So, let's get this right. Google just got all in a huff about people spending $4.5B on patents and then goes out and spends $12.5B on a company with one of their primary stated motives being the acquisition of patents?
Google is fighting in multiple venues. Public opinion requires getting all in a huff. Judges and attorneys require a legal defense (or appropriate offense).
No one questions that Google is fighting and needs this for their defense. People are calling bullshit when Google points fingers at everyone else but themselves for creating a "bubble" in patents.
"They’re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell’s old patents (the “CPTN” group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel’s old patents (the “Rockstar” group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn’t get them; seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Phone 7; and even suing Barnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it."
"This anti-competitive strategy is also escalating the cost of patents way beyond what they’re really worth. The winning $4.5 billion for Nortel’s patent portfolio was nearly five times larger than the pre-auction estimate of $1 billion. Fortunately, the law frowns on the accumulation of dubious patents for anti-competitive means — which means these deals are likely to draw regulatory scrutiny, and this patent bubble will pop."
Of course I read the post, the reason prices went up for this auction is because the winners planned to go on the offensive (those licenses add up when you're shipping a half million phones a day). Google's upset about having to spend so much money for defense against dubious patents. It's not hypocritical whatsoever.
