Free Money!

[robotech_master]

Well, up to $20, anyway. According to this Wired article, a website has been set up as part of a price-fixing settlement versus the record industry, to refund up to $20 to anyone who's bought a CD, record, or tape in the last five years.

Part of the settlement about $44 million in cash is earmarked to pay customers from $5 to $20, depending on how many people wind up dividing the money.

By the end of December, only about 30,000 people nationwide had applied for a piece of the pie, a tiny fraction of the number the settlement could handle.

[...]

You don't even need a receipt to prove you bought CDs by Hole, Metallica or Shania Twain in 1998. Just click to the settlement's website, answer three questions and fill in your name and address. But don't try to recoup the entire cost of your music collection: Only one claim per customer is permitted.

As long as fewer than 8.8 million people apply by March, everyone who applies will get a check ranging from $5 to $20. If more than that number apply, then all the money goes to charity instead.

Far be it from me to pass up a free $20...