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Sweden Launches Criminal Probe of Pirate Bay Sale
uolamer writes with word that the Economic Crimes Bureau in Sweden has opened an investigation into the upcoming purchase of The Pirate Bay by Global Gaming Factory X. Quoting:
"The Swedish newspaper SvD reported Saturday that authorities are looking for possible insider trading after Global Gaming's stock jumped a week before they announced plans to acquire The Pirate Bay. Trading of Global Gaming shares was halted by AktieTorget, a Swedish exchange, on Friday after officials there requested proof that Global Gaming had enough money to complete the sale. Global Gaming has yet to produce the required documentation. Until officials get the proof they need, they said they won't allow the stock to be traded again."
Okay, I can believe in insider trading, it happens. But why on Earth would stocks rise on the news of such a numbskulled idea as buying the The Pirate Bay. Are investors that daft that they think this is a good idea? The Pirate Bay made money, not huge amounts but enough to make it worthwhile, by selling advertising without having to charge for product (they co-ordinated the downloading of other people's). How can this potential buyer possibly expect to make money from the site when they're no longer facillitating the downloading of copyrighted material? If they try to charge for their service, which is what elsewhere has been said is the intention, then they'll find the users of the Pirate Bay vanish in short order. People used it because they got stuff for free that they'd otherwise have had to pay for. That's not a market that you can suddenly slap a paid service on top of.
Buying the Pirate Bay is a terrible business decision. They're better off being blocked from it by the courts if they don't have the sense not to themselves!
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Remember, just because you like what the pirate bay does, doesn't mean they didn't break the laws (as it applies to stock and trades).
This is not a **AA issue, or a rights issue.
Their plan is to make money off the residue of what TPB was. Their projection is that bots and spiders alone will generate enough advertising dollars to pay for the sale. Also they are working on a co venture with The Onion to expand on http://thepiratebay.org/legal
PS why is comment posting so horrible (Using Firefox on Linux). its laggy and loses focus (not me, the comment box). Just give me plain text, please.
From the article on CNET it appears that GGF is about to go out of business. I wonder if TPB will then look for a new buyer.....
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
Always loved Pirate Bay, didn't know it was being sold.
RTFA: "authorities are looking for possible insider trading after Global Gaming's jumped a week before Global Gaming announced plans to acquire The Pirate Bay"
Indeed, I also have a very hard time imagining that the new owners will be able to make a deal with the big studios to legally distribute their content. TPB has repeatedly mocked and humiliated them by publicly posting their legal claims and laughing in their faces. Do they really think Hollywood would want to associate with an entity that sodomized them in the past ? They must really believe in the Stockholm Syndrome
I assumed it was a way of shutting down TPB by buying it.
The OP wrote "But why on Earth would stocks rise on the news of..."
I'm pointing out that the rise was BEFORE the news. Which is, as you say, an indication of possible insider training. If insider trading was involved, it merely means that the insiders were expecting the stocks to rise even higher on the announcement. Betting on "greater fools" isn't a sure thing, but it's successful often enough to be worthwhile for someone riding the ragged edge of the law anyway.
...who was a member of local MPAA/RIAA, had a vested interest in the judgement and possibly a financial stake in the outcome.
So, in short, a large corporate buys up a judge, gets custom judgement, makes donations to the politicians, and everything is A OK.
But when a poor company buys a bankrupt company, that is criminally investigated since the bankrupt company went bankrupt without paying the large rich corporate....
Wow!
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
The story as I understand it:
Business model: Arrange the free distribution of other people's intellectual property.
Company name: Don't hide the business model. Call it "Pirate" Bay.
Operation: Facilitate the distribution of pirated software, for years.
Income: Sell advertising to companies that are not concerned about the business model. Make $3,000,000 U.S. per year.
Arrange a sale of the company: Sale of what?
The story today: The Swedish government investigates possible illegal activity by the buyer.
The discussion today: We're discussing possible illegal activity by the buyer.
The way I see it, there are four possibilities:
1) This is all as they say it is and TPB is sold off and going to go legit.
2) TPB has no insider knowledge or influence at GGF, and are pulling an elaborate "bait-and-switch" with this sale, selling the media companies a domain that is effectively worthless and the short-lived illusion that of having destroyed their most hated enemy. This make TPB guilty of selling by deception, but that's hardly a crime. ;-)
3) TPB is on the inside at GGF (which would explain the insider trading), in which case they are committing fraud in addition to the above, and they had better pray nobody talks.
4) This is all an elaborate double-bluff by the media companies, in which case we're all screwed.
Case 1, TPB makes a hefty profit, but loses their site. Cases 2 & 3, TPB makes a profit and loses nothing; the media companies are left several million dollars out of pocket and with a sinking ship. Case 4, we all lose.
Take your pick. 5 days to go; within a month we'll know for sure. :-)
is this a controlled model of a free market ... :?
beware he who denies you access to information for in his mind, he already deems himself to be your master (SMAC-ish)