The sale of The Pirate Bay to Swedish company Global Gaming Factory X appears to be on thin ice as lawyers told a Netherlands court that the deal may not be completed.
Global Gaming Factory X announced in June that it was had struck a deal to buy The Pirate Bay domain names and other related sites for $7.8 million. Specifics about the company’s plan to turn the notorious file-sharing service into a legitimate business were sketchy but CEO Hans Pandeya said a “new business model” was required for the site that would give content creators control over their property while still providing users with fast and easy access to files.
But things appear to have taken an unexpected turn: Netherlands-based copyright group Stichting Brein, which has sued The Pirate Bay for copyright infringement, added Global Gaming Factory to its complaint after the announcement of the purchase last month. GGF attorney Ricardo Dijkstra said the company was surprised at its addition to the suit because it supports the rights of copyright holders; he also appeared to hedge his bets by saying that whether the sale is completed at all is “very much the question.”
Copyright issues may not be GGF’s only potential legal headache. An investigation into allegations of possible insider trading is ongoing, while regulators are apparently questioning whether The Pirate Bay is a legitimate business that can be traded on the Swedish stock market. Meanwhile, Global Gaming Factory X still needs to raise the cash necessary to finance the deal and at the same time has to contend with doubts about its proposed plan to generate revenue through ads and the sale of Pirate Bay user bandwidth to help ISPs cope with overload.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Stichting Brein have asked a judge for a summary ruling requiring that all traffic to The Pirate Bay originating from the Netherlands be blocked, saying that with the recent Swedish ruling against its founders, “It’s evident that The Pirate Bay is violating copyright law.” The judge is expected to rule on July 30.
Source: paidContent
Published: Jul 22, 2009 04:09 pm