Commitments and Contingencies |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Mar. 31, 2016 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies | Split-Dollar Life Insurance Agreements As previously disclosed, in connection with the passing of our founder, Ralph J. Roberts, we made a lump sum payment in April 2016 to settle all of the benefit obligation liabilities related to split-dollar life insurance agreements with him. In connection with this settlement, in the second quarter of 2016 we will record an operating expense of $116 million and will eliminate substantially all of our liabilities related to split-dollar agreements, which are disclosed in Note 12 of our consolidated financial statements included in our 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Contingencies We are a defendant in several unrelated lawsuits claiming infringement of various patents relating to various aspects of our businesses. In certain of these cases other industry participants are also defendants, and also in certain of these cases we expect that any potential liability would be in part or in whole the responsibility of our equipment and technology vendors under applicable contractual indemnification provisions. We are also subject to other legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business. While the amount of ultimate liability with respect to such actions is not expected to materially affect our results of operations, cash flows or financial position, any litigation resulting from any such legal proceedings or claims could be time-consuming and injure our reputation. |