Sony Camcorders - defective CCD lawsuit settlement.

[AndyMan 7]

Nutshell: anyone who's had a faulty CCD with their Sony camcorder (which manifested itself in a blank screen) can get the cost of that repair work refunded.

See below for details.

_Am

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Case No.: 05-CV-1979-JAH-RBB

SUMMARY NOTICE TO CLASS OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

Date: February 16, 2006
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Courtroom: 11
The Honorable John A. Houston

BRUCE CHABANSKY, Individually and On Behalf of All Others Similarly
Situated, Plaintiff,
v.
SONY ELECTRONICS INC., Defendant.


NOTICE TO ALL PERSONS NATIONWIDE WHO PURCHASED, NOT FOR RESALE, CERTAIN
CAMCORDER OR DIGITAL STILL CAMERA PRODUCTS

This notice is to inform you about a proposed settlement of a class-action
lawsuit titled Bruce Chabansky v. Sony Electronics Inc., (the "Action"),
the Court's conditional certification of a settlement class in that Action,
and of a hearing to consider the settlement. The Action alleges that
certain digital still camera and camcorder models sold and marketed by Sony
Electronics Inc. ("SEL"), and manufactured by a separate entity before March
2004, are defective in that they include a component known as a CCD imager
that fails at an abnormally high rate causing a blank liquid crystal display
("LCD") screen and electronic viewfinder or causing a distorted image to
appear on the LCD screen and electronic viewfinder rendering the camera and
camcorder incapable of taking pictures and recording video, respectively.
SEL denies these claims, and denies that anyone has been harmed or deserves
compensation in relation to these claims. The Court has not made a decision
on the merits.

If you purchased one of the models at issue, at retail, or received one of
the models as a gift from the original purchaser, you may be a member of the
settlement class ("Settlement Class") that will be a party to a settlement
agreement that resolves and forever dismisses the Action. Under the terms of
the settlement, members of the Settlement Class are eligible to receive a CCD
imager repair-or-reimbursement remedy from SEL under limited conditions.
Please see the complete notice of the proposed settlement at
www.SonyStyle.com/ccdsettlement or telephone (866) 703-7669 to obtain
a copy of the complete notice which includes details regarding the
requirements to be eligible for the repair-or-reimbursement remedy and
how to receive the remedy if you are eligible. If the proposed
settlement is approved by the Court, the person who filed the Action
and two others who filed a similar lawsuit in Wisconsin will receive
an additional service award of $1,500 each, and the attorneys for the
plaintiff in this Action will apply for an award of attorney's fees.
These awards and attorney's fees, however, will not affect the relief
available to members of the Settlement Class. All claims of the
Settlement Class members which were or could have been asserted in the
Action based on the facts alleged therein, will be forever released,
if this settlement is approved by the Court.

If you wish to remain in the Settlement Class you need not do anything. If
you do NOT wish to remain in the Settlement Class and participate in the
settlement, you must exclude yourself by writing to the attorney for plaintiff
in this Action, Steven N. Berk, at: Cuneo, Gilbert & LaDuca, L.L.P., 507 C
Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002. If you wish to object to the proposed
settlement, you must file your written objection with the Court at: Clerk of
the Court, United States District Court, Southern District of California, 880
Front Street, Room 4290, San Diego, CA 92101-8900 by JUNE 1, 2006. To properly
exclude yourself or object, you must follow all of the detailed instructions
and formats set forth in the complete notice, available at
www.SonyStyle.com/ccdsettlement or by calling (866) 703-7669. The
Court has scheduled a hearing to consider the fairness and adequacy of
the settlement to be held on JUNE 22, 2006 at 3:00 p.m., before Judge
John A. Houston, Courtroom 11 of the United States District Court of
the Southern District of California.
DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT CONCERNING THIS NOTICE OR THE LAWSUIT,
EXCEPT TO SUBMIT A WRITTEN OBJECTION TO THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT. If you would
like more information about this notice, this case, or the proposed settlement,
you may write to the attorney for plaintiff, Steven N. Berk, at the above
address or visit a web page that has been created to provide information about
the proposed settlement, located at www.SonyStyle.com/ccdsettlement

Product Models at Issue

Camcorders
CCD-TRV118; CCD-TRV128; CCD-TRV318; CCD-TRV328; DCR-DVD100; DCR-DVD101;
DCR-DVD200; DCR-DVD300; DCR-HC20; DCR-HC20 M; DCR-HC30/S; DCR-IP5; DCR-IP55;
DCR-PC101; DCR-PC105; DCR-PC120BT; DCR-TRV18; DCR-TRV19; DCR-TRV19M; DCR-TRV22;
DCR-TRV240; DCR-TRV25; DCR-TRV250; DCR-TRV260; DCR-TRV27; DCR-TRV33; DCR-TRV340;
DCR-TRV38; DCR-TRV39; DCR-TRV460; DCR-TRV50; DCR-TRV740; DCR-TRV840; DCR-TRV950;
DCR-VX2000; DCR-VX2100; DSR-250; DSR-250/1; DSR-PD150; DSR-PD170; and DSR-PDX10.


Digital Still Cameras
DSC-F717; DSC-P10/S; DSC-P2/S; DSC-P31; DSC-P31M; DSC-P32; DSC-P32M; DSC-P51;
DSC-P51M; DSC-P52; DSC-P52 M; DSC-P7; DSC-P71; DSC-P71M; DSC-P72; DSC-P72M;
DSC-P8/L; DSC-P8/R; DSC-P8/S; DSC-P92; DSC-P92M; DSC-U10/S; DSC-U20/B;
DSC-U20/LJ; DSC-U20/S; DSC-U30/H; DSC-U30/LJ; DSC-U30/S; DSC-U60; DSC-V1;
MVC-CD250; MVC-CD250 M; MVC-CD400; MVC-CD500; MVC-FD100; MVC-FD100 M; MVC-FD200;
and MVC-FD200 M.

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[ltdiver 3]

Yeah, got this same notice in my Inbox a few days ago. Luckily (knock on wood) my camera doesn't need it (yet).

I'm interested how many of us here -do- need it, however. My TRV22 (on the list) is working fine.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Brains 2]

I had a TRV19 crap out on me. I found another one on Ebay for about 200 bucks shipped. I still have the other one, my gf uses it to firewire with, it just doesn't work as a camera anymore. I plan on getting it fixed for a backup if this thing goes through.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[ltdiver 3]

Thanks for the reply. That's one (1) folks. Keep them coming (even if your camera is fine), let's keep a tab of good/bad cameras we own on this list.

Since we all (well, most of us) use Sony's it would be very good information.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[johnny1488 1]

My 101 has never given me any trouble and I am the second owner. First was a jumper also.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[Chrissay 0]

I have a PC 105 (P.O.S.) that I have a had to send to Precision Camera (sony authorized repair shop) about 3 times and finally sent to Sony for repair.
And, yes I am still pissed about it.

[outlawphx 1]

Good timing! I've got a Sony DSC-P10 (camera, not camcorder) that had the LCD crap out on me last week.

[dragon2 2]

TRV25, no problems yet

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[steveorino 7]

Two HC20s (no problems yet) an one HC40 (but I didn't see it on the list.

steveOrino

[Conquest150 0]

ive got an hc-20 but teh screen hasnt blanked out it just has some crazy distortion adn color issues with it. i dont use teh screen to much anyways so i have never really worried about it.