US Congressmen speak out against Xbox 360 ban

A group of Congressmen have sent letters to the US International Trade Commission asking the organization to decide against a ban of the Xbox 360 console. ITC administrative law judge David Shaw recommended a ban after Microsoft's console was found to infringe on patents held by Motorola Mobility. The Congressmen accused Motorola of abusing fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) patents to seek an exclusion order. They join a growing chorus against the ban on the console, including recent additions Activision and IBM.

"It would be severely detrimental to the U.S. economy to allow an essential patent holder to obtain an injuction against an industry participant instead of licensing their patents on FRAND terms," patent lawyer Mark G. Davis of Weil, Gotshal & Manges wrote to US ITC secretary Lisa Burton.

Eight members of the US House of Representatives wrote a letter to ITC chief Deanna Okun opposing the ban: Rep. Dave Reichert, Rep. Norm Dicks, Rep. Jim McDermott, Rep, Doc Hastings, Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Rick Larsen, Rep. Cathey McMorris Rodgers, and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.

"An exclusion order against the Xbox 360 consoles could threaten high-paying America jobs and continued economic growth in Washington and throughout the nation," they said in their joint letter.

Other tech companies including HP and Nokia have backed Microsoft in this matter. The US Federal Trade Commission also came out against the ban last week, according to Bloomberg. At the time, Motorola said it was willing to license the patent, but Microsoft and Apple were not willing to come to terms.

"To date, however, neither party has been willing to enter into a cross-license on reasonable terms and thus we all find ourselves in seemingly endless litigation," said Motorola in a statement.

[Via Engadget]