09-13-2008, 07:35 AM
Microsoft had the whistle-blower who contributed to the VentureBeat story on defects associated with the Xbox360 terminated this past Wednesday. Robert Delaware, contracted through the temp agency Excell Data, was dismissed directly by his Microsoft supervisor for his participation in the story according to an update on the site. Delaware also likely faces civil charges from both VMC (another testing company at which he worked with 360 hardware) and Microsoft as a result of his comments.
The author of the article, Dean Takahashi, writes, "He fully knew the risk he was taking, based on multiple conversations I had with him about using his name." Despite the forthcoming legal battle, Delaware himself is surprisingly cavalier, saying, "I don't regret it. I'll fight it. If they want to come after me, bring it on." Delaware adds, "It feels good. It was the moral thing to do."
While Delaware did likely violate any non-disclosure agreements he may have signed, his comments served more as am affirmation of what everyone assumed when Microsoft made the unprecedented move to extend 360 warranties on account of the red ring issues. While Deleware will almost undoubtedly face some kind of fine, how much may depend in part on Microsoft's desire to dredge up memories of their already damaged reputation as a console manufacturer.
source
Forget about the system this guy was testing games on for a moment. If you were a game tester and you knew about a hardware issue that in your opinion had to in the system since day 1 and the company making the system fully knew about the problem, do you have an obligation to speak out and inform the public? I think if Robert Delaware had done this early on, then I would have thought of him as a whistle blower, but he waited so long to do this...
The author of the article, Dean Takahashi, writes, "He fully knew the risk he was taking, based on multiple conversations I had with him about using his name." Despite the forthcoming legal battle, Delaware himself is surprisingly cavalier, saying, "I don't regret it. I'll fight it. If they want to come after me, bring it on." Delaware adds, "It feels good. It was the moral thing to do."
While Delaware did likely violate any non-disclosure agreements he may have signed, his comments served more as am affirmation of what everyone assumed when Microsoft made the unprecedented move to extend 360 warranties on account of the red ring issues. While Deleware will almost undoubtedly face some kind of fine, how much may depend in part on Microsoft's desire to dredge up memories of their already damaged reputation as a console manufacturer.
source
Forget about the system this guy was testing games on for a moment. If you were a game tester and you knew about a hardware issue that in your opinion had to in the system since day 1 and the company making the system fully knew about the problem, do you have an obligation to speak out and inform the public? I think if Robert Delaware had done this early on, then I would have thought of him as a whistle blower, but he waited so long to do this...
