"the $1.6 billion aQuantive acquisition."

Typo. Should read $6B.

Nope ... it's 6B NOK (Norwegian Kroner) and 1.6B USD.

Which is true for FAST, but Paul was referring to aQuantive not FAST

Here you go for convenience:

http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_V/threadview?m=tm&bn=33693&tid=1414&mid=1419&tof=1&rt=1&frt=1&off=1

@I-Man:
VCSY looks to be nothing more than a patent troll. In summary, my guess is that Microsoft entertains and quietly encourages a number of patent lawsuits against itself to show the world that "See? Software patents really do protect the little guy against the big guy", after which this (minor, to them) cost of doing business is hoped to mature into a weapon that can be aimed directly at making open-source software and Linux-based operating systems illegal.
Not that they will necessarily succeed, but their funding of the SCOG fiasco is crumbling into dusty lies, their monopolistic reach is starting to encounter limits, and they desperately need some other avenues to obliterate the pesky little sliver of the world software market that they don't already own and control.
But hey, the SCOG lawsuit and their funding of it with a purchase of a worthless license to code that SCOG doesn't even own shows that Microsoft is willing to try anything for 100% total world domination.
Which is really odd, because Microsoft built itself into the huge mega-billion-dollar worldwide monopoly that it is today without software patents. So why they or anyone else thinks software patents do anything to support innovation and economic growth is a testament to the utter stupidity to which the human race can sink. Software patents are a has-been's last attempt to stave off legitimate competition... and a greedy parasite's attempt to legally steal money without actually creating or innovating anything.
So, I-Man, keep posting those VCSY links. They serve to remind us just how low these depraved people can sink, and help us keep our guard up.

Micro$oft CANNOT innovate any longer (if ever it did), so the company is trying to buy innovation. But keep in mind that Micro$oft is also good at botching up the innovations it purchases.

The thing is, Micro$oft can neither purchase Linux or kill it. So it will always have that pesky thorn in its side.

But as for Google, well, Micro$oft may not be able to uirchase it now, but it's not an amorpohous target like Linux. So Micro$oft can use its usual dirty tactics against Google. Whether it succedds is another thing altogether.

Typo. Should read "complements the $1.6 billion..."

Do you realize that Ms (at this time) has "the Midas touch" but on the contrary?. All that Ms touches becomes worthless, in the end.

Example:
Ms and HD-DVD
reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0851332620080108
Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox video gaming unit still fully backs Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) HD-DVD high-definition DVD format but could consider supporting Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival Blu-ray technology should consumers want it, an executive said on Tuesday.

Ms and Vista
microsplot.com/news/2007/12/anything_speechless_100_things_people_are_really_saying_about_windows_vista
Anything but Speechless: 100 Things People Are Really Saying About Windows Vista

Ms and DRM
Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM
businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc2008013_398775.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives
In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter