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{subhead} Amiga Law Suit Part I{def}{p}
Article by Mark Tierno
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Well someone's finally doing it. The Amiga Dealer's Association (ADA)
is suing Amiga and Gateway in a class-action suit for breach of promise,
messing everyone up, and being general bad guys. The overall total seems
to be somewhat over 3 million dollars (US) and is aimed at making a
bunch of sore people feel better.
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Of course, this might sound all nice and fine to people, but I
personally see a little flaw in their plans that just might prove
troublesome (actually, a flaw you can drive a truck-load of PCs
through). Allow me to demonstrate...
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ADA: Gateway, we're going to sue you and Amiga.
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Gateway:  We're happy for you. But you may have noticed that Amiga is
now an independent company, so we really have no control over their
day-to-day operations. As such we can't be included in your law-suit. We
do wish you well in suing Amiga, but we're legally protected from any
involvement.  Have a nice day.
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Amiga (with Gateway wearing their hate): You're suing us? Well gee, we
don't have any money since we haven't actually SOLD anything yet, so we
can't cover your law-suit. I guess this means we'll have to declare
bankruptsy. Oh well, we're out of buisiness and you don't get any money
for it. Nice knowing you.
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Gateway: Hmm, seems our subsiderary went under. Oh well; I guess we'll
take back our patents and the Amiga name now. And since it seems as the
Amiga will never fly we won't bother to bring it back and in fact won't
even put it up for sale to someone else. We'll just sit on it for now.
Have a nice day.
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ADA: Wha' happen?
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Amiga User 1: You killed off the Amiga, you idiots!
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Amiga User 2: Get a rope!
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Of course, that's just my take on things. To develop your own opinion on
this, just keep reading. I've included below the full text of ADA's
legal filing, so look it over and see what you think.
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---------------------- SNIP -----------------------------------------
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Counsel for the Plaintiffs) and World Class 23 Countries Law
Associations Groups.
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A. The Complaints) charges Gateway and Amiga Inc, Amiga
International, as a distributor, with committing violations of the 17
United States of America's Deceptive Trade Practices Act, 23 States
of America's Deceptive advertising, And Consumer Fraud Act and
similar Deceptive Trade Practices Acts in the United States, common
law fraud, breach of contract and violations of the Uniform
Commercial Code, NAFTA and GATT Act treaties, International trade
fraud, all arising out of the alleged sale of purportedly "new"
computers which allegedly contained parts or components from
previously sold, built and or discontinued productions of parts and
returned Amiga computers, allegedly without adequate conspicuous
disclosure of such facts. The complaints) seeks both equitable relief
and damages.
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B. Plaintiffs), by and through their counsel, has conducted an
investigation of the facts and analyzed the relevant legal issues.
While Plaintiffs) and their counsel believe that the claims asserted
in the Complaint have merit, they have also examined the benefits to
be obtained under the proposed Settlement, and have considered the
costs, risks and delays associated with the continued prosecution of
this complex and time-consuming litigation and the likely appeals of
any rulings in favor of either Plaintiff or Defendants. Plaintiff and
their counsel believe that, in consideration of all the circumstances
and after prolonged thinking of serious arms' length settlement
negotiations with counsel on the Gateway, Amiga Inc. Amiga
International, the proposed Settlement suggestions embodied in this
potential Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, adequate and in
the best interest of all Settlement Class members
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C. Gateway, Amiga Inc. and Amiga International Inc. have NOT denied,
and continue to accept, all liability with respect to any and all of
the facts or claims alleged in the Complaint, they do NOT deny that
they engaged in any wrongdoing, they do not deny that they improperly
concealed any assembly practices with regard to end user product
returns, they do not deny that they disseminated any false or
misleading information or made any misrepresentations,  they do not
deny that they acted improperly in any way, and they do NOT deny any
liability to Plaintiffs), any Settlement Class members or any third
party. Amiga Inc, Amiga International has weighed the risks and
potential costs of litigation of this action against the benefits of
the proposed Settlement. Gateway has also weighed the risks and
potential costs of litigation of this action against the benefits of
the proposed Settlement. And as of this day at www.Amiga.com  and
www.amiga.de website's public statements to these truths are still
posted as Gateway's and Amiga's pass failures and continued deceptive
and miss leading advertising of A1200 Amiga Computers and the A4000
tower Amiga Computers as being their current models offered for
immediate sale.
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E. The parties intend that this proposed Settlement embodied in the
Settlement Agreement resolves all claims and disputes between the
Plaintiffs), Settlement Class Members and Gateway, Amiga Inc. and
Amiga International.
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 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE SETTLEMENT In accordance with this Proposed
Settlement Agreement, Gateway, Amiga Inc. and Amiga International
agree to the following procedures relating to the advertising or
marketing of Amiga computers for retail sale in the United States,
and 37 other countries ( listed separately) in the event the
Settlement described herein is approved by the Court after the
Settlement Hearing:
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A. Consideration To Class Members And Future Advertising Procedures
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i. Amiga will provide notice (a) on cartons of computer models that
may contain parts from previously sold computers, (b) at the point of
display or sale for computer models that may contain parts from
previously sold computers, if the cartons are not on display (as set
forth in the Settlement Agreement), and (c) in applicable Amiga mail
order ads for computer models that may contain parts from previously
sold computers, that the computers may contain parts from previously
sold computers, and (d) in applicable Amiga's website at
www.amiga.com and www.amiga.de
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ii. Amiga will establish a claims fund in the amount of $3,902,500
for the purpose of reimbursing anyone who had to make out-of-warranty
repairs due to a previously used part being included in an Amiga
computer sold as new. For any claim in excess of $100, Amiga may
require such additional information as it believes appropriate,
including documentation that the claimed damage or repair was
necessary due to the presence of a previously used part that was
reinstalled in the computer. If claims exceed or are expected to
exceed $3,902,500, the claims fund will be apportioned among
claimants in a manner to be determined by the Court. Any unclaimed
balance in the claims fund after one year will be returned to Amiga,
except as follows: any amounts up to $100,000 will be donated to
public schools or charitable organizations as chosen by Class Counsel
(with Amiga's approval, which shall not be unreasonably withheld) and
approved by the Court for the purchase of computer hardware and/or
software, or, at Amiga's option, Amiga will instead donate an
equivalent amount (up to $100,000) worth of computer hardware and/or
software (valued at wholesale prices) to public schools or charitable
organizations as chosen by Class Counsel (with Amiga's approval,
which shall not be unreasonably withheld) and approved by the Court.
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B. Costs of Notice and Attorneys' Fees
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As part of this Settlement, Amiga has also agreed to pay all costs of
notice and administration of this Settlement, as well as attorneys'
fees and reimbursement of expenses to Class Counsel in the aggregate
amount of $964,000, subject to Court approval.
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C. Preliminary Approval Of Settlement On February 24, 2000 the Court
may ruled that the Settlement described above was preliminarily
approved as being within the range of reasonableness such that notice
of the terms of the Settlement should be given to Settlement Class
members, and provisionally certified the Settlement Class for
settlement purposes.
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