Toshiba pays out $30m in latest disk drive law suit

Toshiba will pay out $30m plus interest to the state of California to settle a lawsuit that alleged the computer manufacturer knowingly sold faulty computers to state and local government.< p=""> Toshiba did not admit liability, but the settlement is the latest in a string of suits fought by the company over the allegedly faulty floppy disk controllers. In November 1999, the company reached one of the largest product liability settlements in US history, agreeing to pay between $1bn and $2bn in compensation to US users of Toshiba laptops. At the time, many in the industry accused Toshiba of causing a wave of copycat lawsuits by caving in to lawyers who had not proved actual harm to users. The lawsuit was brought by two US owners of Toshiba PCs who alleged their machines put data at risk of being lost or corrupted. The US settlement sparked outrage in China - a large market for Toshiba products - because the compensation applies only to US users. Chinese users launched their own class-action proceedings this summer.