[developer1]

There's a reason nobody believe there is no money exchanging hands: if there is no profit for Mozilla in including Pocket, then there is no explanation as to why it is included. It's useless bloatware. I could "understand" if Mozilla was selling us out and being paid to do this. If they are not, nobody is benefiting, and it should be removed.

Even if there is no actual money being funnelled to Mozilla itself, that does not mean there isn't a financial kickback behind the scenes to upper executives that is not on the books, or other incentives not being handed over in cold cash.

Just because the Mozilla Foundation itself is a non-profit, does not mean that the people at the top of the food chain are not the same scummy types you find in any for-profit corporation.

[alexqgb]

"if there is no profit for Mozilla in including Pocket, then there is no explanation as to why it is included."

That's clearly wrong. After all, I can think of at least one big reason right off the top of my head. For example, Pocket may well share a set of political priorities that, as noted elsewhere on this thread, get frequently trampled in forums like the W3C.

In other words, as long as your smart enough to recognize that alliances can be formed for non-monetary reasons, it's easy to imagine several other reasons for Mozilla's choice.

That doesn't mean those reasons are correct. It just means that insisting that money is the only possible explanation is both demonstrably wrong and—in the absence of any real evidence to the contrary—slanderous in effect.

If you have evidence, fine. But if all you have to offer is nasty speculation based on shoddy reasoning, don't be surprised when you get downvoted judiciously.

[pcwalton]

> that does not mean there isn't a financial kickback behind the scenes to upper executives that is not on the books

This is a very serious accusation to make, especially without tangible (as opposed to circumstantial) evidence.

[developer1]

Have you ever worked closely with upper management? I have personally worked with 3 CTO's at medium-to-large companies who have taken advantage of external relationships with partners to personally profit. I mean cash and benefits deposited in their individual hands, not the company's coffers. It's amazing how far executives in power will go to pad their pockets with extra dollars. Perhaps more incredible is how much you observe when you gain the trust of such people - I've never really understood why I find myself in a position to see these events taking place.

So yes, my personal observations over the years have made me extremely critical of any "business deal" wherein there is supposedly no "deal".

[FooBarWidget]

That just means that those 3 examples made you cynical. It doesn't mean that ALL upper management is corrupted.

And as others pointed our, their financial statements are public.