The Pirate Bay is hanging up its peg legs; it's sheathing its swords. The ship has sunk. In a move that follows months of legal hearings, bias allegations, and a court conviction, the BitTorrent tracker has been bought out by Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X (GGF) for almost $8 million -- a gross undervaluation, as even the Bay's former owners acknowledge. The changeover is scheduled to begin in August, when GGF will take control of operations. The company plans to introduce a new business model allowing copyright holders to not only distribute their products through Pirate Bay, but to also (gasp) get paid. It's not yet known, however, whether this will require the new service's users to pay a membership fee -- though such a fee is more likely than not. GGF CEO Hans Pandeya said: "Pirate Bay ... is among the... [read full story]
