Microsoft Settles Iowa Antitrust Case 198
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.'"
And the truth.. (Score:2, Informative)
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 about the actual cost of doing the litigation, because that is BS and you know it!
Class action lawsuits: welfare for lawyers (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Class action lawsuits: welfare for lawyers (Score:2, Informative)
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 it doesn't exist.
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:documents on iowaconsumercase.org gone (Score:2, Informative)
Helping schoolkids? (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, as it turned out, they were helpful — they helped spur the development of K12OS [k12os.org]...
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?
Re:Stop and think for one second... (Score:3, Informative)
As for Walmart, as far as I am aware they were selling absolutely crappy ultra-cheapo white boxes without any sort of ability to advise potential customers or offer much in the way of after sales support. Considering that 90% of the planet do not have Walmart stores anyway I don't see what they did or didn't do as being particularly relevant. When HP starts offering a choice between pre-installed OS's I will take notice.
I have noticed that HP have very recently started offering laptops with nothing but FreeDOS on them (along with a Suse Linux 10 Certified tag). Whether that is due to the widespread disappointment with Vista remains to be seen.
I've also noticed that while most major suppliers had removed Windows XP as an option on their new PCs for launch day it now appears that XP is back on sale, and in a lot of cases as the default option.