Here's is an interesting story that surfaced almost two weeks ago but has not been receiving much tech press. A class action lawsuit was arranged by consumers upset over ATI's supposedly erroneous claim of being "HDCP compliant" and "HDCP capable." Perhaps realizing their weak position on the case, ATI decided to settle, avoiding a long court case between the two sides.

What does this mean for you? If you bought an ATI video card between January 1st, 2003, and March 31, 2006, you might be eligble to receive a free HD 4650, or a monetary reimbursement for your purchase.

There are a couple of catches though, of course. First off, the video card you bought had to be direct from ATI, not just as ATI GPU sold by one of the company's many board partners (Sapphire, Diamond, Asus, and all those.) Second, the card you purchased had to be a member of one of the following series: Radeon 9550; Radeon 9800; Radeon x700; Radeon x800; Radeon x850; Radeon x1300; Radeon x1600; Radeon x1800; Radeon x1900; All-in-Wonder 9800; All-in-Wonder 2006; All-in-Wonder x600; All-in-Wonder x800; All-in-Wonder x1800; All-in-Wonder x1900; or any FireGL or FireMV series of graphics cards. Third, this offer is only available to people who bought the video card in the United States.

If you meet those qualifying criteria, you should go to this website to read up on how to submit your claim.

If less than 55,500 claimants join the class action lawsuit, ATI will ship you a new HD 4650 video card. If more than 55,500 people join, but less than 71,501 people, ATI will send those people a HD 2400. If more than 71,501 join the lawsuit, ATI will send cheques out for $41.95 to each new claimant.