Slashdot Mirror
Music Industry Wants a Cut of Pirate Bay Sale
suraj.sun writes "The music industry will attempt to seize money paid to acquire the Pirate Bay. A couple of weeks back the Global Gaming Factory, a Swedish software company, announced that it would acquire the Pirate Bay for $7.8 million. Since then the company has been touting a new business model and even hiring executives, such as Wayne Rosso, the former Grokster president, to legally obtain content from film and music industries. What remains to be seen is how that sale might be affected by attempts by the music industry to collect the $3.6 million damages that a Swedish court awarded it in April. Alex Jacob, a spokesman for the IFPI, said that the group has always intended to collect the damages award, but now, should the sale go through, music execs know that the original Pirate Bay operators have access to the money." According to CNet, the four original Pirates claim they no longer own the company and that no money from the sale will go to them.
The music industry wants a cut of your liver as well.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
It's a good thing I pirated a copy of the Pirate Bay, otherwise my money would end up going to the music industry!
$3.6 million? If each song is worth like $150k, what is that, like 25 songs? Just send the RIAA a coupon for a free download of Thriller and The Wall.
Replace step 1 with "???" and you have the internet business model that has prevailed since the mid-nineties!