Crazed Rabbit
07-01-2009, 19:19
Business Week Article Here (http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2009/gb2009071_378545.htm)
When the founders of file-sharing Web site Pirate Bay were given a year's prison sentence in April for allowing users to illegally swap copyrighted content, many thought the swashbuckling Swedish-based Internet company was finished. Not so. On June 30, Sweden's Global Gaming Factory (GGF.ST), which runs cyber cafés and sells gaming software, announced it would buy Pirate Bay for $7.9 million—a hefty sum for a Web site that became the poster child for unlawful downloads on the Internet.
What does Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming Factory's chief executive, plan to do with his new acquisition? The answer is complicated and controversial. In an interview with BusinessWeek, Pandeya said he first intends to go legal by paying royalties for online content to media companies such as Warner Brothers (TWX), Sony BMG (SNE), and Vivendi Universal (VIV.PA). He didn't say how much he'll pay—and concedes he hasn't yet entered into discussions with any music and movie companies. Analysts estimate that up to 90% of downloads from Pirate Bay's 20 million users currently are illegal.
But Pandeya's ambitions for Pirate Bay 2.0 are much greater. He has hatched a groundbreaking scheme to bundle together the collective Internet bandwidth of Pirate Bay's users into a giant new peer-to-peer network. Then, he'll resell that broadband capacity on an ad hoc basis to Internet service providers—companies like Comcast (CMCSA) or AT&T (T)—that are in need of a quick injection of cheap bandwidth. Pirate Bay aims to split the revenue with its users, who will be financially compensated for sharing their connections. Pandeya declined to say how much users could pocket.
I have to agree with the people quoted in the article who think this business plan will be hard to pull off. People only go there to DL copyrighted media. I suppose it'll be interesting.
CR
When the founders of file-sharing Web site Pirate Bay were given a year's prison sentence in April for allowing users to illegally swap copyrighted content, many thought the swashbuckling Swedish-based Internet company was finished. Not so. On June 30, Sweden's Global Gaming Factory (GGF.ST), which runs cyber cafés and sells gaming software, announced it would buy Pirate Bay for $7.9 million—a hefty sum for a Web site that became the poster child for unlawful downloads on the Internet.
What does Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming Factory's chief executive, plan to do with his new acquisition? The answer is complicated and controversial. In an interview with BusinessWeek, Pandeya said he first intends to go legal by paying royalties for online content to media companies such as Warner Brothers (TWX), Sony BMG (SNE), and Vivendi Universal (VIV.PA). He didn't say how much he'll pay—and concedes he hasn't yet entered into discussions with any music and movie companies. Analysts estimate that up to 90% of downloads from Pirate Bay's 20 million users currently are illegal.
But Pandeya's ambitions for Pirate Bay 2.0 are much greater. He has hatched a groundbreaking scheme to bundle together the collective Internet bandwidth of Pirate Bay's users into a giant new peer-to-peer network. Then, he'll resell that broadband capacity on an ad hoc basis to Internet service providers—companies like Comcast (CMCSA) or AT&T (T)—that are in need of a quick injection of cheap bandwidth. Pirate Bay aims to split the revenue with its users, who will be financially compensated for sharing their connections. Pandeya declined to say how much users could pocket.
I have to agree with the people quoted in the article who think this business plan will be hard to pull off. People only go there to DL copyrighted media. I suppose it'll be interesting.
CR