Microsoft Settles New Mexico Class Action
Consumers will get up to $31.5 million in rebates and schools will get tech contributions.
Joris Evers, IDG News Service
Continuing a string of settlements, Microsoft has said it will make available as much as $31.5 million in vouchers to end a class-action lawsuit in New Mexico.
Consumers in the state who bought certain Microsoft products during a specified period will be eligible to receive vouchers that can be used to buy computer hardware and software, Microsoft says in a statement. A New Mexico court gave preliminary approval last week to the settlement, which is similar to deals Microsoft has made with other states. The arrangement with California is the largest, at $1.1 billion.
Half of any unclaimed settlement money will go to needy public schools in New Mexico in the form of vouchers, Microsoft says. In addition, if a customer claims a voucher but does not use it by the expiration date, half the value of the voucher will still go to the schools, the software maker says.
In New Mexico, consumers and businesses who bought certain Microsoft operating system, productivity suite, spreadsheet or word processing software for use in New Mexico between December 8, 1995 and December 31, 2002, will be eligible to apply for the vouchers.
Similar Deals
The suit alleged that Microsoft abused its Windows monopoly to overcharge customers in the state for its software. The settlement is similar to ones Microsoft reached in 14 other states. It most recently cut a similar deal with Minnesota. Also settled this summer were similar class actions in Arizona and in Massachusetts.
The software giant had earlier settled cases in Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont. In all the settlements, Microsoft denies any wrongdoing.
Microsoft most recently settled such a suit Details on any of the Microsoft consumer class action settlements are available on the company's Web site.
Class-action cases in which Microsoft is accused of overcharging for its software are still pending in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, and New York.
The private cases followed a federal court finding that Microsoft had abused its monopoly status in the desktop operating system market to the detriment of consumers. A settlement in the federal antitrust case was approved in late 2002.
