Odom

I. Background

Named plaintiff James Odom — then the only plaintiff — filed the first complaint in this action in the Northern District of California, alleging that defendants Microsoft and Best Buy had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Orga- nizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d). Odom alleged that in April 2000 defendants entered into an agree- ment under which “Microsoft invested $200 million in Best Buy and agreed to promote Best Buy’s online store through its MSN service.” MSN is a division of Microsoft offering Internet access services. In return, “Best Buy agreed to pro- mote MSN service and other Microsoft products in its stores and advertising.” Odom alleged that pursuant to their agree- ment, Best Buy employees distributed different Microsoft compact discs (“Trial CDs”) depending on what the customer purchased. For example, a customer who purchased a com- puter would receive a Trial CD providing a free six-month subscription to MSN. A customer who purchased a cell phone would receive a Trial CD providing a free thirty-day subscrip- tion.

Odom alleged that if the customer was paying by debit or credit card the Best Buy employee would scan the…