RIAA Settlement: Possible Consumer Payback

KoopaTroopa writes "Over on Ars Technica they are running a story about the RIAA handing out consumer payments as a settlement to a price-fixing class action. If you bought a recording at retail between Jan. 1, 1995, and Dec. 22, 2000, claim your money." As usual, the lawyers win a lot more than you will, but the process is pretty painless if you'd like to collect part of the settlement money; you may recall this earlier story about the settlement.

No Cash Option.

[ChrisNowinski]

If the number of claims filed would result in refunds of less than $5.00 per claimant, there will be no cash distribution to individual consumers

With the publicity the settlement is getting, it's strongly possible that consumers will get little or no cash. Sorry.

Instead, the money will go to "not-for-profit, charitable, governmental or public entities to be used for music-related purposes or programs for the benefit of consumers who purchased Music Products," much like the Tobacco money, which funds anti-smoking things like those "Truth" TV commercials.

Already Claimed Mine

[AltImage]

I saw this story on Wired a couple days ago. I already filled out the form online to join the settlement group. It was a suprisingly simple process...name, address, email address and click accept on a few things. You don't even need a recipt. Here's the link [musiccdsettlement.com] for those interested.

For some reason when I submitted this EXACT same story a few days ago it was rejected in under 10 minutes. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

Amen

[PotatoMan]

That was exactly my feeling when I got to the sign-up page. I didn't mind some of the questions, but when I realized they had enough info to build my SSN from, and that the info was not secure, I started wondering if this site is real or not.

I guess we'll know when the 'identity theft' ring goes into action.

Preach it, Lamont!

No thanks RIAA,already gave at <insrt-store>

[trentfoley]

Considering I pay the RIAA with every cdr I use, and that less than 1% of my cdr usage is for music, I feel that I am giving the RIAA enough already. That's all the justification I need.

Inflation adjusted value of settlement

[Anonymous Coward]

Assuming you qualify for the max $20, and further assuming you bought it all in one year (simply apply the fraction to these numbers to calculate your adjusted value in those cases), here's the inflation adjusted values assuming a 4.25 percent inflation rate:

2003 20
2002 19.15
2001 18.33
2000 17.55
1999 16.81
1998 16.09
1997 15.41
1996 14.75
1995 14.12

What happens to the $$?

[webscathe]

As quoted from the web site

The cash paid by the Defendants, after the payment of attorneys' fees, litigation and Settlement administration costs, shall be distributed to consumers who purchased Music Products. The number of claims filed will determine the actual amount of the individual refund but will not exceed $20.00 per claimant. If the number of claims filed would result in refunds of less than $5.00 per claimant, there will be no cash distribution to individual consumers. Rather, the cash portion of the Settlement shall be distributed to not-for-profit, charitable, governmental or public entities to be used for music-related purposes or programs for the benefit of consumers who purchased Music Products.

So now that this is on /. we all know the # of claims filed will result in a refund of less than $5. So now what happens? The money gets donated to pro-RIAA groups, yipee!

Does taking the $20 limit further action?

[mcgroarty]

I purchased over a thousand CDs in that time.

If I take the $20 does that mean, either implicitly or explicitly, that I'm claiming full restitution?

Re:No thanks RIAA

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a novel idea. How about clicking the link and visiting the site. All you have to do is fill out the form on the site and you will receive somewhere between $5 and $20 depending on how many people respond and how much the settlement is. If it is under $5 per person then all of the money goes to a charity. They are not asking for any proof. They do ask for you age and I think that is how the will tell if your claim is reasonable. If you were born in 1993, chances are you didn't buy anything in those years. Your parents would have to make the claim.

Helping OGG?

[SuperKendall]

Given that probably the number of people signing on will bring the distribution below $5, and that then the money goes to not-for-profits that benefit "the music listening public" - can OGG get some of that money to help with development costs? I'm sure even just a lowly million would help things along.

Re:Amen

[onepoint]

that's not the point, the data of a corrilating name, with address, with/or po box, to IP addresss and age is perfect for marketers.

the data is worth $20+ or more. because they will be able to say IP# 24.123.256.21 is cable modem in new england, human person with the age of XY, then if they can then cookie you, you'll be tagged for life.

Re:Huh?

[fendel]

My local Best Buy has a hand-written sign up near the music CD-Rs claiming that they sound better and are more(!) flexible.

I haven't figured out yet whether they're deliberately lying or just ignorant. (These are the same guys who had no idea what I meant when I told them they shouldn't leave their monitors in the PC section at the default 60hz.)

Re:Amen

[armaghetto]

Um, I work for a credit card company and all that person did was make a note on your account that says "this guy wants us to check a bunch of stuff"

You know what happens at the point-of-sale?

*swipe* Thank you for supporting an international megacorporation. Have a nice day, consumer/citizen.

You can tell your CC company to test for DNA, but there's no way they can communicate this to EVERY retailer in the country. Unless you report your card lost, there is nothing that comes up that says "check id". As a matter of fact, it's part of the contract between MC/Visa and the merchant that they *can't* ask for identification. You could legitimately say no. Of course, they will have to call in to the credit card company and THEN ask for the info you specified, but how often do you see a cashier compare the signature on the back of your card with the signature on the receipt?

Anywho, to stay on topic, I freaked about the last 4 digits of the social. Sure, it's easy enough to get elsewhere, but if you want to fraudulate (made up word) my ass, you're gonna have to do some leg work.

Also, if signing up for this petition causes the money to go below 5 bucks, big deal. Hopefully the EFF gets some of this money. It would be using the recording industries ammo against them.

Re:No thanks.

[edbarrett]

you may as well get 5 bucks

Read the terms, though: they have $67,375,000 to give out to anyone who's purchased a CD, cassette or record from the beginning of '95 to December 22 of double-naught. It doesn't take into account how may albums you bought; the money is split evenly for the class. If the numbers end up being less than $5 a head, "the cash portion of the Settlement shall be distributed to not-for-profit, charitable, governmental or public entities to be used for music-related purposes or programs for the benefit of consumers who purchased Music Products." So, if 13,475,000 people claim their chunk of the settlement, you get your $5 check. When Mr. 13,475,001 rolls along, the record companies /conspiracy theory/ will set up a not-for-profit shelter so they can hand the money right back to themselves /conspiracy theory/

we're still prisoners to the RIAA

[acroyear]

as in they've given us a variation on the prisoner's dilemna -- if nobody asks for it, nobody gets it. if one person asks for it and the other refuses, then one person gets the money and the other gets screwed. if both people ask for it, nobody gets it. just goes to show the RIAA still doesn't respect us and wants us in our place -- as prisoners to their control over our entertainment.

Consider the consequences!

[Raetsel]

JWZ had a very good point -- this was discussed on BoingBoing [boingboing.net], and here's what he had to say [quicktopic.com]:

• "Doesn't taking their $20 payoff constitute an agreement that they have paid their debt? If they have in fact engaged in price fixing, they owe us a hell of a lot more than $20 each. I suspect that taking the $20 in hush-money will preclude one from participating in any future, similar legal action against them."

Damn skippy.

Too bad I don't have Microsoft-level resources for lawyers, or I might end up owning the RIAA. (Yeah, right.) On second thought, I'd better be careful -- MS might get ideas...

The question of SSNs also came up, and was addressed -- it looks like they have a legitimate reason for asking.

Re:Signing also says you agree.

[poot_rootbeer]

In fact, everyone should go beyond just passively not claiming their share of this settlement, and actually submit the appropriate paperwork to exclude yourselves, in essence rejecting the settlement. We all know this isn't a fair compensation, and the more people who speak out and say so the better the chances that a more equitable settlement will be reached.

I wonder if anyone noticed

[tonyzeb]

I wonder if any one noticed that the settlement was for 67 MILLION dollars? That means 13 MILLION people have to sign up for it before it goes below 5 bucks a person. I like Slashdot, but I dont' think there are that many readers. If less than three million people sign up, which seems reasonable to say, everyone gets Twenty bucks. Cool. Besides, anyone who is a REAL freak about their personal information would have a PO BOX, and wouldn't care. Amateurs.

This is a joke, right?

[geekee]

If people would take some personal responsibility for their actions and stop blaming everyone else for their problems, this settlement wouldn't exist. If you don't think a price is fair, you do have the option to not buy the product. That's how free market economies work. This case ranks up there with suing McDonalds because they didn't tell you the coffee was hot or because you got fat eating their food.

Re:Here's an idea

[jbloggs]

How about this...you spend years at law school, taking out large loans to pay for it while you live on nothing because you spend all of your time studying, then spend years doing grunt work to build up enough knowledge that you might be able to understand enough of the legal system to start arguing cases, then spend enough years so that you could plausibly argue and win a case like this against giant law firms, spend many resources and salaries (not to mention long nights) researching this case and building up your arguments, risking it all if you don't win.... then take minimal compensation.

Re:Price Fixing Has Ended?

[freeweed]

After Dec 22, 2000, prices went back to precisely where they were before Jan 1, 1995. So, no price fixing involved :)

Re:21 cents?!?

[ConceptJunkie]

It could be worse. Norway actually had to pass legislation to change the tax law so you wouldn't be liable for more than 100% of your income. Apparently it was happening all too often.

Re:21 cents?!?

[Junnonen]

Well, the situation in Canada is nothing compared to Finland..

The fee for CDRs is 18,5 eurocents (that's 30,2 Canadian cents), and there is also the VAT (value added tax) of 22% that is added to every product sold in this country.

But that's just the beginning. About 75-80% of the gasoline price are taxes.. (1 liter costs about 1,15eur = 1,21USD. That's $4,56 per US gallon.)

New cars are heavily taxed. There's naturally the VAT, but in addition there is also a special tax, which is about 25% of the total price.

Alcohol is ridiculously highly taxed. One bottle of beer in a supermarket costs about $1 (quantity doesn't matter). Aluminum cans are almost non-existant due to a special "environment tax" for them.

There's even a special tax for soft-drinks! A small bottle of Coke (0.5L) costs over $1.

And last but not least, the income taxes are highest in the euro-zone...

And what happens at $5/claimant?

[tvsjr]

Did you read the description of where the money will go if the settlement drops below $5 per claimant?

Rather, the cash portion of the Settlement shall be distributed to not-for-profit, charitable, governmental or public entities to be used for music-related purposes or programs for the benefit of consumers who purchased Music Products.

So, what do you bet the defendants will publicize this heavily and get enough claimants to drop below $5/claimant? Then, they'll get the money funneled into not-for-profit, charaitable, etc. organizations aligned with the distributors and the RIAA. They'll lose money out of the general fund, but it'll get pushed back into other organizations they control.

Wait and see...