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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.

8 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. News flash by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Funny

    The music industry wants a cut of your liver as well.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  2. I got lucky! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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. Not just a cut of the Pirate Bay sale by Fujisawa+Sensei · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They don't want just a cut of the Pirate Bay sale; they want a cut of your salary for the music they think you should have bought. And they think that amount should increase each year.

    --
    If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
  4. I'm confused by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "If you liked free music, you're going to LOVE paying for it!"

    Is this making sense to anyone? What is the Pirate Bay without the pirates?

  5. question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please explain why anyone would pay money for a customer base that doesn't like to pay money for media?

    Also $3.6m seems pretty cheap, here in the US I lost track of how many trillions of dollars the RIAA insists everyone owes them.

  6. Not a big deal by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    $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.

  7. Re:A 4 step program... by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 5, Funny

    Replace step 1 with "???" and you have the internet business model that has prevailed since the mid-nineties!

  8. Correction by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Informative

    Portia won not by appealing to mercy but because she understood the fine print better than Shylock: Shylock wanted his pound of flesh, but Portia pointed out that he was entitled to exactly a pound, and if he took any more or less he'd be guilty of murder.

    Not quite - she actually argued that he could take the pound of flesh but that he must not spill any blood since he was not entitled to that and that his lands and fortune would be forfeit under Venetian law should he take more than he was entitled to.