Legal notice from Ancestry.com

[loo]

In answer to somebody's question above, I believe that these kinds of class action suits in the US are not paid for out of pocket by the plaintiffs.  I think the lawyers only take it on if they think it's a case they can win, and then they take a share of the proceeds when they do.  If they lose, they don't get paid. 

[Guy Etchells]

i really don't know what the case is about but just looking at a few of the comments made has made me think, why has ancestry a monopoly of the information that we over the years have given freely to our respective governments under threat of being prosocuted if we did not give the information , surly it is our right to have access to this (our) information free of charge? and how has ancestry got the information that we and our ancestors gave freely in the first place while it is witheld from us the people who gave it in the first place, they and our government are making a lot of money out of our own information, surly this is not right, why can we not access all records held in all repositaries free of charge, these records do belong to us as do relics and things held at museums etc. we as genealogists should have the freedom like any other historian the right to see and use these records,
well there you go ive had my moan! what do you think? kali

Why do you assume Ancestry has a monopoly on the information.
Any information it has on English & Welsh census is freely available at the National Archives and the Family Record Centre, in addition many local libraries carry the census for their area.
As far as I am aware Ancestry does not hold any records not accessible elsewhere.

If your posting is complaining about having to pay to access records on line, that is a different matter. It costs money to transcribe and host such sites and anyone who does so is entitled to a return of their investment.
The government fulfills its duty by allowing access to the records at the archive in which they are housed. This is payed for by the taxpayers. Would you prefer to pay more tax to allow all government records to be available free on line or would you prefer such databases to be paid for by the users.
Cheers
Guy

[Boongie Pam]

Business is business.  As Guy says the whole point of business is to get a return on investment.

As others have said, the charge we pay for access to records on line is not paying for a census page.  It is paying for convenience.

It takes an investment to provide that convenience to you so you should pay.

The fairness debate comes in on how pay is structured - pay per view, subs etc.  There is no logical argument for demanding businesses or govts to work for nothing.

All the information is available free in the appropriate repositories.  Just think of the cost of visiting a records office distant from your home?

As for the class action it seems really quite simple.  The US have a law that says they have to declare total price under differing paying schemes and they didn't - whoops.

Interestingly I think the free month offer is a very clever response.

It actually doesn't cost them anything.  Yes a financial value is measurable BUT they haven't taken the goodwill and probably returning custom from the offer.

They will probably make more money on the back of this than they will lose.  Since the people who have paid through installments have actually paid for that month by paying more by choosing installments then Ancestry's revenue is still at the same return as if the same people paid in a lump sum.

Though that is based on whether Ancestry's bank charges for installments is volume related or not?

Heyho I'm blethering now.

Pam
 

[Jean McGurn]

Having read through the blurb on both links in the e-mail I received  it would seem that anyone who puts their name as being a member of the class you can get access to Ancestry.com "subscription databases for 31 days at no extra charge"

Presumably this means that someone could gain access to everyones e-mail addressess? They could then sell them on to scammers who will send out spam and be able to address you by your name. Thereby making it look like a genuine e-mail and not a scam. If you see what I mean. I am thinking of those scams supposedly coming from your bank.

From my own point of view, I used the monthly payment plan because I could not afford the yearly payment. I now use the quarterly plan because it appeared that the monthly plan ceased. Ancestry.com had stopped collecting and I didn't use the site for some while.

When I went back there I spotted that some many of the sections I had been using had gone over to 'pay to see' so I decided to sign up again.

There was no monthly plan which is why I opted for the quarterly.  Didn't notice any wording that said paying that way would cost me me than paying for a years subscription. I just assumed it would. Does that mean the next class lawsuit will be for this. 

Jean

[Guy Etchells]

No it means you will be given a free subscription to Ancestry.com for 31 days.

Cheers
Guy

[Jean McGurn]

Thanks Guy.

Jean

[D ap D]

If this claim is successful, what will happen? Ancestry will have to fork out several million, no doubt.

This will of course actually paid out by their insurers, who will then either bump up ancestry's premiums or cancel the cover. Result of the latter is that Ancestry will need to find another insurer at vastly inflated premiums.

At the end of the day it means higher costs for ancestry, which will inevitably have to be passed on to the consumer. Which means subscribers like you and me will have to fork out more.

I can't understand how these idiots who constantly sue can be so short sighted - more litigation means higher costs for everybody else; or are these people so selfish that they are only interested in making a quick profit for themselves at everyone elses expense?

Whatever happened to common sense?

[piedstilt]

Hi All,

Received an email this morning telling me that I was "a member of the class and entitled to the settlement benefit ... which consists of full access to the family internet resources at Ancestry.com for the month of May 2006, the equivalent of a month's Ancestry World Deluxe subscription".

Great news - and I didn't do a thing! Only problem is that I will be travelling for the month of May and probably won't get to use any of it - but it does add an extra free month at the end of my subscription!

Cheers,

Ros