Interestingly, even as Thatcher was working to open things up and making the British class system more like America's, the US class system started becoming more and more rigid.

BBC: Class calculator: A US view of the class system

Business has less riding on this case than it did before 2005, when Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act making it much easier to pull class actions out of state court into the federal system.

FORBES: Class-Action Foes Have Trifecta Before Supreme Court

And while it no longer faces a federal investigation into Wi-Spy, the class action lawsuit consolidated in California is still making its slow way through the court system.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down