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You Can Now Claim Your Cash In the PS3 'Other PS3' Settlement (arstechnica.com)
If you've purchased a "fat" PlayStation 3 before April of 2010, you can now claim up to $55 as part of the settlement over the removal of the console's "Other OS" feature. PS3 owners with proof of purchase or evidence of a PSN sign-in from the system can receive $9 from the company. However, if you've used the "Other OS" feature to install Linux on your PS3, you can receive $55. The online claim form can be found here. Ars Technica reports: The opening of claims after a long legal saga that began in March of 2010, when Sony announced it would be removing the "Other OS" feature from the PS3. Sony claimed it was a security concern, but many class-action lawsuits filed in 2010 alleged the company was more worried about software piracy. While one lawsuit over the matter was dismissed by a judge in 2011, another worked its way through the courts until June, when Sony finally decided to settle. Though the company doesn't admit any wrongdoing, it puts itself on the hook for payments to up to 10 million PS3 owners. Note to those affected: "Claims are due by December 7, and payments should be sent out early next year pending final approval of the settlement."
Sadly you are correct. A lot of the BIG ROUND NUMBER settlements come out to rounding error per plaintiff, and 20-50% going to the lawyers. Somehow there need to be ethics and rules to assure that the actual damage is roughly remedied and in a timely fashion. There is too far of a gap between what a law firm can readily settle for quickly to maximize their profit per hour of effort, and what will actually make things right for their clients.
Years back near my old neighborhood there was a train wreck, leading to a damaged high pressure gasoline line, leading to a massive fireball that killed folks and burnt out many houses. The ensuing lawsuit was fought tooth and nail, drawn out, and eventually the plaintiff's lawyer ran into money issues. So he settled for an amount that went entirely to "legal fees" and he skipped town. Many residents were left with nothing. There are countless examples across this range where justice is excruciatingly slow, with unjust results at the end. It becomes punitive to hold out hope for a remedy. There are a couple suits we didn't even know about that sent us $20 checks, and others we lost track of and stopped updating our address with because any settlement would be worth less than the time needed to possibly get something at the back end.