So it appears that the lawyers are at it again and have their target on a big payday.

This week’s target: Netflix
The complaint: Netflix failed to provide “unlimited” DVD rentals and “one day delivery” as promised in its marketing materials.
The settlement: Subscribers who were customers before January 15, 2005 will get one month of free upgraded service. That is, if you can have three discs out at a time, you get upgraded to four, for free, for one month. Subscribers who were customers before January 15, 2005, but are no longer customers, will receive a free one-month membership.

What you miss in the fine print: If you accept the upgraded account, you will be put on that upgraded plan at the end of your free month and your bill will increase unless you cancel! It seems to me that the number of subscribers who fail to cancel, forget, or just plain don’t understand will likely make Netflix more money as a result of this settlement.

The kicker: The lawyers get $2,528,000

However, there is still a way around all of this. Opt-out!
If more than 5% of the eligible class ‘opts-out’ then the settlement is void and theoretically the lawyers get nothing.

How to ‘opt-out’: Detailed instructions on how to opt-out can be found at http://www.netflixsettlementsucks.com/

Update: Some good coverage here by MSNBC.