{"id":10611,"date":"2017-03-28T15:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T19:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southjerseytechies.net\/blog\/?p=10611"},"modified":"2025-10-22T08:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:57:22","slug":"if-youve-ever-owned-a-pc-with-a-dvd-drive-you-may-get-a-10-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southjerseytechies.net\/blog\/if-youve-ever-owned-a-pc-with-a-dvd-drive-you-may-get-a-10-settlement\/","title":{"rendered":"If you’ve ever owned a PC with a DVD drive, you may get a $10 settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t expect your money anytime soon, however.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DVD drives may be a thing of the past, but the past could pay you $10 via a proposed settlement from a class-action suit.<\/p>\n

If you purchased a DVD-ROM, DVD-RW or combination drive between April, 2003 and December 31, 2008, a collection of DVD drive manufacturers have tentatively agreed to pay you $10 per drive, whether you purchased the drive as part of a PC or by itself. You\u2019ll simply need to visit the claim site and testify (under penalty of perjury) that you indeed purchased those drives within the given time period, and live in one of the 23 states (plus the District of Columbia) covered by the suit. The deadline to file is July 1.<\/p>\n

Why this matters:\u00a0<\/strong>Though the optical drive market continues to decrease\u2014\u201cthe physical disk format is somewhat obsolete in the era of content streaming,\u201d IDC wrote last year\u2014that wasn\u2019t the case fourteen years ago, when virtually all software was distributed via DVD-ROM. Fortunately, the settlement site isn\u2019t asking for proof of purchase yet, but it reserves the right to do so. Filing a claim can take literally seconds, but don\u2019t hold your breath\u2014you\u2019ll probably<\/em> receive compensation, but there\u2019s no guarantee.<\/p>\n

The wheels of justice turn slowly<\/h2>\n

Simply put, a group of 23 plaintiffs sued virtually every DVD drive manufacturer, alleging that they collectively conspired to keep drive prices higher than they normally would be, in violation of antitrust laws. Though the defendants denied they did anything wrong, several\u2014Hitachi-LG, Panasonic, NEC, and Sony\u2014settled and agreed to pay a collective total of $124.5 million into four separate settlement funds.<\/p>\n