Dominion says it does not own Smartmatic I.P. from Sequoia purchase

Having implied in a news release that it took ownership of Smartmatic intellectual property in the Sequoia purchase, Dominion tells the Huffington Post that “Smartmatic IP was not included in the Sequoia transaction, since Sequoia did not own it.” (Emphasis in original)

Dominion adds that it cannot reveal the purchase agreement.

Highlights from the article by Brad Friedman (emphasis in original):

“So who now owns the IP for Sequoia’s voting machines used in some 20% of the U.S.? If you believe Dominion’s press release, which states ‘Dominion has acquired Sequoia’s inventory and all intellectual property‘, that would be Dominion.”
“But that is simply not true.”
“Dominion’s [spokesman Chris] Riggall admitted directly in a follow-up reply email to The BRAD BLOG, after we’d sent a direct query on this point [emphasis his]: ‘Smartmatic IP was not included in the Sequoia transaction, since Sequoia did not own it.'”
“Despite Dominion’s asserted belief in ‘transparency’ (the front page of their website boasts ‘Welcome Transparency’, and their announcement of the purchase of Diebold/Premier cites ‘Dominion’s culture of transparency’), Riggall was unable to share the company’s two purchase agreements with us due to ‘non-disclosure provisions in both’ of them. ‘Legally,’ he wrote, ‘neither can be shared.'”
“Nonetheless, the answer is clear: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is still tied to a huge percentage of U.S. Elections, as now overseen by a Canadian firm.”

Source:
1. www.huffpost.com/exclusive-on-heels-of-die
2. The BRAD BLOG
3. Home – Dominion Voting Systems

Questions to Consider

1. Why did Dominion specify the technologies acquired from Sequoia, yet not mention that they were from Smartmatic?

2. Why the vagueness?

3. With the Huffington Post breaking the story, why did Dominion suddenly become specific about who owned what software?

4. Why did Dominion not take legal action against the Huffington Post for saying, “The answer is clear: Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is still tied to a huge percentage of U.S. Elections, as now overseen by a Canadian firm.”