Skype Tech Licensing Soap Opera Continues: Founders Sue eBay, New Buyers For Copyright Infringement

from the someone-screwed-up-big-time dept

Thu, Sep 17th 2009 12:27am — Mike Masnick

Over the summer, we wrote about the bizarre and protracted legal dispute concerning whether or not eBay actually had the rights to the core technology in Skype. Skype's founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, claim that they retained the right to the core technology in a separate company called Joltid, and that they terminated eBay's license to that technology. There's a legal battle already underway about that, but apparently that's not enough, as Joltid has now filed a separate copyright infringement lawsuit against eBay and the list of investors who recently bought out a big chunk of Skype from eBay. The thing that still amazes me is that pretty much everyone realized right away that it made no sense for eBay to buy Skype. That was a bad idea from the very beginning. But finding out that the purchase price didn't even include the core technology, and that Joltid had the ability to revoke the license, makes the purchase almost monumentally bad.

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Filed Under: copyright, ip, janus friis, niklas zennstrom, ownership, skype, voip

9 Comments

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drewmerc (profile), 17 Sep 2009 @ 2:31am

so Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom made the best deal ever and should be congratulated, scamming the scammer's at ebay
this beats any 419 baiter's exploits
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Psychosomatic, 17 Sep 2009 @ 2:56am

Yes, but
It is ultimately the users of Skype that will pay for this. Lots of folk use this to connect with each other; these guys have already won financially and if Skype folds their victory will be Pyhrric at best. And disastrous for Skype users.

You've already won the game, is there any point to going home with your bat and ball now?
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- Chargone (profile), 17 Sep 2009 @ 3:35am
  
  Re: Yes, but
  because the game's over? :P
  
  sorry, not helpful, i know. but amusing none the less.
  
  [taking dodgy analogies and running with them can be funny :)]
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Michael Kohne, 17 Sep 2009 @ 4:06am

I wonder...
It seems more than a little odd that Ebay's lawyers would allow a deal to go through where they either didn't own, or didn't have a perpetual license to the core tech in the deal. I really have to wonder what's written down for that one.

I have to say that the original deal was a completely stupid one - WTF does Ebay need a phone service for? But I can't quite believe they were stupid enough to get caught out like this.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2009 @ 4:09am

I avoid Skype like the plague. If it folds, I'll be happy. I'd much rather see some Open Source clone become dominant.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2009 @ 5:52am

RE: I wonder...
I would guess they did have some sort of perpetual license based on the fact that Joltid had to declare that Skype was in breach of that license before they terminated it.
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- Dustin, 17 Sep 2009 @ 9:23am
  
  Re: RE: I wonder...
  True and IF it turns out that eBay did, in fact, acquire unauthorized versions of the source code, make unauthorized modifications, and disclose the software to third persons I say good on the Joltid guys.
  
  If their allegations are true eBay made a bad deal (and probably paid less initially for it), tried to commit corporate espionage to get around it, got caught, and had their hat handed to them.
  
  It'll suck if this leads to the downfall of Skype, but eBay will have it coming and deserves the blame.
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teknosapien (profile), 17 Sep 2009 @ 9:12pm

wonder if
Ebay every gave one of these guys a bad rating or shut their account down and kept the cash
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philbaker, 18 Sep 2009 @ 7:28am

EBay genius
And what genius perpetrated this purchase of Skype? Meg Whitman who now is running for governor of California. Well suited for solving CA's financial problems.
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