In a pending settlement between Apple Computer, Inc. Tony Prado and Shirley Wershba, Apple may be forced to reinstate free tech support to purchasers of certain Apple products. Those eligible are:

All persons or entities within the United States who purchased new, for their own use and not for resale to others, certain Apple hardware product models introduced in the marketplace between April 1, 1993, and April 1, 1996, and Apple Performa product models introduced in the marketplace between September 1, 1992,and April 1, 1996 (“Covered Products”), who were affected by the October 13, 1997, change in Apple’s technical support policy. Excluded from the Settlement Class are all Released Persons as defined in the Agreement and/or any persons or entities who purchased the Covered Products for purposes of resale.

To get the full scoop and to find out more info on the benefits for settlement class members check out the settlement proposal. The settlement could be very important for some PowerBook 5300 owners.