score one for the little guy!

read this article.

then go here

edit: fixed second link

Ahhh - only for Americans! Oh, well.... I guess we just ain't litigious enough over this side of the pond.

This was posted here before all the major news outlets picked up on it.. I kinda wish they'd closed it off back then so I can get something closer to $20 instead of the $5 it'll probably be now that everyone and their brother has signed up.

Not that people don't deserve it, I'm just selfish.

Um, is it just me, or does that second link lead to a blank page that tries to make it's self my home page?

Nope, not just you. Looks like somebody's camping on that site.

-Z

I'm bumping this year-old thread because I just received a check for $13.86.

Go me. Thanks for the original post. I hope most of us got in on this.

Jim

Same here. Received the check in the mail today.

damn. still waiting. I did however receive a big check from the hospital today , but they short changed me about $220 .

Got mine today, too. Free money isn't so bad.

Bah. $13.86 is great to have, but knowing it came from the record companies is even better. Yes, I know it's a drop in the bucket compared to what they gained by using their monopoly power to fix prices, and it's just a slap on the wrist... But I still had a great feeling of satisfaction today knowing that my $13.86 won't be lining the pockets of a record exec, or buying a new drumstick for Lars Ulrich, or buying a bottle of Britney's nail polish.

Yeah!! Finally got mine. Of course at the time I used my parents address and when they got an envelope with "Important: Settlement Materials Enclosed", they opened it. Oh well. I'm still glad I got $13.86 from the record companies. Think I might use it to buy some CD-R's to record all the mp3's I'm gonna d/l now!

And the music execs are loving it because they're still fixing prices as usual. Nothing's changed. And being in Canada I didn't even get to participate. Though we do have a government-mandated right to download as much music as we want from the internet.

Bruno

And the music execs are loving it because they're still fixing prices as usual. Nothing's changed.

Your supporting evidence, sir?

I don't doubt it's possible, but I also think the current retail prices could just be a function of high wholesale prices. There's nothing illegal about the record companies themselves keeping their wholesale prices at a certain level. The settlement was due to the big 5 coercing retailers to keep their prices at a certain level... I'm not sure those conditions exist anymore, it seems to me that retailers can go ahead and sell for whatever price they want, but if they want to make a profit, they'll have to sell them for more than what they paid.

There's nothing illegal about the record companies themselves keeping their wholesale prices at a certain level.

What you describe there is horizontal price fixing by an oligopoly - which violates anti-trust laws.

- trs

Only if they join together to do it, right? That's not what I was implying.

Only if they join together to do it, right? That's not what I was implying.

Ah, sorry, I thought you were implying that. Yes you're right if, indeed, they do not agree to prices with one another. The music industry is a tough one to gauge on that issue with the vast vertical/horizontal integration and consolidation in the industry overall.

- trs

Yeah, my understanding is the price fixing that resulted in this settlement was really blatant, and couldn't be construed as "coincidental." These days, I bet it's either much more concealed or just coincidental, as they keep their prices high so they can pay their lawyers to sue file sharers.

as they keep their prices high so they can pay their lawyers to sue file sharers.

- trs

Aww crap, I lost mine before I could cash it...