Netgear's Generous Settlement: Buy More Of Our Stuff
from the justice-both-blind-and-stupid dept
Netgear has settled a class-action lawsuit that alleged its Wi-Fi products couldn't send data as fast as advertised. Apparently the only real change is that Netgear advertising that mentions WiFi speeds of up to 240 Mbps "may vary" -- while affected users get a 15 percent discount on future wireless equipment. The lawyers get $700,000, while users get 15 percent off when they buy another Netgear product. Let's see, they were upset enough to take part in a class-action suit, so presumably they wouldn't have bought another Netgear product. Now, their award is a meager inducement to buy something else from Netgear -- that makes marginally less misleading claims. Who's the winner here?
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so what
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Lawyers
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The Lawyers
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Re: The Lawyers
I was an unwitting member to a class action law suit against a major VISA/MC card issuer. The lawyers got seven figures. I got a check for $.47 (that's FORTY-SEVEN CENTS).
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winners
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Re: The Lawyers
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Re: The Lawyers
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Who wins?
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Re: Who wins?
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Broken Legal System
It cuts down on frivolous suits. People don't sue because they burned themselves on a hot cup of coffee.
It encourages early settlement. In our system, delay is a strategy. A corporation with deep pockets can hope to outlast its opponent (whose pockets may not be so deep). If they realize that their potential liablity is increasing, they have an incentive to negotiate and settle quickly.
Of course, most of Congress is made up of lawyers, and the American Trial Lawyers Association would scream bloody murder, but it's still a good idea.
John
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Bad Class Action, No Donut
Yeah, all of those class action lawsuits are bad. They are all evil tricks of the vile lawyers! Those evil bastiges are suing Sony over some alleged root kit attack on users computers. What really matters in the suit is that the people who bought CDs get money out of Sony. I am sure Sony withdrew the CDs in question out of the goodness of their heart and not from fear of the liability induced by their customers ability to combine resources and file class action lawsuits.
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Re: Broken Legal System
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Re: Broken Legal System
"The British have a reasonable provision. In civil suits, they require losers to pay the winners' court costs."
You're a bit behind the times mate. Britain went "No Win, No Fee" several years ago and it's been a complete p.i.t.a. ever since. Small town carnivals and parades have been cancelled for fear of being sued. So have bonfire nights organised by small local clubs. Local councils have closed down public playgrounds because they aren't staffed by trained personel 24/7 all for fear of getting sued.
I was even reading in a paper about a single decker bus being involved in an accident which was sued by a couple of hundred people for compensation - the bus only holds 47 and was only half full - aparrantly the bus company did a cost analysis and it was cheaper to pay everyone than to take each individual to court.
The list goes on. End result? Less joy and higher insurance premiums.
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Quote:
"It cuts down on frivolous suits. People don't sue because they burned themselves on a hot cup of coffee."
Just FYI, but the in the case you're referring to the woman had to undergo skin graft treatment to repair the damage caused by the coffee.
I realise we all have different views but imho if spilling coffee on yourself results in $10K of medical bills, there's something wrong with the coffee.
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Screw the lawyer bashing...
Needless to say, I went back to the two 3C509Bs. I won't buy Netgear again because of that. A 3C509B was pretty much the industry standard at the time (yes, that long ago...)
Oh, and technical support, once I finally got through to them that my cables were absolutely working correctly, could only suggest the latest drivers from their website.
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