Dear Hans Pandeya: Buying A Website Involves More Than Just Saying You're Going To Buy It...

from the just-so-you-know... dept

Hans Pandeya is the guy who, as head of GGF, last year made a big splash by supposedly agreeing to buy The Pirate Bay as part of a plan that never made any sense to try to "legitimize" it. It wasn't long before many folks realized that the whole thing seemed questionable, and there were all sorts of allegations of insider trading and other questionable behavior in the sale. And, of course, as people waited for the one thing that mattered (the money) it became clear that the deal was falling through.

A few months back, however, Pandeya showed up again, this time in the US rather than Sweden, with a new company called Business Marketing Services, which was the result of Pandeya taking over the OTC stock symbol of an effectively defunct penny stock. However, he claimed he was still buying The Pirate Bay, supposedly from GGF -- except of course, GGF never actually owned The Pirate Bay, so the whole thing appeared to be a joke. Pandeya took exception to our coverage, demanded we correct the errors in the post, though he refused to explain what was in error. He also told us that he had "put the acquisition on hold," which is a funny thing to say when there's no evidence that there was any actual acquisition in the first place.

It looks like Pandeya's at it again, telling TorrentFreak that he's buying the BitTorrent community Demonoid. But, again, this appears to be wishful thinking. Demonoid hasn't agreed to any deal. Pandeya appears to be representing GGF again, and claims he now has money. It's not clear what happened to "Business Marketing Services," of course. Pandeya still talks big, saying he'd still like to acquire The Pirate Bay and IsoHunt, and claims that this time he's got money -- but he's said that before and these things haven't panned out.

So, a basic tip for Mr. Pandeya: talking about buying a website is not the same as actually buying that website. Also, saying you have cash is not the same as actually having the cash. So far, we've seen lots of claims from Mr. Pandeya, but no real follow through, so it's difficult to believe that this time around it will be any different.
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Filed Under: hans pandeya
Companies: business marketing services, demonoid, ggf, the pirate bay


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Aug 2010 @ 4:38am

    It's way past the time where people should just be ignoring this douche. It blows my mind that he is still making the news.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    cc (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 4:52am

    I really don't see how legalising any of the big torrent websites is a good business decision. I'd have to be crazy to invest in a company that tried it, especially one based in "MAFIAA-land" USA.

    Look at Mininova for example: regardless of the brand recognition they had, the moment they were forced to purge their database they were history. They truly dropped off the internets.

    If that's not what he means by "legalising", then I highly doubt the rights holders would agree to allow their content to appear on an all-you-can-eat torrent website. It'd be totally awesome if they did, but they won't.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    Jon Renaut (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 5:08am

    Related news

    I am planning to buy Techdirt. I'm going to fire that Masnick guy and turn it into a location check-in service that will blow Foursquare and Facebook out of the water.

    If Techdirt misreports this news, they will be hearing from my lawyers.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    PaulT (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 5:18am

    Re:

    "I really don't see how legalising any of the big torrent websites is a good business decision."

    I do... well except for this point:

    "I highly doubt the rights holders would agree to allow their content"

    Therein lies the problem. The big torrent sites have pretty much everything that most legitimate sites should envy - well-known brand names, massive international customer base, popular design, minimal running costs (since all they host is tiny torrent files).

    That's everything a legitimate company should want, except for the fact that only a small proportion of content is authorised. If they could only get the pricing and regional licensing issues sorted out, this would be a great investment for any sane businessman. Sadly, the content owners are still trying to pretend it's the early 90s.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Aug 2010 @ 5:26am

    I just bought News Corp. so that I can cancel Fox News.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    cc (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 5:28am

    Re: Re:

    Yes, I completely agree. I believe the content licensing is a HUGE and pretty much unsolvable problem that no sane businessman would want on his hands -- it outweighs all the benefits of owning such a site.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Aug 2010 @ 6:24am

    Re: Related news

    You can't do that. I already have the cash in hand to purchase TechDirt and plan on marketing soil that has been engineered to produce high yield crops of anything you want to plant in it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    iamtheky (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 6:24am

    Domain Tasting = Buying A Website (for more than five days)Involves More Than Just Saying You're Going To Buy It...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Jon Renaut (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 6:31am

    Re: Re: Related news

    Not if my lawyers' demands that Techdirt turn over your IP address get through the courts first. The next thing you see will be a lawsuit.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Aug 2010 @ 6:51am

    Wading through the bull****

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 7:28am

    Re:

    And now you're my hero....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    AdamR (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 7:38am

    Re: Re: Re: Related news

    Sorry to break it you to guys but i own Tech Dirt! Mike gave me controlling interest when i cut his lawn! Don't believe its in the contract he signed!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Mike, 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:21am

    Uh...

    WTF is this guy smoking??

    Cuz, wow. Just, wow.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Michael, 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:30am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Related news

    And since I have a patent on part of the lawn mower, I should be paid a percentage of any money made on TechDirt.

    You will be hearing from my lawyer soon...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. icon
    interval (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:31am

    Re:

    Now can you get rid of MSNBC?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Michael, 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:31am

    Re:

    I thought Fox news was cancelled years ago.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 8:40am

    Re: Re:

    Sarah Palin is keeping it running through sheer force of will....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. icon
    Niall (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 10:24am

    Re: Re:

    Wouldn't it better to keep it running but with even more tea baggery to attract the wingnuts to it?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Aug 2010 @ 12:24pm

    Re:

    Show me where anything that The Pirate Bay does is illegal. Seriously. You'll note that they are still online after legal battles and police raids.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    kryptonianjorel (profile), 23 Aug 2010 @ 4:01pm

    Re: Re:

    No, we should keep the news stations.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Bryan, 23 Aug 2010 @ 4:24pm

    Company name

    I think the name "Business Marketing Services" is quite honest for him at this point, since you can abbreviate it to "BM Services"...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Aug 2010 @ 12:22pm

    This President and this Congress is so much more of a threat to your tech lifestyle than a cable news outlet, yet your focus is on FOX. Guess the 1st Amendment only applies to YOUR interests, huh? Hypocrites.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    tolvstegsprogram, 28 Sep 2010 @ 12:43am

    Hans

    He never learns that Hans.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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