Since the business world in general is not as honest as a few decades ago, you have to chalk it up to good management practices in today's highly competitive markets.

The other way of looking at the transaction is ....what if the dollar today was worth $2.oo as compared to 1999. No one knew what was going to happen to the dollar, but using that scenario, they should have taken the initial hit depending on the present value calculation.

It really boils down to a management style and the hope that they can utilize other intellectual property with no consequences.