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here's the actual explanation from lodsys: http://www.lodsys.com/blog.html

they mention apple, google, microsoft have some sort of license from them, i wonder if the relatively low cost of a license is the reason: http://www.lodsys.com/1/post/2011/05/q-what-are-you-charging...

i.e., cheaper to just pay them off than fight it.

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Although the blog states Apple, Google and Microsoft have a deal for themselves and Lodsys is not specifically seeking a broader deal to cover third parties as well, it seems rather obvious Apple et al would be much better off collecting this 0.575% on behalf of Lodsys rather than degrade the usability of In App Purchase by requiring developers to secure a license separately. At least that's the Apple thing to do if Apple really sees this patent as legitimate. Of course, that's probably what Apple thought it was getting and probably feels it got tricked by Lodsys if that was the case.

I wonder if they disclosed to Apple et al. that they would also be pursuing licensing from their developer base.

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