Matti Robinson
30 Jun 2009 5:42
Software company Global Gaming Factory X is about to acquire The Pirate Bay for 60,000,000 SEK or 7,8 million USD, says GGF press release. The acquisition which is deemed to be completed in August will have an effect on the business model of one of the most visited sites on the Internet, says GGF.
GGF, a publicly listed company, will "launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners," states the press release.
"The Pirate Bay is a site that is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary. Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers need faster downloads and better quality," GGF CEO Hans Pandeya added.
Half of the 60,000,000 SEK will be paid in cash and the rest in newly issued shares. GGF will take over the sites and domains of TPB, including hugely popular thepiratebay.org.
The company also told that it is acquiring Peerialism, a company which has developed next-generation file-sharing technology. The company will pay a total of 100 million SEK for Peerialism, again half in cash and half in newly issued shares.
"Peerialism has developed a new data distribution technology which now can be introduced on the best known file-sharing site, The Pirate Bay. Since the technology is compatible with the existing it will quickly allow for new values to be created for all key stakeholders and facilitate new business opportunities", said Johan Ljungberg, CEO Peerialism.
Update: The official TPB Blog now states, "The profits from the sale will go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess of the nets."