Slashdot Mirror
Price-Fixing Settlement Checks in the Mail
toastyman writes "Remember the Music Industry $67m settlement from way back in 2002? Seven months later than planned, your $13.86 check is finally on its way. In addition to the cash settlement, the defendants in the suit are also giving 5.6 million CD's to educational programs."
The plural of CD needs no apostrophe.
As long as you're looking a gift horse in the mouth, don't forget that you have to report the $13.86 check as income on your taxes next April!
No, since the award is compensation for damages you've already suffered, its even and no taxable event occured... Unless you wrote off the "damage" already in a previous tax year. (IANATA - I Am Not A Tax Accountant...)
Donate your check to the EFF and help fight for those freedoms you keep complaining about being taken away. Just forward your check to:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell
San Francisco, CA 94110
You can also make a donation at their website:
https://secure.eff.org/
There should be no apostrophe in CDs you insensitive clod!
If you have a change of address after you submitted a claim, you need to provide your new mailing address to the Administrator at the address below. Additionally, it is recommended that you update your mailing address with the U.S. Postal Service.
Compact Disc MAP Litigation Administrator
PO Box 1650
Faribault, MN 55021-1650
better hurry!
harmonious design
Of course, I usually buy new music from iTMS if at all, so I don't spend all that much time comparing CD prices. Anything I want is $.99 per song.
Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
And, taking inflation into account, that's cheaper than a US$9 LP is 1980 dollars.
In 1989 when I started buying CDs, they were about US$13 to US$18. So, after inflation, they have gotten cheaper.
On top of that, most LPs in the 70s and 80s were 35 to 40 minutes; the average CD I'd reckon on 50 to 70 minutes. So, again, you're getting more music for your money these days.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Universal is also the studio who put copy protection on their discs, and announced that all such discs were returnable.
"Anybody who thought this lawsuit would accomplish anything other than making a few scumwad lawyers rich was a naive fool."
On the contrary, it was extremely successful -- people just don't understand why the suit came about, and what it meant.
Due to the success of the suit, the record companies are no longer allowed to set MAPs, and Wal-Mart and Best Buy are now free again to run ads for CDs at loss-leading prices. It wasn't about what price that stores were able to sell at, but about what prices they could advertise. The record companies set MAPs to protect smaller retailers. It all transpired a couple of years ago and the checks are just now being mailed.
The biggest effect of this action is that Wal-Mart and Best Buy will continue to dominate the retail market for CDs, because they can afford to sell CDs at margins that smaller stores simply cannot support to survive. This action is great news for the Wal-Marts and Best Buys of the world, and great news for consumers, as long as they buy from stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy. It's not-so-good news for specialty retailers, ranging from the Tower Records chain (who were busted along with the record companies and have recently filed for bankruptcy), to the indie record stores. Wal-Mart can afford to sell a CD for $10.99 or $11.99 because they'll make the money back on the other stuff you'll buy while you're there. Your favorite local indie record store cannot.
Not to sound overly dramatic, but if your favorite local indie record store has gone out of business or is on the ropes, the results of this price-fixing lawsuit may have a lot to do with it. Enoy your $13.86, folks. See you at Wal-Mart.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.