If you've picked up a Seagate hard-drive in the last five years, dig out your proof-of-purchase and get ready. The drive manufacturer has just settled a class-action suit over the definition of "gigabyte," and will be issuing credits to affected customers.

The controversy centered on the definition of the term "gigabyte." Seagate opted to use the decimal notation of gigabyte as 1,000,000,000 bytes. It's customers, however, knew that the term generally refers to the binary definition of 1,073,741,824 bytes — 7% more than the decimal version — and they wanted their extra bytes. As a result of the suit, the company will now be offering all affected customers their choice of a cash refund, or a free backup/recovery software package.

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