Vista Capable suit no longer has class

InfoWorld - First disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. (For which the American Bar Association should be extremely grateful.)

Second disclaimer: This is not a legal -- or should I say, law -- blog. Whether it's an illegal blog is another matter entirely.

Yet for the second time this week I find myself writing about Microsoft and its legal battles. Now writing about law suits is usually about as much fun for me as writing about gastro-intestinal diseases, and often with the same deleterious effect on my digestion. Doing two of them in a row... well, I might be laid up for weeks. But I feel compelled to do it anyway.

It appears the same judge who certified the Vista Capable suit as a class action last year has decided that the suit no longer qualifies as a class action. Her reasoning: Plaintiffs did not prove that the mere act of slapping a misleading label on the box meant consumers paid more for their PCs.

OK, that may be true. But it still seems to me they didn't get the PCs they thought they'd paid for. I'm having a bit of a problem with this, and I'm hoping the sage legal minds out in Cringeville can help me out.

If I buy a car that says "Porsche" on it for US$20,000, only to take it home and find out it's really just a Yugo with a fancy logo, I still only spent $20,000. The car I really wanted probably cost closer to $30,000 (yes, I know, a Porsche usually costs a lot more than that -- but humor me here). That Yugo probably should have cost $10,000 (or a lot less).

Some people who really want a Porsche might be willing to pay $30,000 -- but they'd be fools to do so when there's one listed for $20,000 sitting right in front of them.

Did PC makers jack up system prices just a scosh because the boxes had a "Vista Capable" label on them? I don't know. Were PC buyers disappointed to find out that the sporty new systems they just bought weren't really so sporty, and that Microsoft knew they weren't sporty but encouraged hardware makers to claim they were anyway? Sure seems like it.

How much time and effort did consumers spend finding this out, and what is that worth? I think that's the real question here. But it's not the one the judge ruled on.

Plaintiff's attorneys may appeal the ruling. But for the moment, the class action is gone and it's just the six original plaintiffs. That suit will continue to move forward -- unless Microsoft succeeds in throwing up more roadblocks. But even if MSFT loses, the judgement will be a fraction of the payout they would have had to make. And the plaintiffs' attorneys will be far less motivated to pursue the case and much more likely to settle.

But enough about that for now. My stomach hurts too much to think about it any more.

Does thinking about Microsoft or Vista give you ulcers? E-mail me direct: cringe@infoworld.com.