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Microsoft Settles Iowa Antitrust Case
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Feb 14, 2007 02:09 PM
from the everyone-loves-to-hate dept.
from the everyone-loves-to-hate dept.
ForestRangerBob writes "Comes v. Microsoft is over after Microsoft agreed to a settlement. The class action lawsuit alleged that Iowa consumers had been overcharged for Microsoft products for a decade owing to Microsoft's monopoly of the market. Predictably, the lawyers are about to get a big payday and 'the software giant will certainly be on the hook for millions of dollars, some of which may end up helping Iowa school kids. Average consumers will probably end up with a few bucks or a coupon for a free operating system upgrade, but the real winners will no doubt be the lawyers — the team prosecuting the case has already earned $60 million in legal fees from a 2004 case in Minnesota that charged Microsoft with similar offenses.'"
Related Stories
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Details of Microsoft's Settlement With Iowa 96 comments
dringess writes "As reported on Yahoo, Microsoft has settled the suit brought by the State of Iowa. Individuals can collect $16 for each copy of MS-DOS or Windows purchased from 1994-2006, while Office nets $29. No proof of purchase required! Now I can finally get some money from Microsoft!" Here is our original coverage of the settlement.
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Iowa Antitrust Case Costs Microsoft $255M 96 comments
The judge in charge has approved the payout for the case, which was settled seven months ago. Iowa citizens will get up to $179 million in refunds and the attorneys will get $75 million, $8 million of which covers expenses. There's another $1 million in there for legal aid. Individual consumers pocket very little: they can file for $16 for each copy of Windows or MS-DOS purchased over a 12-year period, and $29 for Office. Such a payout would serve as a deterrent only if all 50 states had sued and won similar amounts. Alone it's a slap on the wrist.
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documents on iowaconsumercase.org gone (Score:5, Interesting)
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A quick glance at Groklaw shows more links to the Iowa site then copies of the docs. What a shame the public record gets so quickly covered up once the money starts changing hands.
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Re:Stop and think for one second... (Score:5, Informative)
Have you ever tried buying a PC without Windows? There are only two ways to do it. Buy a whitebox from a small retailer or stumble upon the occasional PC with pre-loaded linux that is usullay hidden deep in the bowels of the websites of online retailers such as Dell and HP.
In the first case a lot of people are hesitant to buy non brand name PC's because they incorrectly assume that they will get better quality if they choose a brand they "know" (read: have heard of).
In the second case it is usually impossible to find any PC loaded with linux just by connecting to a retailers main page and just clicking. You usually have to already know that they offer a Linux PC and then have enough ability to search and find it on the site. Often you can't even find it using the search tools on the site and you have to do a site: search in Google, which most people don't even know you can do.
You can't just go pick a PC and then choose between Windows and Linux, which is how it would work were there a level playing field.
This is why people are always "bashing on Microsoft". If they had faith in their own product then they would have no problem with competing fairly against Linux.
Clearly they don't have faith in their products, so why should we?
Parent
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As for Walmart, as far as I am aware they were selling absolutely crappy ultra-cheapo white boxes without any sort of ability t
You're kidding, right? (Score:3, Funny)
No, that's worth WAAAAAY too much. The consumers will get a free Microsft Vista (tm) mousepad.
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Re:You're kidding, right? (Score:4, Insightful)
Hopefully the money that doesn't go to the lawyers will at least go to schools or something.
Parent
Laywers are the winners (Score:3, Insightful)
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If people are anti-lawyer, they should stop suing people. But then other people would have to stop trying to break the law. <sigh>
Re:Laywers are the winners (Score:4, Insightful)
The more plain they are, the more ambiguous. Give me an example of what you would consider a "plainly written" law, and I guarantee I will find ambiguity or loopholes in it.
Laws are structured for precision.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem is that MS is a little upset that it cost them some of their beloved cash, but they shake it off and think of this as the cost of doing business. They are like everyone else, they don't want to pay for utilities, taxes, or whatever, but its just the cost of doing what you do.
What I want is a real judgement or change from these cases, not a glorified parking ticket. What is going to change from this? Nada.
What is microsoft a monopoly on?
I disagree (Score:3, Interesting)
I disagree. I think that Microsoft has to be stopped from using anti-competitive tactics in their way of doing business and the rest will take care of itself. Let them keep their junk, closed source, buggy operating system.
I say one set of prices for EVERYONE published publicly with no contract tie-ins to any other MS or competing product coming into the equation will take care of everything!
The system works! (Score:4, Funny)
Almost makes me wish I was a lawyer. Almost.
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if some kid in college asked me if he should go into law or engineering, I know what I'd say.
(up until the point where lawyers are OUTSOURCED. now wouldn't that be a nice bit of irony? don't laugh - I bet this move is on its way over the next decade and so lawyers will be 'out of work' just like many of my fellow engineers in the USA are).
and I do like that comment, a few above this one, that s
wow (Score:5, Funny)
Boy, that sure showed Microsoft.
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Makes You Wonder (Score:2)
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Besides, I'll conceed the point that there's no money in provention, except for the money left in "people's" pockets, everone knows how well the capitalism machine works for "people".
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How on earth are you going to "enforce rules to prevent wrong" without using punishment methods? You don't execute or jail a murderer in order to resurrect the people he killed; you execute/imprison him so that 1. he's unable to kill any more and 2. others are less likely t
Re:Makes You Wonder (Score:4, Funny)
I have other common sense solutions to all the other problems too.
Parent
Payoff to the Lawyers (Score:5, Funny)
To be fair, the lawyers should have to take their cut in coupons for Microsoft products, just like everyone else will.
Bias against lawyers? (Score:2, Funny)
And the truth.. (Score:2, Informative)
but the real winners will no doubt be the lawyers
Isn't this always the case? I hate these lawsuits because the rich fat-cat lawyers make out and the real people that deserve something get like $10. No sh*t M$ is settling. They have to pay millions of dollars for thousands of dollars in product just because the lawyers litigated the case at 500 per hour. It just sucks, all the people involved as plaintiffs that essentially allow those blood suckers to make millions should get some sort of profit sharing, not just their $10 cut. And don't bitch abou
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But seriously thats how these things SHOULD work, lawyers getting a few millions sure, but people actually getting what they deserve as well.
Class action lawsuits: welfare for lawyers (Score:5, Informative)
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Ok, you completely misunderstand what a class action is. It is not limited exclusively to consumers, or especially large numbers--you can have a class action on behalf of just a few people. And there have been plenty of class actions where class plaintiffs each recovered significant amounts of money. Just because something hasn't been reported on slashdot doesn't mean
Re:Class action lawsuits: welfare for lawyers (Score:4, Funny)
Well, shit. There goes my proof for the non-existence of God.
Parent
Re:Class action lawsuits: welfare for lawyers (Score:4, Insightful)
In light of this, when someone does something counter competitive, just taking money away from them helps quite a bit. Now we can argue about where it should go, but this is better than the other options (leaving the money with the company that swindled the consumer). Put another way, if one company starts to swindle and nothing happens, all competitors will either start to do the same or go out of business. Class action lawsuits provide some protection against that and are an overall boon for the consumer in net, if not in effect per lawsuit.
Parent
Good to know (Score:2, Insightful)
And for some reason, I thought we won the cold war...
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In contrast, the very point of monopoly litigation is that the is nowhere else to go. No competition.
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Dude, the lawsuit was supposed to have been not so much about overcharging but over the things they did and still do to allow the overcharging. Things, you know, like penalizing OEMs for installing alternate operating systems.
I read some things that came out about Microsoft and Gates during the lawsuit and I came out thinking that Gates IS evil and his charity foundation has to be more about PR than actually helping someone else out, although they
$60 Million? Oh Noes! (Score:2, Interesting)
Justice? There is only one kind of justice.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Real winners are Microsoft (Score:4, Interesting)
This is only a bit more of a punishment than the fine from the EU of a couple ten thousand dollars a day.
And what else do they have to give out? More Microsoft products! Either a voucher, or software for schools. And from that comes support contracts, future upgrades, additional add-ons, all which will cost the schools and/or users additional money.
Why do courts and defendants even allow this? If I cut myself with a razor because it was used shoddy construction and a blade wasn't secured properly, and sue the company, why would I want another razor from them? I may get the razor free, but I still wind up having to buy blades for it later.
Granted, they aren't saying they don't want Windows, just that they were overcharged, but this still seems ludicrous.
The obvious next step (Score:4, Interesting)
Microsoft, Lawyers and Evil (Score:2, Interesting)
iowaconsumercase.org mirror? (Score:2)
Helping schoolkids? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, as it turned out, they were helpful — they helped spur the development of K12OS [k12os.org]...
$50? (Score:2)
As a citizen (Score:3, Insightful)
I get mail all the time showing the lawyers are going to make 4 to 16 million dollars and as a member of the class I'll get less than a hundred bucks. I do not join the class. I know ultimately, i'm going to be paying higher prices because of this crap.
Minnesota Settlement... (Score:3, Interesting)
$251.00 is serious money from Microsoft Corp, NOT "Average consumers will probably end up with a few bucks or a coupon".
Aren't we all the cynical ones (Score:3, Funny)
I'll take it. But, yes, I would rather be using IBM OS/4 HyperDrive today.
Re:Bet the states are licking their chops now (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
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Doesn't Qualify (Score:3, Informative)
I doubt it would qualify. After all, there are three editions below it, each of which will successfully run the vast majority of Vista-compatible products. In no way are you forced to buy the top of the line. You'd have to argue they are overcharging for the "core" or basic product. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. That's a different question.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's a postscript printer, you shouldn't need drivers. You do need a custom PPD file, though: http://europe.oki.com/fcgi-bin/public.fcgi?pid=6&c id=135&chid=10&pdflag=&prid=407&OSId=5&languageId= 1 [oki.com]
Both of those came from the printer's page on linux-printing.