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Pirate Bay Sold for $7.8 Million

A few days ago The Pirate Bay, the world's largest BitTorrent tracker, announced that it has been sold to the Swedish software company, Global Gaming Factory X AB for almost 8 million dollars. According to a Pirate Bay blog post, the surprisingly influential owners of the piracy site will be passing the reigns to the new owners… Continue reading Pirate Bay Sold for $7.8 Million

A few days ago The Pirate Bay, the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker, announced that it has been sold to the Swedish software company, Global Gaming Factory X AB for almost 8 million dollars. According to a Pirate Bay blog post, the surprisingly influential owners of the piracy site will be passing the reigns to the new owners without altering the core policies of mocking legal threats and carrying out the most expansive piracy sites on the net. Last month, the so-called “Pirate Party” even captured a Swedish seat in the European Union’s Parliament which points to the power of Pirate Bay’s influence.

Some are impressed that the site could be purchased for $7.8 million because it’s one of the top 100 most visited websites in the world, but the obvious legal troubles associated with its “business” dampen the investment prospects. The team behind it promise to continue fighting for the “openess of the nets” and for freedom of speech and information through a foundation built on the money from the sale, but we’ll see how that works out given their recent legal troubles. Reuters reports that the new owners hope to make the site completely legal and “introduce (business) models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site.” Mark Mulligan, the VP at Forrester, noted that the transition would likely alienate the Pirate Bay’s 20 million users. He predicts,

“The bottom line is that most people who use file-sharing networks use it because it’s free. They are not likely to start paying just because the owners have a new business model. There has not yet been a single example of a legal file-sharing network which has made a successful transition to a legal business.”

It is unclear what direction The Pirate Bay will go after this sale, but a new business model and leadership will certainly change the site.

[via Mashable]

By Nicko Margolies | © PSFK, 2009. | Article Link | Comments | More stories in: Advertising & Branding, Finance & Money, Global Community, Media & Publishing, Web & Technology, Work & Business and Bittorrent, business deals, global gaming factory X AB, Piracy, Sweden, the pirate bay, torrent