News
Have you been paid?
Customers receive credits from e-books case and yawn
NEW YORK Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:27pm GMT Click here for original article.
(Reuters) - In the end, one of the highest-profile antitrust cases in years failed to make much of an impression on some of the very people the lawsuit was meant to benefit.
Customers of Amazon.com Inc and other e-book retailers on Tuesday began receiving notices of their shares of a $166 million settlement with five of the biggest book publishers, all accused of conspiring with Apple Inc to raise e-book prices.
For many customers, the sums took the form of credits to be spent on books through various e-book retailers, including Amazon's Kindle Store.
Many were underwhelmed with their new found loot, and hundreds who received their credits from Amazon took to social media to deride their paltry share. Many reported receiving less than $10 and as little as 73 cents.
"I got 73 cents LOL hey that's almost a book!!" tweeted one.
Tweeted another:
"I got a whopping $5.11 from the US vs. Apple et al. ebook antitrust case. Glad to know these lawsuits really help the little people."
The settlement with the publishers resulted from lawsuits filed in 2011 and 2012 by the U.S. Justice Department, state attorneys general and private attorneys. Private class counsel who represented 23 states in the publisher settlements were awarded more than $10 million in legal fees.