[yardie]

How do you pay so much for a company and end up having to pay more for the technology. I don't even know why they paid so much for skype in the first place. Yes, the technology is cool, but not $2.6Bn cool. Even if they did have to license the engine it should have been perpetual with a buyout option. Then, again eBay must have been drunk off all the monies they are making screwing over users with insane fees.

[rimantas]

Maybe already having millions of users does make technology a bit cooler?

[mixmax]

Well, compared to some other acquisitions, youtube springs to mind here, it isn't that bad of a deal. Skype is a leader in a rapidly growing market with high entry barriers, have a unique technology, a real business model and a lot of users.