Xbox users demand Live

By Candice Jones for Microsoft
Johannesburg, 16 May 2007

South African Xbox 360 users have launched a petition in an attempt to persuade Microsoft to bring its Xbox Live online gaming community and content service to SA.

"The petition went live at http://www.sayyoursay.com on the evening of 7 May, and attracted more than 200 signatories in less than a day," says Willem Grobler, one of the organisers of the petition.

They are appealing to Microsoft SA to: "Issue a statement that clarifies the status of the Xbox Live launch for SA, set up local billing facilities and pricing models and make provision for existing users to easily migrate their profiles from other countries to the local Xbox Live service."

"The content, community and online gaming features of Xbox Live are a central part of the Xbox 360 appeal," he says.

Marc Batten, country head for Xbox 360, says: "The Xbox team is currently working to an international roll-out plan for Xbox Live. We are delighted to let you know that SA is included in this roll out."

Microsoft is unable to confirm exact dates for availability and functionality at this stage.

Migration worries

According to Grobler, many South Africans have signed up for Xbox Live accounts in countries such as the US and UK, and are now worried about Microsoft's introduction of tighter regional controls for the Xbox marketplace content at an international level.

"We're hopeful that Microsoft will mostly be locking down television and movie content rather than game demos and Xbox Live arcade games," he says.

But Microsoft says Xbox Live members need not worry. "We would like to reassure locally-based Xbox Live members that are registered through other countries, their accounts will not be terminated," the company adds.

Legal rights

"There are a number of reasons for these restrictions, including legal rights and regulations," says Microsoft. The company says, as a digital distributor of content, it must comply to particular government regulations, and the licensing agreements we have with its partners in other countries.

"This means if you have set up an account that does not match the country where you are located, you will find that these new security measures will only allow you to purchase and download content that is licensed in the country where you are located," says Microsoft.

According to the company, Xbox Live users will be unaffected in terms of playing other gamers around the world.

"Gamers registered through a country other than their own, will still be able to download game trailers and games that are downloadable from the Xbox Live site. Gamers will, however, be unable to download licensed content from Xbox Live Video Marketplace, which is not cleared for distribution," concludes Batten.