Microsoft settles anti-trust law suit with South Dakota

By Alun Williams

Posted on 20 Nov 2003 at 13:29

Microsoft has settled its legal disputes with another state - South Dakota. The class action lawsuit had alleged that Microsoft violated South Dakota's unfair competition laws.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, $9.33 million in vouchers is available to those covered by the class action. These will enable the purchase of 'any manufacturer's desktop, laptop and tablet computers; any software available for sale to the general public and used with those computer products; and specified peripheral devices for use with computers.'

Microsoft will also be funding IT purchases for schools in the area - one half of the value of unclaimed vouchers with go to state schools. The other half will go back to Microsoft. To be precise, according to the company's statement, it 'will provide one-half of the difference between $9.33 million and the value of vouchers issued to class members to South Dakota's K-12 public, tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools in the form of vouchers that may be used by schools to purchase a broad range of hardware products, Microsoft and non-Microsoft software, and professional development services.'

'This settlement allows us to focus on the future and building great software, and avoids the cost and uncertainty of litigation,' said Brad Smith, general counsel for Microsoft. 'We're pleased by the opportunity to help schools all across South Dakota get the computers and software they need.'

Back in October Microsoft also settled class-action law suits brought by consumers in Columbia and Kansas for violating state anti-trust laws - Microsoft settles up.

And earlier this month Microsoft officially settled a similar dispute covering North Carolina.