CD settlement

[CERuppel]

First off: Doc, if this is in the wrong forum, please move it. This one just seemed right, but this is not the usual post for this forum.

Now the news: A massive settlement in a case regarding price fixing has gotten into the "who gets the money" stage. Below is a link to the on line claim form. And before you get to excited, its $20 or less and only available to US residents.

The good news is that they aren't requiring store receipts and such.

Here's the link:

http://www.musiccdsettlement.com/english/default.htm

Now isn't that nice of them? (The record industry admits to price fixing that is still ongoing, is found guilty, and the sentance is just a few days income. Last time I looked if one of us got charged and found guilty of such a federal charge the best we would get is confiscation of all property and twenty years in federal prison. Just doesn't pay to be poor...)

More info here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl....DTL&type=tech

[n3uxf]

What's interesting to note too is that the more people sign on to this to get the $$, the less they will get. The total settlement is to be divided among all participants.

Plus if you read the settlement agreement too, it states that the settlement agreement still has to be approved by the courts.

I wonder how much the lawyers are getting for this...?

[CERuppel]

Just read some more about this "trial".

Seems that it's the record industry that is advertising the settlement. If "X" number of people sign up for the refund the record industry gets to pay off in old CD's instead of cash.

Also part of the settlement is the donation of some $75 million worth of CD's to schools and libraries and such. Seems real nice until you find out that they are donating the old warehouse's full of junk no one has bought in ten years. Those cd's would have been destroyed and writen off for (at most) $1 for manufacturing costs. Now they get to write off those same CD's for $15 or more each...

The tax write off is greater than the settlement cost (IF they are forced to settle in cash).

Then comes the kicker: the terms require this "repayment" attempt (or whatever you want to call it). But it does not require that they admit to wrong doing or law breaking. Nor are they being held to show that this price fixing is not still going on today.

And here's one for the lawyers: Are they protected by the double jeopardy laws? Since they are not admiting any wrong doing I would think that they are not protected, but since they have been tried maybe they are...

And if they are, does that mean that they can just go on with this price fixing? Even rub peoples face in it, since they can't be tried for it again?

Some days it just doesn't pay to be a peon, err, I mean citizen. Or some such sarcastic gripe.

(Typo king lives!!!!)

[dunbar]

I forwent the settlement. :-\

[leslie2020]

I believe it may be that co's can write off 2x the value of the Disks. I think there is a loop hole in the tax code that lets the corps effectively write off donated stock at 2x. Hence, the Home Despot types dont look so generous donating damaged and messed building stuff to Habitat for Humanity and the like. Same goes for these RIAA types