[IgorPartola]

I think the implied point in the article is that in this case Microsoft and Nortel had to disclose the sale details, but in most other circumstances, the would not have done that. It seems that the author implies that this sale is an indication that a black market is forming, not that this was a black market transaction.

[scott_s]

The sale was a part of the normal economy. One company paid another company for something, and the sale was recorded in their books. The "something" is not illegal. The term "black market" is usually reserved for transactions that happen outside of the regular economy, usually because they are illegal.

[wmf]

The powers that be have been saying for about 20 years that IP addresses are not assets, cannot be owned, and cannot be sold. That's why people are talking about black markets.