My thought was that a united front would pose a disincentive for trolls to think of launching patent attacks against weaker players who don't have the resources a NEgg has.
In principle, I wholeheartedly agree. In a perfect world that would be a great solition.
In reality, non-profit groups will inevitably grow in scope relative to the ambition of its leaders and/or accessibility to easily acquired sources of funding.
At some point the organization will grow the the size where it'll have to seek funding via membership dues and/or direct sponsorship.
The 'we stand up for the little guy' will become a marketing facade to justify the organization's existence. Meanwhile, membership and the protection it provides will be carefully meted out and sold to the highest bidder.
NewEgg is doing something
much more beneficial overall. Instead of building alliances and hedging resources for an impenetrable defense. They're saving all that wasted effort by going on the attack.
They accepted a much greater degree of risk at the start but legal policy is relativistic. The more they win, the more they will win because they can use the outcomes of prior casses to support their arguments.
In a way, their success is literally writing the future law of patent litigation and filling in all the gaps that the trolls have been aggressively exploiting for years.
