If you are located in Florida and purchased licenses for certain Microsoft software, including MS-DOS, Windows, Office, Word or Excel software, or a personal computer that came with this software, between November 16, 1995 and December 31, 2002, you may be a Class Member entitled to benefits under a proposed class action settlement.
Please read this notice carefully:
This notice is about a class action entitled In re Florida Microsoft Antitrust Litigation, No. 99-27340 CA 11 in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County, Florida. It is being sent to you because you may be a class member. Its purpose is:
· To inform you that on April 15, 2003 the Court conditionally certified a Settlement Class (Defined below) and preliminarily approved a Settlement Agreement executed by Microsoft Corporation, and Class Counsel
· To notify you that the Court will hold a hearing on November 24, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. at the Miami-Dade Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130 to determine (i) the fairness, adequacy, and reasonableness of the proposed settlement, (ii) whether a final judgment should be entered approving the settlement and dismissing this case with prejudice, and (iii) the amount of attorneys? fees and expenses to be paid to Class Counsel.
· To advise you of your right to support or object to the Settlement or the amount of the attorneys fees, and to participate in the benefits of, or exclude yourself (opt-out) from the proposed settlement; and
To alert you of these important deadlines:
October 13, 2003. Deadline for exclusion requests (opt-outs) from Class Members to be postmarked
November 4, 2003. Deadline for written comments or objections to be postmarked.
November 24, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. Hearing at the Courthouse on the proposed settlement, attorneys? fees and expenses.
December 24, 2003. Deadline for claim forms from Class Members to be postmarked. This deadline may be extended.
The Settlement Class includes all persons and entities of any kind within the state of Florida who indirectly purchased and/or acquired, during the period of November 16, 1995 through December 31, 2002, in the United States a license for use in Florida, other than for re-sale, one or more Microsoft Operating systems and/or Microsoft Applications, but (1) excluding Microsoft, it?s officers, directors, successors, assigns and subsidiaries; and (2) excluding government entities. Microsoft Operating Systems are specifically defined as the MS-DOS and Windows products listed in Appendices A1 to A3 to the Settlement and Agreement, but generally include Word, Excel and office versions designed for computers with MS-DOS or windows operating systems. If you are in the Settlement Class, then you are a Class Member.
WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
Plaintiff alleges that Microsoft unlawfully used anticompetitive means to maintain a monopoly in the markets for certain software, and that as a result, it overcharged Florida consumers who licensed its MS-DOS, Windows, Word, Excel and Office software. Microsoft denies plaintiff?s allegations and believes that it developed and sold high quality and innovative software products at fair and reasonable prices, Rather than have the Court determine whether the plaintiff or Microsoft is correct at a trial, the parties decided to settle the case. The court will decide after hearing on November 24, 2003 whether to approve the settlement.
OVERVIEW OF SETTLEMENT BENEFITS
If this settlement is approved, Class Members will be eligible to receive up to a total maximum amount of $202 million in vouchers (the Face Value Amount). By mailing a claim form by December 24, 2003 (or a later date, if extended), a Class Member will be eligible to receive a voucher or vouchers in the amounts indicated below, which can later be redeemed for cash if the Class Member purchases, after April 15, 2003, Qualifying Hardware (including personal computers, Apple Macintosh computers, laptop computers and Tablet PCs), or Qualifying Software (including most generally available software made by any company for Qualifying Hardware). A Class Member with total claims of less than $950 may purchase peripheral devices including printers, scanners, monitors, keyboards, and pointing devices (e.g., mouse, trackball, etc.) without also purchasing Qualifying Hardware. A Class Member with total claims $950 or greater may only purchase peripheral devices if they are bundled with Qualifying Hardware, The claim form and the Settlement Agreement define Qualifying hardware and Qualifying software in detail. In other words, the vouchers are good for cash rebates on a wide variety of computer hardware and software. If the settlement is approved, the following vouchers will be available for each license that a Class Member indirectly acquired in the United States between November 16, 1995 and December 31, 2002 for use in Florida:
· A voucher for $12.00 for each license for Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (specified in Appendix A1)
· A voucher for each license for Office, (specified in Appendix A2)
· A voucher for $5.00 for each license for Word, Excel, MS-DOS, Windows versions 1.0 to 3.1, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows 2000 Professional (specified in Appendix A3
Source:
http://jdean.1plan.net/FMCAL.htm
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