Google’s $12.5 billion deal to buy Motorola will be cleared as early as next week.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice plans to approve the deal next week.

European regulators have also set a deadline of next Monday to decide whether or not to sign off.

The authorities are worried that Google might use Motorola’s massive patent hoard to block other companies in the mobile space. Earlier today, Google tried to calm those fears by promising it would offer to license those patents before suing.

Once the deal closes, the fun begins: seeing whether Google can actually turn Motorola’s fading business around.

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Google’s $12.5 billion deal to buy Motorola will be cleared as early as next week.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice plans to approve the deal next week.

European regulators have also set a deadline of next Monday to decide whether or not to sign off.

The authorities are worried that Google might use Motorola’s massive patent hoard to block other companies in the mobile space. Earlier today, Google tried to calm those fears by promising it would offer to license those patents before suing.

Once the deal closes, the fun begins: seeing whether Google can actually turn Motorola’s fading business around.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Google: We Promise Not To Be Evil With Motorola Patents
• THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: What’s With All The Secret Projects?
• Google Hires Away An Apple Executive For A Big Secret Project

Google has sent a letter to standards bodies promising to offer licenses for “essential” patents it gets in the Motorola deal. It won’t spring them on competitors in an attempt to shut them down.

Google isn’t promising anything different from what Motorola was doing — it’s simply trying to calm any fears from standards bodies so they won’t try to block the deal.

The letter is written in obscure language that only lawyers will fully understand, but Google explained that it would offer to license patents at a starting rate of 2.25% per unit — that’s “net selling price” before subsidies, which would mean about $12 on a $500 phone, for instance.

Then it will negotiate in good faith from that point. It will only sue to block other products from shipping if negotations break down.

This is apparently what happened last year, when Motorola won an injunction to block Apple from shipping iPhones and iPads in Germany. That case is still being fought, but Motorola briefly blocked the products from shipping earlier this month.

Earlier today, Microsoft made a similar promise, presumably because it knew Google was about to send this letter out.

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• THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: What’s With All The Secret Projects?
• Google-Motorola Deal About To Get The OK
• The Fight Between Google And Microsoft Is Getting Ugly And Public

Google has sent a letter to standards bodies promising to offer licenses for “essential” patents it gets in the Motorola deal. It won’t spring them on competitors in an attempt to shut them down.

Google isn’t promising anything different from what Motorola was doing — it’s simply trying to calm any fears from standards bodies so they won’t try to block the deal.

The letter is written in obscure language that only lawyers will fully understand, but Google explained that it would offer to license patents at a starting rate of 2.25% per unit — that’s “net selling price” before subsidies, which would mean about $12 on a $500 phone, for instance.

Then it will negotiate in good faith from that point. It will only sue to block other products from shipping if negotations break down.

This is apparently what happened last year, when Motorola won an injunction to block Apple from shipping iPhones and iPads in Germany. That case is still being fought, but Motorola briefly blocked the products from shipping earlier this month.

Earlier today, Microsoft made a similar promise, presumably because it knew Google was about to send this letter out.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: What’s With All The Secret Projects?
• Google-Motorola Deal About To Get The OK
• The Fight Between Google And Microsoft Is Getting Ugly And Public

Well, now we know what Marissa Mayer likes best.

For those of you wondering: a Shamrock Shake is basically a leprechaun-colored shake that’s sold in some McDonald’s stores that’s typically available around St. Patrick’s Day.

She Tweeted her elation over the move, reported by CNN Money, just a moment ago.

(Photo of Marissa Mayer courtesy of eirkiso on Flickr, shake via Strupey on Flickr.)

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• For The First Time Ever, Smartphones Outsold PCs Last Quarter
• Microsoft’s Search Head: Google ‘Realized We Were Ahead And They Overextended’ With Social Search

This story originally appeared at The Christian Science Monitor

When people think of Twitter, they usually think of clipped comments about pop culture or the minutia of daily life, not formal legal documents and procedures. But that may be about to change in the United Kingdom, where the highest court in the country announced on Monday that it would begin accepting freedom of information (FOI) requests through Twitter.

Used by the public and media to request access to government documents, FOI requests aren’t known for being succinct.  Consider that Britain’s Supreme Court directs those making FOI requests to use Form 2, a nine-page document.  But it makes sense given the purpose of the request: to sufficiently describe the information that the requester is seeking that the court can find it in a timely manner.  As a result, 140 characters usually isn’t enough to include all the detail needed in a FOI request. 

So why did the Supreme Court decide to accept tweeted requests?  Actually, it looks like it didn’t; rather, it appears to have backed into the policy inadvertently, when it launched its new Twitter account, @UKSupremeCourt, on Sunday. 

The court intended to use the account to publicize information about its work and legal decisions – a novel effort, as few courts around the world have embraced social media. But in a policy document on its website, the court said that tweets to the account would “not be considered as contacting the Supreme Court for any official purpose,” including FOI requests.

Not so fast, said the Information Commissioner’s Office, Britain’s public authority on and enforcer of freedom of information. Publicservice.co.uk, a public service news website, reports that the ICO’s spokesman said that such a policy would “certainly be grounds for complaining to us.“

“Public authorities that use Twitter and other social networking sites must recognise that, like any other communication channel, they can be used to submit freedom of information requests provided the requester includes their real name, an address for correspondence and a description of the information requested,” the ICO spokesman said.

To its credit, the court was quick to change the policy.  Only six hours after its account went live, the court tweeted that “We’ll accept FOIs via Twitter and will amend our policy accordingly.”  A court spokesman confirmed the policy shift to publicservice.co.uk, saying “Clearly we can’t respond comprehensively to Freedom of Information requests via Twitter, but we will take appropriate steps to publish a response as required.”

It sounds like that will satisfy the ICO, as it also recognizes the problem of fitting a sufficient request within 140 characters.  A spokesman said they would “encourage requesters to use [the tweet policy] responsibly and consider alternative ways of submitting their request where appropriate.”

And just in case you were thinking of inundating the British Supreme Court with FOI requests over Twitter, be warned that FOI requests aren’t free.  Someone still has to find the documents and send them along to the requester, for which the court charges £25 (about $40) per man-hour of work and £5 per electronic copy.

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• Here’s How Eastern Europe Keeps Functioning Despite The Brutal Cold Snap That’s Killing Hundreds
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