Here's a turn-up for the books: a company accused of flogging hookey software gets to issue its own press release and manages to avoid saying how much it's paying out, or what it actually did - and this is an inference - beyond "advertising unauthorized" software.

Maybe, this because Overstock.com, the unauthorized advertising retailer in question, negotiated directly with Microsoft, thus escaping a mauling at the teeth of the attack dogs of the Business Software Alliance.

Here is what Overstock's General Counsel, Jonathan Johnson, had to say for the company in a statement today.

"We determined that reaching a settlement sooner would be less costly than prolonging the litigation. Although the settlement amount was substantial, it was not material to the company's liquidity and will not affect the future prospects of the company. We're glad to have the matter behind us."

Which is nice. ®