INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Display: Sort:
Not a Class Act! | 16 comments (16 topical) | Post A Comment
Misunderstanding Class Action Suits[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by Anonymous User on Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 08:57:01 AM PDT

Class action suits aren't intended to give everyone a generous handout from the offending corporation. They're intended to act as a deterrent, and failing that, a punishment, proportional to the number of people that the company's improper behavior impacted. The main point of the class action suit is the damages the company has to pay -- making them feel their misbehavior in their wallet. For the purposes of punishment, who gets that money is irrelevant. It'd be nice to see all of it go to the people who were harmed, but that's pretty much unlikely. A class action suit isn't supposed to be a moneymaking proposition for the members of the class, any more than a murder trial is supposed to resurrect the victim. It's nice if it happens, but don't count on it.

[ Reply to This ]


Nor for the defendant[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#9)
by sconeu on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 07:07:43 AM PDT

Yeah, it's not supposed to be moneymaking for the plaintiffs, but it's not supposed to be moneymaking for the defendant either.

What would you call it when the settlement is "a coupon worth $15 toward [DEFENDANT]'s products"? Examples: Microsoft, Sony rootkit.

So they get punished by having people buy *MORE* of their stuff?  Big punishment.

--
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the United States of America.
[ Parent | Reply to This ]



Not a Class Act! | 16 comments (16 topical) | Post A Comment
Display: Sort:

Menu
· create account
· faq
· search

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

 HOME  NEWS  COLUMNS  BLOGS  PODCASTS  TECHNOLOGIES  TEST CENTER  EVENTS  CAREERS  IT EXEC-CONNECT   About Awards Contact Us 

Copyright © 2006, Reprints, Permissions, Licensing, IDG Network, Privacy Policy.
All Rights reserved. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses,
phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services.

 ComputerWorld :: LinuxWorld :: Network World :: CIO :: PC World :: Darwin :: CMO :: CSO
IT Careers :: JavaWorld :: Macworld :: Mac Central :: Playlist :: GamePro :: GameStar :: Gamerhelp
ITWorld Canada :: Computerwoche :: Techworld UK :: tecChannel :: IDG.se :: IDG.no :: IDG.pl

create account | faq | search