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West Virginia Settles MS Suit, North Carolina Doesn't
DragonMagic writes "MSNBC carries this story regarding West Virginia's settlement with Microsoft, and dropping out of holding off for more sanctions against the software giant. This leaves just Massachusetts hoping to make Microsoft pay more than just a slap on the wrist." Actually, as an anonymous reader writes "in North Carolina, they [Microsoft] lost a class action suit so now certain customers in that state will be able to get their money back." $89 million is not exactly peanuts.
> $89 million is not exactly peanuts.
To who? We're talking Microsoft, here - how many _billion_ in the bank? Spit up among how many people? Plus, the money isn't automatically split up among all residents; each resident must apply and ostesibly prove that they bought the Microsoft product in North Carolina. Do you keep reciepts from back to 1995? Some companies might, but I barely have my Win95 floppies.
The article says that half of the unclaimed money will be donated to schools in the form of "computer technology" - any guesses on who's computer technology?
I wouldn't call this much of a win for the residents of North Carolina - looks nice on the surface, but that's about it.
The WV settlement is fair enough to the state (their attorney's fees are covered, and they get several million in free products from Microsoft and other companies, though the article didn't say from whom).
The sad irony, though, is that WV can already get free OSes, office software, and other products, even without the settlement. Because of that, this is an even huger win for Microsoft, and an unfortunate result for high school kids in WV who will continue to graduate while under the thumb of Bill.