
Facebook Beacon Class Settlement - mshafrir
http://www.BeaconClassSettlement.com/
======
lionhearted
This kind of thing benefits the lawyers tremendously, and the users very
little at all. Here's some quotes, I added italics on some relevant parts:

> Instead, the parties engaged in a series of settlement negotiation sessions
> mediated by Anthony Piazza, Esq., of Gregorio, Haldeman, Piazza, Rotman,
> Frank & Feder. Eventually, both sides agreed to a Settlement. _By settling
> their claims, both sides avoid the uncertainty and cost of a trial or
> appeal._

This is common when big companies get sued - usually it's cheaper to pay off
the other side what's colloquially called "nuisance money" than to fight.

> _The original deposit of $9,500,000, plus accrued interest, will constitute
> the “Settlement Fund.”_ The Settlement Fund will be used: (i) to set up a
> non-profit Privacy Foundation, described below; (ii) to pay certain costs of
> administering the Settlement, as approved by the Court; and _(iii) to pay
> attorneys’ fees and expenses to Class Counsel in the amount awarded by the
> Court as well as any compensation to the Representative Plaintiffs which the
> parties have proposed to be in an amount totaling $41,500 distributed among
> 19 individuals._

The settlement is $9.5 million. Of that, $41,500 goes to Facebook users, 19 of
them specifically, and you don't get anything.

> If you choose to do nothing, and remain in the settlement class you will be
> legally bound by the settlement. By doing nothing, you will be giving up the
> right to sue Facebook and the other Defendants over claims related to or
> arising out of the Beacon program.

Lawyers do this all the time. They'll sue a phone company like AT&T for $500
million saying that the phone company didn't adequately notify people that an
"unlimited" text messaging plan only included 5,000 text messages or
something. AT&T will settle by giving every user 5 free text messages and pay
the law firms $20 million in nuisance money.

The users effectively get nothing, the lawyers destroy value over nothing of
real significance and get paid for it. On the off chance they're fought and
lose, the law firms are almost never held personally liable for the company's
legal fees. This greatly increases the cost of doing business in the United
States and is generally bad for anyone who buys anything from anyone. This is
not what class action lawsuits were designed for. This is protection money
extracted from big companies, which makes everyone suffer.

~~~
dchest
Agreed. Here's the latest gem — settlement of class action against Yahoo:

 _Yahoo! will pay a $20 refund (“Refund”) to eligible Class members who are
out of business._

...

 _XI. How Will The Lawyers Be Paid? Will The Class Representatives Receive
Service Awards?

Class Counsel will apply for attorneys’ fees of $4,170,000, plus reimbursement
of expenses of approximately $100,000, and for service awards to the three
Class Representatives of $10,000 each. Yahoo! has agreed to pay those fees,
expenses and service awards, in the total amount of $4.3 million_

<https://secureweb.rustconsulting.com/inreyahoosettlement/>

------
chaosmachine
Every internet class settlement I've ever seen has been a joke. The lawyers
get millions in fees, and the affected customers get a series of hoops to jump
through if they want to claim a couple dollars.

------
imajes
My favorite:

 _D, 4.12: Class counsel have never received any payment for prosecuting this
case on behalf of representative Plaintiffs and Members of the Class, nor have
they been reimbursed for their out-of-pocket-expenses. On or before the date
specified ... counsel will submit their Fee Application ... in an amount of up
to one-third of the Settlement Fund ... [of $9,500,000]. Facebook agrees that
... such a Fee Award is fair and reasonable._

~~~
jaekwon
Where does all that $3M go? College debt + research teams + luxury cars?

Do big law firms have state of the art information tools and their own
development team?

------
mattozan
This settlement provides no relief for me, or anyone else in the covered
class. I am opting out. If 1500 people opt out, the whole settlement can be
rescinded. That is my hope.

This settlement will only serve to enrich the law firm that did not see fit to
make any provision for all of us affected by Beacon!

