

Google has to pay a whopping $2.5 billion to MMI if the deal falls through. - Happer
http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/08/25-billion-google-motorola-break-up-fee.html

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nextparadigms
I, for one, am getting tired of Florian Mueller's "anti-foss" articles here.
The deal will not fall through. It's not like Google could stomp competition
in the smartphone industry just from buying Motorola. It's ridiculous to even
think of that.

~~~
taway990
I don't know if you can dismiss his entire argument because of his alleged
"anti-foss" stance.

He is simply pointing out that in the light of a much, much larger than
standard break-up fee someone in the deal (Motorola) must have concerns about
it being approved. You don't tack on a 'ohhh and by the way if this doesn't go
through you still owe us 2.5 billion' just for fun, and Google doesn't agree
to it because they are such swell guys.

His remarks about using search to subsidize below/at-cost competition is a
legitimate concern for a competitiveness perspective. It is one of the things
that got Microsoft in trouble
([http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/ms_tuncom/major/mtc-0002856...](http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/ms_tuncom/major/mtc-00028565b.htm)),
specifically the part of leveraging cross-subsidies to avoid having to worry
about financial success of an unrelated product (see: Android) and using said
lack of concern to smother your competitors ability to make money/drive them
out of business.

I personally don't know how this whole thing will play out, but I would
strongly suspect Google's mobile channel partners (the ones licensing Android
+ paying Google a fee for use of their stack on said devices) are NOT thrilled
with the idea that the one licensing them the technology has now become a
possible competitor. They may say one thing in public, through their PR
agents, but I strongly doubt any of them like this turn of events.

They (Google) seem to believe they will be able to do what few if any
companies historically have been able to do. Buy a large, established business
in an area they are not expert in then run it as an isolated entity within
their larger organization. Sounds good on paper, doesn't tend to work out so
cleanly in real life with all the complexities that arise. We shall see,
assuming the deal goes through.

