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发帖数: 6288 | 1 Claimant ID: 0038689260
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Case No. C-05-00037-JW
NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION
TO: All Persons or Entities in the United States Who Purchased One of
the Listed Ipod Models Directly from Apple Between September 12, 2006 and
March 31, 2009 (the “Class”).
Please Read this Notice Carefully and in its Entirety.
Your Rights May Be Affected by Proceedings in this Litigation.
This Notice has been sent to you pursuant to an Order of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California. The purpose of this
Notice is to inform you that you have been identified as a potential member
of the Class described above so that you can decide whether to remain a
Class Member or to exclude yourself or your company from the Class. If you
want to stay in this Class Action, you need not do anything now, and you
will be bound by the Court’s rulings in the lawsuit. If you do not want to
participate in this Class Action or have your rights affected by it, you
must request exclusion as described in this Notice by July 30, 2012.
This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
This Notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court about the
merits of any of the claims or defenses asserted by any party to this
litigation. The Court has not decided whether Defendant Apple Inc. (“Apple
”) has done anything wrong. Apple has not been ordered to pay any money.
There has been no settlement.
I. SUMMARY OF THE LITIGATION
Apple sells iPods directly to customers through its online and retail stores
and directly to Apple authorized resellers. The lawsuit claims that Apple
violated federal and state laws by issuing software updates in 2006 for its
iPod that prevented iPods from playing songs not purchased on iTunes. The
lawsuit claims that the software updates caused iPod prices to be higher
than they otherwise would have been. Apple denies that it did anything wrong
and asserts that the software updates challenged by Plaintiffs improved its
products, were good for consumers, and had no effect on iPod prices. The
Court has not yet decided whether Plaintiffs or Apple is correct.
On November 22, 2011, the Court allowed the case to proceed as a class
action for all persons and entities that purchased certain iPod models
between September 12, 2006 and March 31, 2009. The specific models of iPods
covered by the Class Definition can be found at www.ipodlawsuit.com.
The Court appointed Plaintiffs as Class representatives, appointed Robbins
Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP as Class Counsel, and directed that this Notice be
sent to potential Class Members informing them of the pending litigation.
II. EXAMINATION OF PAPERS
This Notice is just a summary and does not describe all of the details of
the litigation. For more details about the matters discussed in this Notice,
you may desire to review certain documents related to the litigation.
Several documents, including the Complaint, Apple’s Answer to the Complaint
and the Court’s Order certifying the Class are available for review at www
.ipodlawsuit.com. The documents filed in the case may also be inspected
during business hours at the office of the Clerk of the United States
District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco
Division, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, or by visiting
the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) website
at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/index.html.
Additional information can also be obtained from the Notice Administrator,
Rust Consulting, Inc. by calling 1-877-760-8875.
III. TO REQUEST EXCLUSION FROM THE LITIGATION
You have to decide whether to stay in the Class or ask to be excluded by
July 30, 2012.
You do not need to do anything to be a member of the Class and to
participate in any recovery the Plaintiffs may obtain for the Class and you
will not incur any cost for doing so. As a Class Member, you will be
represented by Plaintiffs and Class Counsel. However, if you choose, you may
enter an appearance through your own counsel, at your expense. If you
remain a member of the Class, you may not be permitted to pursue an
individual action against Apple regarding the subject matter of this
litigation.
If you do not want to remain a Class Member, if you do not want to be bound
by what the Court does, or if you want to retain your right to pursue your
own independent action against Apple for the claims in this case at your own
expense, you must ask to be excluded from this Class Action. To ask to be
excluded (which is the same as removing yourself from the Class or “opting-
out”), you must send an “Exclusion Request” in the form of a letter sent
by mail, to the Notice Administrator at Apple iPod iTunes Antitrust
Litigation, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 8038, Faribault, MN 55021-
9438 stating that you want to be excluded from In re Apple iPod iTunes
Antitrust Litigation. Your “Exclusion Request” should include your name
and address. To be valid, your letter asking to be excluded from the Class
must be signed and postmarked no later than July 30, 2012.
If you properly submit a timely request to be excluded from the Class, you
will not be bound by what the Court does and will not be eligible to receive
any benefits that Plaintiffs may ultimately obtain in the case through
judgment or settlement. You will, however, retain whatever legal rights you
may have against Apple with regard to the claims that are the subject of
this litigation.
DO NOT CALL THE COURT OR THE CLERK’S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE.
Dated: March 29, 2012 BY ORDER OF THE COURT
Honorable Chief Judge James Ware
United States District Court
for the Northern District of California |
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