Report: Skype Creators, eBay, Investors Near Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 9:29am.

San Francisco - Litigation between the inventors and former owners of Internet phone service Skype, current owner eBay (NASD: EBAY), and an investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay, could be nearing a settlement, The New York Times reported, citing several people who have been briefed on the situation. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis -- the inventors of Skype and the peer-to-peer technology behind file-sharing service Kazaa and video portal Joost -- sued the investor group in a bid to block their acquisition of Skype from eBay.

The inventors also alleged that one partner within the investor group, Mike Volpi -- who is also the former head of Joost -- improperly used confidential information about Skype to sweeten its offer.

Under the proposed settlement, the investor group looking to acquire Skype from eBay would be restructured to include Zennstrom and Friis, who would receive a significant stake in Skype.

Former Joost head and current Index Ventures partner Volpi, meanwhile, is "most likely withdrawing from the deal," The Times reported.

http://snipurl.com/t268z (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.skype.com

Published in DMW Daily, November 4, 2009

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