Google is talking about both, and google refused to even TALK to microsoft about joining one of the groups bidding on patents that google is now complaining about.
The claim that this is MSFT PR spin is based on the presumption that MSFT offered google bad terms, but the email makes it clear they were proposing talking about joining the group-- there were no terms yet.
Plus its pretty much impossible for there to have been bad terms. This is why competitors like Apple and RIMM can join the same group. If google wasn't going to get what they want out of the deal there would be no incentive to contribute.
Joining a group and paying a fraction of the bid is always cheaper than bidding against that same group and having to pay the whole bid.
The only reason you wouldn't want to join such a group is if you wanted to use the patents offensively.
There absolutely can be bad terms, from Google's point of view (and not from the point of view of Apple and RIM). For example, restrictions on who or how you can sub-license your rights to the patents to third parties...
The claim that this is MSFT PR spin is based on the presumption that MSFT offered google bad terms, but the email makes it clear they were proposing talking about joining the group-- there were no terms yet.
Plus its pretty much impossible for there to have been bad terms. This is why competitors like Apple and RIMM can join the same group. If google wasn't going to get what they want out of the deal there would be no incentive to contribute.
Joining a group and paying a fraction of the bid is always cheaper than bidding against that same group and having to pay the whole bid.
The only reason you wouldn't want to join such a group is if you wanted to use the patents offensively.