Author Solutions Lawsuit Brewing?

Foter / CC BY-SA 3.0

A surprising number of publishing companies have set up one of the vanity publisher that charge hundred or thousands of dollars for self-publishing packages.  These seem to be seen a profit centers for publishers, but they should also--perhaps--be seen as huge sources of liability.

Take for example the class action lawsuit that may be brewing against Penguin's Author Solutions. The argument being that the services that Author Solutions various faces (iUniverse, Xlibris etc) are deceptive and often massively overprices given their real value.

The lawyers, Giskan Solotaroff Anderson and Stewart LLP, seem to be signally a certain confidence in that they are taking clients on a contingency basis--so they are paid from any settlement they reach not via an upfront fee.

So... could this be the beginning of the end for the dark side of the self-publishing spectrum?