David Stebbins from Arkansas has filed a lawsuit in Seattle against Microsoft, asking for $500 billion according to the Xbox Live contract terms of service after he amended them "unilaterally"!
It all started when Stebbins accepted the terms of service for using Xbox Live. By doing so, Stebbins entered into a legally binding contract with Microsoft. On May 6, Stebbins decided that he doesn't like the T.O.S. he signed and so he "submitted a notice" to Microsoft that he was "unilaterally amending the terms of service."
One of the clauses of the notice stated that Microsoft had 10 days to terminate his membership or the modified version of the contract would take effect. Stebbins noted that companies such as Microsoft act in similar manner by notifying customers of T.O.S. changes and claiming that the new continuing to use the service after the notification constitutes as implicit acceptance of the changes.
After the deadline passed, Stebbins invited Microsoft to arbitrate a legal dispute in which he claimed $500 billion in damages. Microsoft didn't respond to the arbitrage request, so Stebbins filed a lawsuit, asking for his contract's "forfeit victory clause" to be honored and that Microsoft should pay him the $500 billion he requested.
Microsoft refused to comment to the press.
In the meanwhile, it was found that Stebbins has filed more than a dozen similar lawsuits last year, with most of them already dismissed by judges. "Yes, I've sued 'numerous organizations,'" he admitted in an email. "What of it? I do not see how this means that my cases are frivolous."
Stebbins' actions might seem absurd, but in fact he is actually behind the money (as evident by the ridiculous amount he asks for). "My true goal is not to just harass, and it's not just to get rich. My true goal is to level the playing field," he said.
