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[US News] If you own a PC with a DVD drive, you may get a $10 settlement

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Only available in some parts of the US, if you're lucky.

From PCWorld (via TechConnect.com) ...


    If you own a PC with a DVD drive, you may get a $10 settlement
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Don't expect your money anytime soon, however.

    DVD drives may be a thing of the past, but the past could pay 
    you $10 via a proposed settlement from a class-action suit.

    If you purchased a DVD-ROM, DVD-RW or combination drive 
    between April, 2003 and December 31, 2008, a collection of 
    DVD drive manufacturers have tentatively agreed to pay you 
    $10 per drive, whether you purchased the drive as part of a 
    PC or by itself. You'll simply need to visit the claim site 
    (https://www.opticaldiskdriveantitrust.com/#two) and testify 
    (under penalty of perjury) that you indeed purchased those 
    drives within the given time period, and live in one of the 
    23 states (plus the District of Columbia) covered by the 
    suit. The deadline to file is July 1.

    Why this matters: Though the optical drive market continues 
    to decrease ‹ "the physical disk format is somewhat obsolete 
    in the era of content streaming," IDC wrote last year ‹ that 
    wasn't the case fourteen years ago, when virtually all 
    software was distributed via DVD-ROM. Fortunately, the 
    settlement site isn't asking for proof of purchase yet, but 
    it reserves the right to do so. Filing a claim can take 
    literally seconds, but don't hold your breath ‹ you'll 
    probably receive compensation, but there's no guarantee. 

    The wheels of justice turn slowly

    Simply put, a group of 23 plaintiffs sued virtually every 
    DVD drive manufacturer, alleging that they collectively 
    conspired to keep drive prices higher than they normally 
    would be, in violation of antitrust laws. Though the 
    defendants denied they did anything wrong, several‹ 
    Hitachi-LG, Panasonic, NEC, and Sony‹settled and agreed to 
    pay a collective total of $124.5 million into four separate 
    settlement funds.

    (Note that only DVD drives for PCs are covered; a DVD 
    player, such as the one gathering dust in your living room, 
    isn't.)

    If you do submit a claim, however, the chances of receiving 
    your settlement soon are slim. That's because seventeen 
    more defendants, including various subsidiaries of BenQ, 
    Philips, Samsung, TEAC, and Pioneer, have yet to settle, 
    and the suit will continue until all of the claims are 
    resolved.

    "Because other defendants remain in this litigation, the 
    plaintiffs are proposing that distribution of the 
    settlement funds not occur at this time," the settlement 
    site reads. "This is to save the expenses associated with 
    distribution."

    In fact, the settlement hearing to finally approve the 
    Hitachi-LG-Panasonic-NEC-Sony agreement will be held on 
    December 8. After that, payments may begin‹which means 
    that you'll probably receive your $10 or less a year from 
    now. Yes, less: Payments will be "up to" $10 per drive, 
    according to the claims site.

    You should probably treat the settlement like one of those 
    "print out your own rebate" slips from the turn of the 
    century. Even under the best of circumstances, chances are 
    you'll have totally forgotten about your $10 windfall by 
    the time the check arrives.

<http://www.techconnect.com/article/3166548/storage-optical/if-you-own-a-
pc-with-a-dvd-drive-youre-probably-owed-10.html>

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[US News] If you own a PC with a DVD drive, you may get a $10 settlement Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2017-02-08 09:20 +1300

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