Iowa Court May Order Microsoft Refunds

dowobeha writes: "The Des Moines Register is reporting that thousands of Windows 98 users in Iowa could get $40 refunds from Microsoft. The Iowa Supreme Court has found the big boys from Redmond guilty of price fixing in violation of a 1976 Iowa law. According to the report, this is the first antitrust ruling in any state that favors 'indirect purchasers' (regular consumers who got Windows preinstalled on their newly purchased computer) rather than "direct purchasers" (manufacturers who license Windows to distribute on new machines)."

Comments

The check is not in the mail.

[n0ano]

Assuming that MicroSoft actually winds up owing every one is the class $40, a big if, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a check. What do you want to bet that the payout will be in the form of a $40 rebate on your next MS purchase?

I love the US class action legal system. The lawyers get paid big bucks and the consumers wind up funding a new marketing program that locks them in even tighter to the guilty party!

Good luck!

[polymath69]

Don't count on a check. The article says "refunds or credits". What company ever writes a check when it can simply print the money in the form of a coupon?

That way, they get you coming and going. You paid for the OS you didn't want or need, and you don't intend to buy anything from them in the future anyway, so the coupon will remain unused... Microsoft smiles. The lawyers smile, too, since they got paid. Consumers? Hey, you won, right? Be happy about it.

It wasn't a decision to force a refund

[jmcnamera]

Read the article again, this is the Iowa State Supreme court telling the local court to hear the case.

It wasn't decided if it was anti-trust or that a refund was due. Only that it should be heard.