September 17, 2009

Report: Skype founders sue Skype

With a similar legal battle playing out in the U.K., a company owned by Skype's founders has reportedly filed suit against Skype in the U.S.

Joltid, the company owned by Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, filed a copyright infringement suit against Skype in California, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday.

The dispute concerns an agreement that eBay made when it bought Skype in 2005. The acquisition did not include Skype's peer-to-peer networking technology, which is owned by Joltid and was licensed to Skype.

Earlier this year Joltid terminated the license agreement. Joltid and Skype have since argued over the validity of the termination in courts in England. Further arguments are scheduled there in the middle of next year.

In the meantime, eBay has said it's developing an alternative technology to get around the licensing issue.

The U.S. lawsuit seeks an injunction against Skype and statutory damages for copyright infringement, the Journal reported. Representatives for eBay and Joltid did not respond to requests for comment.

Earlier this month, eBay agreed to sell a 65 percent stake in Skype for US$1.9 billion to a group of investors. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, values Skype at $2.75 billion, just over the $2.6 billion that eBay paid for it in 2005.

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