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Amazon Kindle eBook Users To Get Refunds After Settlement
hypnosec writes "Amazon, in an email to Kindle owners, has a revealed that following the settlement in the eBook price fixing lawsuit customers will be entitled to refunds between 30 cents and $1.32 on each book purchased. If the $69 million settlement is approved, the funds will be provided as credits to customers directly in their accounts. Users may request checks for the amount of credit that has been applied to their accounts. 'If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books,' wrote Amazon in the email."
I may get a few bucks out of this - but my wife is probably looking at some serious money! Which probably just means she'll go on a book-buying spree...
So, basically, this money will end up going to Amazon.
#DeleteChrome
Why make millions and give your customers a good value, when you can make tens of millions and rip everyone off? It's so stupid a fool could see what's wrong, but unfortunately these companies didn't have any fools on the board of directors.
Do the courts even make a real attempt to punish corporations any more? The cash really goes the lawyers and the customers get the bread crumbs.
I tell you what, if want just, let the lawyers get reimbursed in the same portions and methods as their customers. If Amazon rips you off $100 and you get a $0.10 coupon for it. The lawyer who asks to get paid $1 million dollars should get $10,000 in coupons for purchasing e-books.
I bet you would see some justice. If not, lawyers getting screwed like, well that would be a least a little justice.
If you really want to make them pay, force them to send you a check for that 30 cents. The cost of processing it will far outpace the measly 30 cent check.
According to the email I received from Amazon, they will send a check if you request one:
"You also have the option to receive a check instead of your credit. You can request a check by calling 1-866-621-4153, or going to the Settlement website listed below, and clicking on the Check Request Option link. Be sure to reference the Settlement ID number found at the bottom of this email. The Settlement website is:
http://www.EBookAGSettlements.com"
Really? From TFS:
Users may request checks for the amount of credit that has been applied to their accounts.
People who use slashdot also tend to read, people who read then to buy books off amazon, and lately digital sales have been growing by leaps and bounds. Thus this news, falls under News for Nerds.
Because it's about e-books, and the tech giants Amazon and Apple.
The price fixing isn't a significant for purchases in comparison to the need to stop collusion and monopolies. Companies of a certain size should be required to support operating systems and devices in a standards complaint way. No one operating system or device should be favored. Digital restrictions should be illegal.
I think it should go to the Golf Channel, because I really like golf.
#DeleteChrome
Is this only applicable to sales made to US customers?
"Amazon, in an email to Kindle owners, has a revealed
Has a revealed?
that following the settlement in the eBook price fixing lawsuit customers will be entitled to refunds between 30 cents and $1.32 on each book purchased.
Have you met the comma?
the funds will be provided as credits to customers directly in their accounts. Users may request checks for the amount of credit that has been applied to their accounts.
Wow, that's a torturous couple of sentences. How about "the funds will be credited directly to customers' accounts, or by check if requested." Still, credit to the submitter for not just blindly copying and pasting straight from the article.
"'f the Court approves the settlements
What is this, missing initial letter day? Just had the exact same thing in another summary.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
It appears that Apple is also involved with this settlement. Here's the email I just got:
Benefits from an Attorney General E-books Settlement Fund
Para una notificación en Español, llamar o visitar nuestro website.
[Settlement ID Number]
Records indicate that you are eligible for a payment from Settlements reached by the State Attorneys General with electronic book publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. The Settlements resolve an antitrust lawsuit about the price of electronic books. Apple Inc. (“Apple”) has not been sued in this case. It is assisting in providing this notice as a service to its customers.
What the Settlements Provide
The Settlements create a $69 million fund for payments to consumers who purchased qualifying electronic books from April 1, 2010 through May 21, 2012. If the Court approves the Settlements, eligible consumers like you will receive credits to your iTunes account. The credit can be used on any purchases of electronic books. The amount of your payment has been determined based on the qualifying electronic book purchases identified by Apple in your iTunes account.
How to Receive your Benefit
Because you are pre-qualified, you do not need to do anything at this time to receive your credit. If the Court approves the Settlements, you will receive another email letting you know how to activate your credit. Once you activate the credit, it will be applied to your account by Apple. (If you bought electronic books from more than one retailer, you may receive notices with different instructions about whether you will receive a credit or need to file a Claim Form for that retailer. You will have a separate claim for each retailer and you should follow the specific instructions from each one.)
You also have the option to receive a check instead of your credit. You can request a check by calling 1-866-621-4153, or going to the Settlement website listed below, and clicking on the Check Request Option link. Be sure to reference the Settlement ID number found at the top of this email. The Settlement website is:
www.EBookAGSettlements.com
Your Other Rights
You can choose to exclude yourself from the Settlements and keep your right to sue on your own. If you exclude yourself, you can't receive any benefits from the Settlements. If you don't exclude yourself, you can submit objections about the Settlements.
Your written Exclusion Form or objections must be postmarked by December 12, 2012. Please visit the Settlement website for detailed information on how to submit a valid Exclusion Form or objection.
A separate lawsuit against two other publishers and Apple continues and is set for a trial in 2013. Apple denies the allegations in that lawsuit. Your rights in the separate suit are not affected by any action you take in regards to these Settlements.
The Court will hold a hearing on February 8, 2013 at 10 a.m. to consider whether to approve the Settlements. You or your own lawyer may ask to appear and speak at the hearing.
For more detailed information:
Call 1-866-621-4153 or Visit www.EBookAGSettlements.com
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a) You and your wife will have more book than you did before.
b) If you would have bought those books anyways, Amazon will have lost the money you would have spent on them.
Right on the first point. As to Amazon losing money though... no they won't, the money is coming from the publishers, not Amazon, so if you spend it on Amazon they at worst are getting the same money you might've spent on those books without the refund.
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
Lawyers get Billions to buy an island and have solid gold audi cars. the people ACTUALLY harmed get nothing at all.
Why don't class action lawsuits have a cap on what he lawyers can make? They should be capped at $300.00 an hour or $500,000.00 whichever is smaller, before taxes.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
presumably they ripped off people globally, so are other countries people going to start legal action ?
The market for e-books is still very centred in the UK(20%) and US(30%). The EU commission which is also investigating Apple and the the other 5 crooks is hoping to reach a settlement!?
European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia "Hopefully in the coming couple of months, we will reach a settlement,”
“For a period of two years, the four publishers will not restrict, limit or impede e-book retailers’ ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for e-books and/or to offer discounts or promotions,” the European Commission said in its Official Journal, detailing the offer under consideration.
And this is what the lawsuit was about. Apple and publishers colluded to drive the prices up and keep Amazon and B&N from dropping their e-book prices. You should actually be celebrating this. For once the government worked.
Only from the 3 publishers named in the settlement. (So far) Two more publishers and Apple are still under the gun since they were not part of this settlement.
As a Canadian, I wonder how this will work out.
Currently, the price of many mainstream/popular eBooks exceed (sometimes greatly) the $CAD price of their paperback counterpart.
The paperback price is also $2-3+ higher than the US counterpart, despite the CAD being at par or higher than the USD. The (lame) argument for this has traditionally been the extra costs for shipping the books to Canada etc.
So if this reduces the overall eBook price to something reasonable, will I as a Canadian be able to buy an eBook at a par price to that in the US?
EBooks were supposed to cost much less than physical books.
This is only true for books that are already in existence or new books that are not giong through the publishing system at all. For new works, especially large technical books/creating/reviewing/editing/... the material is a ot of the initial cost so while I'd expect an ebook to be cheaper than the dead-tree version I wouldn't expect it to be significantly cheaper upon first release. Even converting an existing older book to ebook formats (or an existing ebook to other ebook formats) is not free of work - someone needs to review the result of the conversion and make fixes as needed when parts come out badly. Of course some time after release I would expect the ebook versions to drop in price as the continue costs of making/storing/distributing them is not nearly as large as it is for physical units.
When you see an ebook more expensive than the paper version it is often that the paper version's price is being controlled by "heck, we need to shift these things out of the warehouse before they are worth even less and so we can make room for new stuff" which isn't a factor with non-physical items so the companies involved quietly forget about them and don't have any such reason to adjust the prices. In this instance the ebook price should be falling by that point too IMO, though I have no objection to physical books being cheaper under "fire sale" conditions (but if the condition lasts, especially if more dead tree editions are being produced, then the eBook price is a rip off being used to subsidise the paper version).
Of course this case isn't about how ebooks are prices compared to physical books (at least not directly). It is about the publishers and some distributors colluding to fix prices higher than they should be (irrespective of any ebook/physical differences).
Shanghai Shunky Machinery Co. is famous for equipment malfunctions crushing their employee limbs in their factories and we should boycott them for their slave labor practices?
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Sending a check for $0.30 to $1.32 is stupid. It would just be a subsidy for the post office if they did that. They will send you a check if you ask for one.
To be fair, many of those cheques will be lumped together, as users have likely purchased more than just one or two books. However, the point remains that they will send you a cheque if you ask for one through their phone service or website.
I really wanted to change my sig to something witty, but all I could come up with is this.
People who use slashdot also tend to read, people who read then to buy books off amazon
Considering how many here (of all places) who seem not to understand when and when not to use an apostrophe, the difference between the verbs "lose" and "loose", have no ability to discern between there, they're, and their, I don't think your logic holds up. Just because you read slashdot doesn't mean you read actual books.
Free Martian Whores!
People who use slashdot also tend to read
Are from a different Slashdot than I am? I thought one of the core values of the Slashdot crowd was never reading (TFA).
When I see ebook prices drop significantly, then I'll celebrate. A $0.30 check is no BFD to me.
I'm just hoping the refund will cover the price of The Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy.
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Ernest Hemingway