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Comment by staunch | Hacker News Reader

I don't know the details, but it seems they took advantage of eBay's ignorance. Screwing people over is not a good longterm strategy. I know I wouldn't want anything to do with them.

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There's certainly been drama, but I don't think that eBay was ignorant of the fact that they never purchased some of the core Skype/Joltid technology -- per http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/technology/companies/07sky...

"EBay did not purchase this part of the Skype technology in 2005 because the Skype founders, and Joltid’s other shareholders, were asking for additional hundreds of millions, and stated that they intended to use the technology for other unrelated ventures, like their video startup Joost."

I tried using Joost. It was obviously using SDL, and had a kind of zooming video interface. It was so impossible to figure out the user interface, that I never got to see any videos!

it seems they took advantage of eBay's ignorance. Screwing people over is not a good longterm strategy

When one does a $2.6 billion deal, there is no ignorance regarding what is being sold. There are teams of lawyers on both sides of the table checking and re-checking every detail.

You'd think that, but the whole Novell/SCO affair proved that companies can pay $150m for something with neither side fully understanding what was sold.

Alternatively, SCO knew precisely what it had purchased (the language is pretty clear).

Likewise with Ebay.

It's not a good long-term strategy but in some cases, you don't need it long-term. They're most probably set for life. (or until they invest in newspapers)

You are right, but they made enough that they don't have to depend on others will to work with them again - selling your soul is a surprisingly popular option when the price gets that high.

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