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Florida Class-Action Suit To Go Ahead Against MS

Posted by timothy on from the even-orlandians dept.

los furtive writes: "Circuit Judge Bernard Shapiro of Miami has ruled that Microsoft users in Florida can band together in a single class-action lawsuit to pursue antitrust claims against the software company. The lawsuit covers anyone in Florida who bought a personal computer with MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel after November 15, 1995."

2 of 14 comments (clear)

  1. Lucky lawyers by crow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is the sort of lawsuit where the end settlement pays off huge for the lawyers, while the end users typically get a rebate good for future purchases.

    Remember the lawsuit over monitors that said they were of a given size but had a smaller viewable size?

    I would put the odds of end consumers getting to see any actual cash at less than 10%.

  2. Re:Glad someone is paying attention... by dabootsie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Aside from the whole leverage/stranglehold thing, they wouldn't be giving away anywhere near 1 billion dollars if they had their way.

    They'd be giving away 1 billion worth of microsoft products. Which is to say, a 25-cent CD for every 200 dollars or so. They would be essentially chopping off three zeroes from that "fine".
    Add to this the fact that under this plan of microsoft's, the schools would eventually have to start subscribing to continue using the software. They'd actually be profiting from this "punishment" financially as well as with market share.

    Is it any wonder they were eager to push the proposal?