So at the end of the day,

(1) Plaintiffs get to download backup software. In addition, the one named plaintiff gets $1,000 (Section 11.1 of the settlement agreement http://www.westerndigital.com/settlement/docs/settlementagreement.htm .)

(2) Plaintiff’s lawyers get $485,000 (Section 11.2 of the settlement agreement.)

(3) Defendant’s lawyers probably got, I estimate, around a $1,000,000.

Based on a quick read of the settlement agreement, Western Digital didn’t even agree to change the way they advertise their hard drive capacities!

This lawsuit, like many, literally accomplished nothing but put money into the pockets of lawyers. Of course these fees will be passed onto consumers.