I'm sorry I find Boing Boing a highly biased news source.
I picked up the flipside of this story from (the somewhat more impartial) Reuters.
Quote:
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -
Global Gaming Factory X AB, which operates Internet cafes and provides software, said Tuesday that it had agreed to buy Pirate Bay for 60 million Swedish crowns ($7.7 million).
Sunde told TT that the money would be placed in a company outside Swedish borders and it would be used for Internet projects other than downloading sites.
........
Analysts were unimpressed by the move, comparing it to Napster, an online file-sharing site that quickly lost popularity after it started to charge its users.
"It looks like they are going to Napsterize it," said Leigh Ellis, intellectual property partner at Gillhams Solicitors.
Mark Mulligan, vice president at research firm Forrester, said that many of Pirate Bay's around 20 million users would move on to other free downloading options.
"The bottom line is that most people who use file-sharing networks use it because it's free. They are not likely to start paying just because the owners have a new business model," he said.
"There has not yet been a single example of a file-sharing network which has made a successful transition to a legal business." |
Veeeery interesting.
Please note these commentators aren't old farts on Gearslutz, or music industry stalwarts.