I'd like to make the point that PokerStars paid for these payments and offered to pay the players directly and immediately.

However, this offer was rejected, and instead PokerStars paid the amount of the balances (I'm not sure about any fees, etc), and then the players needed to wait until now to receive payment.

Rest of world customers of Full Tilt were able to receive payment from PokerStars long before now.

Edit: For transparency's sake, I do work for PokerStars, I don't speak for them, and I wasn't directly involved with any of the US/DOJ stuff.