Few Takers For Microsoft's Settlement Cash

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Few Takers For Microsoft's Settlement Cash

Posted by timothy on Wednesday April 21, 2004 @01:31AM from the there-would-be-these-hoops-see-to-jump-through dept.

Makarand writes "According to this article on SiliconValley.com very few claims have been received to claim money from a Microsoft antitrust settlement in California. Only about 4% of the estimated 14 million eligible California consumers have bothered to file a claim till now. The deadline for filing claims is officially April 28 but is likely to be pushed back into May or June. Either, consumers have found the claims process too confusing, time-consuming and discouraging to keep them from making a claim or they are waiting till the last minute to file(like taxes). According to the settlement one-third of the unclaimed money will be kept by Microsoft and the rest will be given to Californian schools."

16 of 276 comments (clear)

It is -such- a lie... by torpor · 2004-04-21 01:35 · Score: 5, Informative

... to say that "the rest of the 'money' will go to California schools".

What will go to "California Schools" is 'boxes of Microsoft product', valued at the $-value for the settlement, by a team of accountants, lawyers, and auditors.

This settlement is a sham. It is nothing but an easy seeding program for Microsoft market-share harvests in the 6-month to 1-year time frame, among a vulnerable and naive market (education), and Microsoft know it.

--
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
1. Re:It is -such- a lie... by torpor · 2004-04-21 01:57 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Uh huh.
  
  Tell me, which part of this sentence don't you understand:
  
  Two-thirds of the unclaimed money will go to California public schools in a mix of donated Microsoft software and cash grants ...
  
  --
  ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Logically... by JC-Coynel · 2004-04-21 01:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Well I guess the process is too long, to heavy and they have no guarantee to get anything in the end.

I guess that's why those people don't apply security patches either!

--JC

--
--JC
There are three reasons by medication · 2004-04-21 01:41 · Score: 5, Insightful

First would be ignorance. I would imagine that a majority of the people who qualify for this settlement do not know about it and it's not as if Microsoft is going to go out of its way to inform them.
Second would be reality. To claim your settlement money you must produce your "Product Key number or Product ID number". Mind you these are your keys/ids from February 18, 1995 thru December 15, 2001. I don't know about you but those keys are long gone for me.
Third is human behavior. Corporations have known for a very long time that rebates are a fantastic sales tool precisely because many people do not follow through and claim them. I have a strong suspicion that the same principal is at work here - be it laziness or something else.

--
"If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit." - Mitch Hedberg
1. Re:There are three reasons by Smallpond · 2004-04-21 02:01 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Also, if you follow the link to webform.microsoftcalsettlement.com, you have to fill out a form to get the claim form. Then wait for the form. Then fill out the claim form and send it in. Then wait for the settlement.
  
  Note the privacy notice on the webpage. There isn't one. Who are these people? It doesn't say. What are they doing with the information they collect? What are the chances of getting a software audit if you fill out a claim form?
  
  Tinfoil hats available in aisle 3.
2. Re:There are three reasons by dixie_flatline_000 · 2004-04-21 02:20 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Have you seen the claim form? My brother-in-law was mailed one because he actually registered a copy of Windows while he was living in California. It assigns a certain voucher value to each Microsoft product (something like Windows - $16, Office - $26, DOS - $13, I don't remember the exact values), and you can claim up to $100 worth of vouchers without any proof (i.e., product ID's or license keys). Then, if you have license keys, you can list those on the form and claim vouchers for those too.
  
  Also, the vouchers you get are not for Microsoft products -- they're for any PC hardware or software. So once you get the vouchers, you can, for instance, buy a PC (for more than the total amount of the vouchers), then send the vouchers back to the claims adminstrator along with receipt and proof of purchase for the PC. Then they send you a check for the amount of the vouchers. (You can also use it for hardware/software you already bought, within a certain timeframe.)
  
  It's a pain in the ass, of course, but you can actually get a fair amount of money back from them. Especially if, hypothetically, you claim a fictional combination of products which comes to exactly $100 (and don't need proof of purchase), then claim whatever additional products you can dig up license keys for (as long as you've got the CDs in their original cases or envelopes sitting around the house somewhere in boxes -- the CD cases usually have the license key on them.) If one were to do that, one might wind up getting $200-300 back from them.
Microsoft is a public company by skidoo2 · 2004-04-21 01:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

Microsoft is a public company. With millions of shareholders. That is, millions of owners. You want to own a piece of it yourself, and have voting rights regarding the company's future? Go buy a block of stock.

I know I'll probably get modded down and get all kinds of bad karma for this, but I hate to see /. dominated by so much misplaced anger.

Microsoft is not just Gates and Balmer. It is a voice for a large number of people. It's this voice that gives Microsoft the power it has.
More than that by poptones · 2004-04-21 01:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

I actually have many of those PID numbers still here on my shelf from when we were filling the office with emachines picked up from officemax. And I filled out the lindows claim form just to check out lindows (couldn't get it installed on ANY of my computers but that's another story) but why would I waste time filling out this "rebate coupon" form? I have to download the damn pdf, print it, spend my time filling it out, stamping it, then waiting for the return of... a discount coupon for more Microsoft crap?
Yeah... sssuuuuure.... I'm gonna do that right now!
Or maybe... by RupertJ · 2004-04-21 01:56 · Score: 5, Insightful

Maybe people value their time more than vouchers? Seriously, how many mothers and fathers are going to take an hour out of a busy day (that they could be spending with their kids) to fill in paperwork to get some rebate on software if they decide to upgrade their system in the future?

Fact is most families don't care if their box isn't secure, patched or running the latest media player 9.03848.8464a - They'll use it once or twice a week to mail grandma.

Sorry Slashdotters, but people who upgrade enough to care about some freebie settlement vouchers ARE that current 14% of settlement takers.
Re:Total BS... by FrYGuY101 · 2004-04-21 01:57 · Score: 5, Informative

Last I checked, between February 18, 1995 thru December 15, 2001 you were able to buy Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4 and NT5 (Aka Windows 2000). None of which have manditory registration.

As a result, Microsoft is completely incapable of having a record of who purchased their product.

Moreover, even if they did have such a list, they don't nessicarily have a list specifying the state in which the user resides, and as this rebate only applies to users in California...

--
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."

- Seneca
Re:Needed: expanded moderation choices by hraefn · 2004-04-21 01:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

The altruism of the wealthy is rarely more than a tax deduction.
Re:Needed: expanded moderation choices by Daniel+Dvorkin · 2004-04-21 02:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

I've said it before: if I rob a bank, and get away with the largest haul of any bank robbery in history, and rather than keeping all of my ill-gotten gains, I give away some small but meaningful portion of it to charity, and the recipients of my generosity are profoundly grateful for my gift ...

... I'm still a bank robber.

--
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Re:Good. by jimicus · 2004-04-21 02:13 · Score: 5, Insightful

Microsoft does NOT force anyone's hand to use their software. Even on PCs that come with it, you can get a refund

You ever tried to do that?
Like those rebates by Smidge204 · 2004-04-21 02:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

It's almost like those rebate programs:

1) Overprice your product and offer a rebate

2) Bank on the fact that only a small percentage of customers actually mail in for the rebate, and do so correctly.

3) Profit

So MS's business model is looking more and more like:

1) Do whatever you want and let others/the government file antitrust suits.

2) Settle suits knowing almost nothing will be done to enforce/cash in on them

3) Profit

If Dubya wants to convince the public that the US economy is getting better, he should just designate litigation settlement income as a business sector instead of trying to classify burger flippers as "manufacturing jobs".
=Smidge=
Re:Good. by NineNine · 2004-04-21 02:15 · Score: 5, Insightful

they don't know that other OSes exist.

Actually, I'm thinking that they just don't give a rat's ass. Non-geeks that I know couldn't care less about the OS they're running. It just doesn't matter.
Re:An easier way? by StumpMan · 2004-04-21 02:33 · Score: 5, Informative

I receieved a settlement letter regarding the case with North Carolina.

Basically, I had to take a day off work, go to the Courthouse in Raleigh, fill out several forms, and then wait about 6 months for a check for 10 dollars.

Parking all day downtown will cost about 10 dollars, so I didn't see this as 'useful'.

So I am not going to bother with all that nonsense.

Any wonder why I run Linux now? Any takers? Anyone?