Interesting, this would help Skype a lot...

At http://skype.com/company/news/2005/skype_ebay.html you can see what I'm talking about.

I'm tempted to say desperate times make for strange bedfellows. It was suggested when the Macromedia/Adobe merger broke, that there was an air of 'consolidate or die' about the decision. Put it another way, beef up now or become next on Microsoft's acquisition shopping-list.

If there's any truth in that (I grant it is highly debatable...) it'll be interesting to see what the next bizarre coming-together will be.

Novell and Linspire?
Sony and Nintendo?
SCO and Red Hat?

Seriously, interesting time for us eBayers. I don't use Skype ATM but certainly wouldn't complain if it becomes part of the show... easier to find out if a buyer/seller is F.O.S. if you can hear them stammer.

If Red Hat acquires SCO, it'll be because the court awarded Red Hat more in damages than SCO was worth...

...of course, with all those nasty counterclaims from IBM and Novell, nobody may actually WANT to be awarded SCO. It would be like being awarded a pendant made of plutonium.