It does make you wonder about eBay's M&A team if they buy a company for $2.6Bn but still have to license the key bit of technology from the people they bought it from, AND with a license that the other side didn't have to renew.
Should at least make for an interesting lawsuit and a nice pay day for some lawyers!
How do you pay so much for a company and end up having to pay more for the technology. I don't even know why they paid so much for skype in the first place. Yes, the technology is cool, but not $2.6Bn cool. Even if they did have to license the engine it should have been perpetual with a buyout option. Then, again eBay must have been drunk off all the monies they are making screwing over users with insane fees.
Well, compared to some other acquisitions, youtube springs to mind here, it isn't that bad of a deal. Skype is a leader in a rapidly growing market with high entry barriers, have a unique technology, a real business model and a lot of users.
Yes, it sounds like an obvious tactic to spice up pricing negotiations. I can't imagine what other reason the founders could have for revoking or not renewing the license
Should at least make for an interesting lawsuit and a nice pay day for some lawyers!