Hi all:
A friend wrote the following.
Tim
The big five record companies and the big three retail chains were busted in an anti-trust suit for price fixing and all of us are can potentially receive some compensation. If you bought even one CD
between 1995 and 2000 you’re eligible to receive a $5-$20 cash settlement, depending on the response. Follow this link to the simple form and add your name and address to the list for payout (payback).
Ayup. I already submitted my claim.
Chris
Are we sure this isn’t some sort of elaborate hoax and that they aren’t collecting names and addresses for spamming purposes?
There doesn’t seem to be any organization associated with this site, no “about us” page, no way to tell who you’re submitting your information to. I don’t trust it.
[ This Message was edited by: bradhurley on 2003-01-13 17:27 ]
Brad, if you look at the “statement of settlement” (or whatever they call it) reached through clicking the link on the left hand side of the page, you will find the legal document notice pertaining to the settlement, in which it explains that those seeking to file a claim may do so through the website. It’s legit. This has been all over the place. Apparently the organization handling the settlement is having trouble giving out the money because most people have the same sort of (completely understandable) distrust as you.
Best,
Chris
Oh yeah, I saw the legal statement and all the other stuff when I first looked at the site, but my first impression was still that it was a hoax, complete with faked documents. I understand now that it’s legit (after checking a few internet hoax sites and finding that it was listed as a legitimate offer), but I still think many people who look at that site would conclude that it’s probably a hoax due simply to the fact that no organization or person claims ownership or responsibility for the site. That’s probably why so few people have signed up.
The thing that I found strange about this site was that they never ask you to enter the name of a particular CD you purchased, or the name of a CD retailer you purchased a CD from during the period covered by the settlement. I mean, after all, probably half the people in the US (if not more) bought at least one CD from some retailer during that time period. If their intent is to find people to whom they can distribute the money from this settlement, they could just as easily go door to door in every city, town and state in the country and say “Can you show us a CD that was released during this timeframe?” and if so, then they could hand that person some cash. They could just repeat this process until they run out of money, and it would be every bit as fair as what they’re doing with this website registration scheme. It may very well be a legitimate organization, but I’m with Brad. One does have to wonder what else they plan to do with the information they’re collecting. (But did that stop me from registering on the site? Ummmmm…no.)
Too bad I never buy CD’s.
On 2003-01-14 11:14, johnkerr wrote:
The thing that I found strange about this site was that they never ask you to enter the name of a particular CD you purchased, or the name of a CD retailer you purchased a CD from during the period covered by the settlement. I mean, after all, probably half the people in the US (if not more) bought at least one CD from some retailer during that time period…
Maybe this is why, quoted from their site:
If the number of claims filed would result in refunds of less than $5.00 per claimant, there will be no cash distribution to individual consumers. Rather, the cash portion of the Settlement shall be distributed to not-for-profit, charitable, governmental or public entities to be used for music-related purposes or programs for the benefit of consumers who purchased Music Products.
So if enough people register, no one gets anything.
Newsweek had an article about this in this week’s issue. (Don’t have the magaxine in front of me, so I can’t tell you page number etc.)