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California Microsoft Settlement
Lord Prox writes "From news.com.com: A California judge on Friday gave preliminary approval to a landmark settlement under which Microsoft will pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action suit that claimed it overcharged consumers for Windows.
More Townsend and Townsend and Crew is info from the law firm here. Also note... you get vouchers in settlement good for buying computer related items, not just Microsoft products and/or can be traded and converted to cash!"
Cnet says : Two-thirds of the unclaimed money will go to California public schools in a mix of donated Microsoft software and cash grants."
Microsoft should make it a habit of getting sued by states so that it can spread its software into the schools more effectively. I'm sure that the cash is also tax deductible. You go Bill!
In linux libertas
Is this some kind of attempt to get M$ moving on the rumoured increases in its' dividend rate? Were the California shareholders just excessively impatient?
Of course, after living in California a few years now, I can assure you that you had better be a Microsoft-sized company if you expect to survive here. The place is insanely litigous, the State Senate and State Assembly routinely pass absurd legislation that inflicts high costs on companies gullible enough to do business here, and the cost of living is driving this place into a two-tiered society; the wealthy and those who serve them.
Consider this just one more warning to other businesses tempted by this fabled "market of 34 million consumers". Chalk up this settlement next to hundreds of others, the recent tripling of workman's compensation insurance premiums (which is driving out hundreds of small companies and manufacturers), and the recent brilliance of our state government regarding taxes. The state's income tax system is very "progressive" meaning that high earners are heavily taxed and lesser earners are not taxed at all. Our brilliant legislature recently opted only to increase the income tax rates on the high earners. This is the very approach that got us in such a budget mess in the first place. The low earners vote for dozens of unaccountable spending programs that are paid for by the high earners. When the high earners get clobbered (read NASDAQ collapses onto Silicon Valley), the state government goes begging to support all those programs. Eventually, the state will be entirely populated by a wealthy few, some inland farmers, and those who serve the wealthy and depend on government programs to cope with the uniformly high cost of living. At least the ailing public schools will have a few copies of Windows 98 "donated" by Microsith. Be sure to check out microsith.com!
Hey Californians, last one out, turn off the lights!
In principio erat Verbum.
Continuing sarcasm...
Gosh, we certainly don't want our kids to learn to use software that is actually out there in the real world! That would be disastrous! Then kids might actually be able to DO something with computers coming out of U.S. high schools, and the curricula of community colleges everywhere would have to be completely restructured... What is the world coming to?
Let's stop this now, teach them to use the Bash shell, and show them that they don't really need MS Word when they can have the power of vi and LaTeX...
End sarcasm...
The rest goes to the lawyers. Isn't mass tort law great?
Jason
ProfQuotes
They don't want to go and spend $500 million restructuring everything, replacing all their Windows software with Linux software that may not be written yet, and training their endusers, probably.
How exactly do they figure MS overcharged by $40 a copy? Where does this figure come from? I'll not be claiming any vouchers, not just because i'm lazy (which I am) but also on basic principle. I see a copy of windows for sale for $199, and I buy it, then it's my choice as an adult to buy it for $199. I think it's horrible that somebody can sue and tell a large company that their product is only worth $150, and sue for the difference. Let's all get together and sue apple for overpricing their computers! Why, iMac's aren't even worth $1000 in my opinion, so I need to get a refund from apple for the difference i've paid.
I can see pressing a case against MS for unfair business practices, though in most cases (like AOL) it's just whining from the losers in the software race. But the generic public sets the prices of stuff by either buying or not buying. If people buy it, then obviously they felt it was worth the money, otherwise they would have found another alternative (like Linux or MacOS)
I don't recall feeling ripped off
Yes, Microsoft Public Relations is very good at their job. Besides, everyone else is doing it and paying that much, it must be the right price. At work, we're holding out as long as possible before Licensing V6 exactly because we feel it's a rip-off.
nor do I remember anyone making me buy the products
Well, my laptop only came with Windows ME preinstalled. The last desktops my gf and her grandfather bought from BB came only with ME or 2000 preinstalled.
However, the fact that someone else is making a hell of a lot more than the average consumer from this deal stands.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
Townsend and Townsend and Crew, the law firm that filed the suit, described Friday's ruling as "the largest recovery of a monopoly overcharge ever achieved in the United States and the largest recovery ever achieved under the antitrust laws of California."
Uh, yeah, and like most of these types of lawsuits, the trial lawyers get the bulk of the spoils and the consumer gets peanuts. The firm partners all get to build new wings on their homes and the consumer get their $5 to $29. Big consumer victory, what a joke. Sorry, but my contempt for what the legal profession has become overshadows anything wrong Microsoft might have done. And of course, the geeks applaud this outcome, because they can't get over their hang-ups on Microsoft without seeing the bigger picture, which is how out of control lawsuits have become in American society and how the legal system has become a tool of legalized terror against businesses and individuals. You need not look any further than what the RIAA is engaged in. Think about that before you yell "yeah, fsck Microsoft!"
It's a looter mindset. How can MS "overcharge" the public, when it owns no stores? Is there any way to let California secede? We really don't need those parasites.