Tech Daily

News | Analysis | Comment | Features | Reviews

Settlement due on Skype lawsuit tomorrow

Co-founders Zennström and Friis in line for huge payout

David Neal, V3.co.uk 05 Nov 2009

Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis are set to receive a cash bonanza tomorrow, following reports that agreements will soon be reached on three outstanding lawsuits.

If all goes to plan Zennström and Friis will get 10 per cent of Skype, along with the option to buy another three per cent of the VoIP firm for $83m (£50m) and get two seats on the board.

The Skype founders sued Skype owner eBay in September alleging copyright infringement.

The suit claimed that Zennström and Friis, along with their company Joltid, retained some rights to the software, specifically a piece of the peer-to-peer communication system called Global Index.

Zennström and Friis further alleged that the code had been disclosed to other parties and altered after Skype was sold to eBay. This was apparently against the terms of the original agreement.

Joltid said in September that damages could amount to $75m (£45m) a day.

See also:

Skype logoVoIP firm remains tight-lipped on details  03 Nov 2009
GoogleCompany tells FCC it only blocked scam numbers  30 Oct 2009
Skype logoVoIP firm demands EU action to preserve web freedoms  26 Oct 2009
SkypeRevenues at parent eBay saved by service it is trying to offload  22 Oct 2009
SkypeVoIP firm also releases 'bugfix' update for Windows version  04 Sep 2009

All Ecommerce
Tags: Skype, Copyright-infringement, Legal, Voip, Internet, Niklas-zennstrom, Janus-friis, Communications, Ecommerce

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

Post this to Delicious del.icio.us    Post this to Digg Digg this    Post this to reddit reddit!

R E L A T E D   C O N T E N T