Ebook settlement - Scam or not?

Factual Questions
1

I got this email yesterday from “State Attorneys General and Class E-book Settlement <Administrator@qgemail.com>”

"Records indicate that you are eligible for a payment from Settlements reached by State Attorneys General and Class Plaintiffs with E-book publishers Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, (known as Macmillan) (“Macmillan”) and Penguin Group (USA) Inc. (“Penguin”). The Settlements resolve Plaintiffs’ claims against Macmillan and Penguin in antitrust lawsuits about the price of electronic books (“E-books”). "

The email correctly identifies what kind of e-reader I have, and I’ve found references on line to a real settlement, but it just sounds so scammy, I got suspicious (even though the email asks me to take no action). Anyone know the Straight Dope on this?

2

I know the settlement itself is real, as I’ve read news articles about it and I’ve gotten an email from Amazon about it, but beyond that I don’t know any details.

3

Here’s the FAQ from Amazon. The hearing on the settlements is scheduled for December 6, 2013, and if they are approved credits should be received starting in January 2014. What you (and I) received is just a legal notification, so you can delete it and wait for your credit to show up.

4

Thanks. I don’t have a Kindle, but presumably the same basics will apply for me.

5

I’ve gotten emails from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It will be interesting to see what the settlement is because I’ve only purchased a couple e-books.

6

Hm, I should go see if Fictionwise is included, though 90% of my purchased ebooks are Baen who I doubt are included because they dislike the whole DRM/charge the same as a hardback for the ebook meme. I think I have about 85 Fictionwise, and maybe 5 Amazon ebooks.

7

I got the same email. It’s not a scam from what I can tell, but I really don’t see the point. I’ve purchased over thirty books from Sony since I purchased my reader and the whole settlement thing probably isn’t worth the effort for me to even respond to. I’m sure the deferment any if us will get is something along the lines if a discount coupon for another book.Not that I’m really expecting anything or quite frankly even deserve anything.

8

There is a method by which you can opt out of the credit and instead receive an actual check in the mail instead. I was drilling down into the links I got in my emails from Amazon, B&N and Apple (ibooks) and I notice there is that option. You have to fill out a form and mail it in.

9

You can also opt out of the settlement and preserve your claims if you want to sue directly (for some reason).

10

Well, yes, it’s sorta a scam as you’ll get pennies while the lawyers get megabucks, :mad: but there is a legit settlement.

11

That’s interesting to know. I might do that to get my nickel from B&N, as my Nook was stolen recently (the bastards :mad: - it had an Oberon Design case on it) and B&N’s books are consistently higher than Amazon’s.

It would be interesting to see what happens with Fictionwise - I bought several hundred books from Palm Books (later Ereader.com, a division of Fictionwise, now subsumed into B&N).

12

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the lawsuit was brought by the Justice Department and some states. So I don’t think there are any lawyers getting megabucks out of this settlement.

13

You’re not wrong, although the state AGs and class counsel will get paid because the publishers are paying their fees as part of the settlement.