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Originally Posted by DrBong
If Cloanto submitted to such conditions from AInc. just to get the sale done instead of negotiating better terms
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What conditions? Hyperion being able to transfer their license (with AInc's consent) was not negotiable, and we don't know if Cloanto's deal with AInc gives them a say in such a transfer - it may very well do. I don't care either way, I'm just saying you don't have enough information to make a judgement on Cloanto's professionalism or reputation.
Also keep in mind that Cloanto is basically a one-man effort, just like Hyperion. He seems to follow a more sane, low-key approach when doing business - like not spending hundreds of thousands of dollars he doesn't have on a lawsuit on the other side of the Atlantic - but it's probably safe to assume his pockets aren't all that deep. If the choice was between 'don't buy' and 'buy at a sane price, but let the Belgium lawyer keep some rights', I know what I'd choose.
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Maybe Cloanto really did just get plain lucky with PPaint, and really are nothing but an Amiga one-hit wonder after all.
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Again: I'm not trying to defend Cloanto. But they've been doing business in this market since the late eighties. And in contrast to Hyperion, the never went bankrupt, don't have a long history of legal disputes with most of their former business partners and didn't scare away 90% of the developers who used to work for them. Btw., parts of the Commodore's 3.0/3.1 distribution are (c) Cloanto - some printer driver code, IIRC.
This situation is simply what you end up with once the big names loose interest in your IP. It's already a mess and it keeps getting worse - because nobody has (a) enough money (b) enough hindsight (c) not too much ego to actually solve this. But they all think somehow getting their hands on the IP or at least parts of it is going to make them fucking rich.