Microsoft is facing a class-action lawsuit over an Xbox 360 defect that causes disc scratching. A judge denied Microsoft’s request to rehear the case, which means the stage is set for class action to be taken against the company. As of 2008, Microsoft had apparently received over 55,000 complaints about disc scratching, but the company always maintained it was brought about by customer misuse.

Judges Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Carlos T. Bea both voted to deny Microsoft’s request to have the case reheard by a larger group of judges. The decision also means that no further petitions to have the case reheard will be accepted. It follows another ruling on the case back in March, when judges ruled that the disc scratching case could move ahead as a class action lawsuit.

The case actually goes all the way back to 2007. It claims that Microsoft negligently designed the Xbox 360 with a defect that caused discs to be damaged while in use. It alleges that discs within the optical drive are “unable to withstand even the smallest of vibrations, and that during normal game playing conditions discs spin out of control and crash into internal console components, resulting in scratched discs that are rendered permanently unplayable.”

For its part, Microsoft argues that the vast majority of Xbox 360 users didn’t experience any disc scratching problems. The company maintains that the issue only occurs when the console is moved while there is a disc inside, which it considers customer misuse. The company claims only 0.4% of Xbox 360 users experienced this issue.

The disc scratching problem didn’t get as much media attention as the loathed red ring of death, over which Microsoft also faced a class-action lawsuit several years ago. That suit cost Microsoft upwards of $1 billion.

So what is Microsoft doing to improve all these problems? Well, for one thing, we’re unlikely to see any class action lawsuits taken over the Xbox One, but that’s not because the problems were fixed. It’s because Microsoft updated its Xbox One user agreement to forbid class action lawsuits. Both Sony and Valve have similar clauses in their user agreements. It’s really quite depressing.