I don’t know if I’d call it a bribe, Dom, so much as just a stop-loss measure. They were getting hammered on this bogus charge, losing money, suffering damaged reputation, facing criminal prosection, with an ex-founder who admitted guilt, so they had to find a way to end it. They just happened to choose the way that would help them the most in the long run. I don’t think they would have approached it this way if the U.S. hadn’t gone after them first.
I’d be more willing to accuse the U.S. of extortion than PartyGaming of bribery here, though both labels seem like a bit of a stretch.