Microsoft cash ignored - $100 to millions offered
By Bernadette Tansey
San Francisco Chronicle
January 01, 2005
California consumers and companies may forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars they could be spending on new computer products if they miss a looming deadline to claim part of the $1.1 billion Microsoft Corp. agreed to pay to settle antitrust claims.
Of the 14 million customers eligible to apply, lawyers estimate that at most 700,000 so far have sent in a demand for vouchers that can be used for computer hardware or software purchases from any manufacturer, including Apple.
For those who miss the Jan. 8 deadline to mail a claim, their loss will be Microsoft's gain. The Redmond, Wash., software powerhouse, which has spent the past six years defending against charges that it created illegal monopolies on certain product lines, will get to keep one-third of any unclaimed portion of the $1.1 billion settlement.
Those savings could be substantial for Microsoft. No public tally of the amounts claimed so far has been released, but one lawyer representing claimants estimates that only about 10 percent of the money will be spoken for.
Howard Yellen of the Settlement Recovery Center in San Francisco said some companies may leave millions of dollars on the table because they're not aware of the settlement or have the mistaken impression that the claims process is too daunting. Yellen, whose firm helps clients complete the forms for a fee, said he has been amazed how hard it has been to generate claims.
"If you're selling something, it's not a bad thing to be offering some of Bill Gates' money," he said. "But if you don't have marketing, sales and distribution power, you can't get it into people's hands even if it's free money."
The settlement is designed to compensate customers for allegedly being overcharged by Microsoft for programs such as Windows, Word or Excel that were purchased between Feb. 18, 1995, and Dec. 15, 2001, when the company was accused of maintaining a near monopoly.
Companies, rather than individual computer users, stand to gain the most from filing claims. Most firms have purchased many Microsoft programs or many computers with the software already installed. Each item qualifies them for a voucher worth from $5 to $29.
But home computer users can receive up to $100 by filling out a simple form listing as many as five software programs they either purchased or received installed - and no documentation is required. Beyond that $100 threshold, all claimants must provide proof of purchase, but many types of records will be accepted in lieu of the original receipt.
Richard Grossman, a partner at the San Francisco law firm that filed the California class-action suit against Microsoft in 1999, said Yellen can only be guessing at the fraction of the $1.1 billion that will be claimed. Although millions of consumers have not filed, Grossman said, the thousands who have applied include businesses that stand to reap big returns.
"The largest companies in California have all made claims, and many of them are multimillion-dollar claims," he said. Still, Grossman said his firm has had to overcome preconceived notions that the potential recovery from class-action suits is so small that it's not worth the effort to fill out the form.
Grossman said his firm, Townsend, Townsend & Crew, fought hard to make the application process simple and to guarantee a substantial payoff to California. Even if customers claim only a fraction of the money, Microsoft will keep only one-third. Two-thirds of the unclaimed funds will go to needy California schools to buy computer equipment. Grossman expects the schools will receive hundreds of millions of dollars. More than 30 plaintiffs' law firms that worked on the case were awarded a total of $112 million.
Microsoft sees the schools benefit as one reason for the modest number of claims. "Lots of folks say they're perfectly content for this money to go to the California schools," said Robert Rosenfeld, Microsoft's defense attorney. Rosenfeld said the settlement was widely publicized through letters, e-mails and press releases.
"In light of that, one explanation for why people didn't file claims is they didn't feel that they were overcharged," he said. "We see this as a referendum on that."
Although Microsoft settled cases in 14 states, the California case yielded the bulk of the total of $1.87 billion the company has agreed to pay. Microsoft admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. In a federal case covering the same claims, a judge ruled in 1999 that the firm stifled innovation through its anti-competitive practices.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20950~2629050,00.html
By Bernadette Tansey
San Francisco Chronicle
January 01, 2005
California consumers and companies may forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars they could be spending on new computer products if they miss a looming deadline to claim part of the $1.1 billion Microsoft Corp. agreed to pay to settle antitrust claims.
Of the 14 million customers eligible to apply, lawyers estimate that at most 700,000 so far have sent in a demand for vouchers that can be used for computer hardware or software purchases from any manufacturer, including Apple.
For those who miss the Jan. 8 deadline to mail a claim, their loss will be Microsoft's gain. The Redmond, Wash., software powerhouse, which has spent the past six years defending against charges that it created illegal monopolies on certain product lines, will get to keep one-third of any unclaimed portion of the $1.1 billion settlement.
Those savings could be substantial for Microsoft. No public tally of the amounts claimed so far has been released, but one lawyer representing claimants estimates that only about 10 percent of the money will be spoken for.
Howard Yellen of the Settlement Recovery Center in San Francisco said some companies may leave millions of dollars on the table because they're not aware of the settlement or have the mistaken impression that the claims process is too daunting. Yellen, whose firm helps clients complete the forms for a fee, said he has been amazed how hard it has been to generate claims.
"If you're selling something, it's not a bad thing to be offering some of Bill Gates' money," he said. "But if you don't have marketing, sales and distribution power, you can't get it into people's hands even if it's free money."
The settlement is designed to compensate customers for allegedly being overcharged by Microsoft for programs such as Windows, Word or Excel that were purchased between Feb. 18, 1995, and Dec. 15, 2001, when the company was accused of maintaining a near monopoly.
Companies, rather than individual computer users, stand to gain the most from filing claims. Most firms have purchased many Microsoft programs or many computers with the software already installed. Each item qualifies them for a voucher worth from $5 to $29.
But home computer users can receive up to $100 by filling out a simple form listing as many as five software programs they either purchased or received installed - and no documentation is required. Beyond that $100 threshold, all claimants must provide proof of purchase, but many types of records will be accepted in lieu of the original receipt.
Richard Grossman, a partner at the San Francisco law firm that filed the California class-action suit against Microsoft in 1999, said Yellen can only be guessing at the fraction of the $1.1 billion that will be claimed. Although millions of consumers have not filed, Grossman said, the thousands who have applied include businesses that stand to reap big returns.
"The largest companies in California have all made claims, and many of them are multimillion-dollar claims," he said. Still, Grossman said his firm has had to overcome preconceived notions that the potential recovery from class-action suits is so small that it's not worth the effort to fill out the form.
Grossman said his firm, Townsend, Townsend & Crew, fought hard to make the application process simple and to guarantee a substantial payoff to California. Even if customers claim only a fraction of the money, Microsoft will keep only one-third. Two-thirds of the unclaimed funds will go to needy California schools to buy computer equipment. Grossman expects the schools will receive hundreds of millions of dollars. More than 30 plaintiffs' law firms that worked on the case were awarded a total of $112 million.
Microsoft sees the schools benefit as one reason for the modest number of claims. "Lots of folks say they're perfectly content for this money to go to the California schools," said Robert Rosenfeld, Microsoft's defense attorney. Rosenfeld said the settlement was widely publicized through letters, e-mails and press releases.
"In light of that, one explanation for why people didn't file claims is they didn't feel that they were overcharged," he said. "We see this as a referendum on that."
Although Microsoft settled cases in 14 states, the California case yielded the bulk of the total of $1.87 billion the company has agreed to pay. Microsoft admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. In a federal case covering the same claims, a judge ruled in 1999 that the firm stifled innovation through its anti-competitive practices.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20950~2629050,00.html