Co-founders Zennström and Friis in line for huge payout
V3.co.uk, 05 Nov 2009
Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis are set to receive a cash bonanza tomorrow, following reports that agreements will soon be reached on three outstanding lawsuits.
If all goes to plan Zennström and Friis will get 10 per cent of Skype, along with the option to buy another three per cent of the VoIP firm for $83m (£50m) and get two seats on the board.
The Skype founders sued Skype owner eBay in September alleging copyright infringement.
The suit claimed that Zennström and Friis, along with their company Joltid, retained some rights to the software, specifically a piece of the peer-to-peer communication system called Global Index.
Zennström and Friis further alleged that the code had been disclosed to other parties and altered after Skype was sold to eBay. This was apparently against the terms of the original agreement.
Joltid said in September that damages could amount to $75m (£45m) a day.
Company tells FCC it only blocked scam numbers
VoIP firm demands EU action to preserve web freedoms
This week we cover the continuing controversy surrounding the Orange T-Mobile deal
Using managed services to protect mobile data users from the latest security threats
Counting the cost of data security: the benefits of secured mobile services
Shifting Disaster Recovery targets with SharePoint and SQL server configurations
Using a hostbased recovery system for mission-critical systems
Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.
Replacement warning functioning normally, claims software giant
Annual initiative warns of phishing, ID theft and social network...
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article