm also not allowed to sell the rights on for upto a year after leaving (a compromise they had put in to cover themselves).

  • quantumsheep #96 3 years ago

    So, w00t, this guy was based in the US and had nothing to do with anyone you know I assume?

    His attitude does stink either way!

  • BartonFink #97 3 years ago

    Damn, sounds like penhalion has the inside track on all this.

  • Calgon #98 3 years ago

    Is there some confusion over what this guy contributed?

    He's a games tester right? Buggy/unfinished code is sent to testers often right? Bricking consoles is kind of expected right... thats the sort of thing they are paid to look for right?

    So where did the part about him comfirming "the evil M$ planned it all from the start and launched a console that they knew was going to brick within a short space of time?" come from and why the heck would you even ask him a simple tester in the first place let alone take his word as gospel.

    I think people are confusing low yeilds with failure rates... we already knew before that article, MS shot themselves in the foot by rushing through testing to get it out on time for christmas 05... thats not quite the same as people are suggesting here. Also theres people still under the impression nothing has been done about it or missleading people to think thats the case... desperate Sony fans perhaps? a) The falcon consoles onwards are much much more reliable, Jasper is expected to make it match Wii and PS3's rates. b) Extended warrenties and now the Opus replacements have the people who bought 360s early covered.

    What is there left to complain about, arent you bored of that already? Havent you got PS3 games to play? ;)

    As someone said before gamers can be soooo pathetic...

  • menschenfracht #99 3 years ago

    @ Calgon

    Try to imagine that Sony or Nintendo did that. Still no signs of righteous anger?

  • BartonFink #100 3 years ago

    But Sony did do that ... some people have very short memories
    Edited by 1 at 16/09/08 @ 09:33

  • kangarootoo #101 3 years ago

    @penhalion

    Hey, I'm not for a second suggesting that MS are all cool and groovy here. Again, my beef is not as wide spread as some people might think. I'm not saying MS are right and heroic here, I'm just saying this guy was in the wrong.

  • MightyMouse #102 3 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Whilst I'd agree that he should be taking the situation more seriously, my point was however seriously he takes it is after the fact - his original actions should be judged by themselves. Depending on what exactly he's claiming and the exact nature of the NDA, you could make out a moral argument for coming out with this stuff and, whilst perhaps not from you, there was definite conflation of 'I think he sounds like an idiot' and 'I think his actions were wrong' in some comments. But hey, if I'm wrong then I apologise.