Friday, November 6, 2009

eBay, Skype Lawsuit Settled

San Jose-based eBay said this morning that the investor group led by Silver Lake, which was looking to acquire Skype, has reached a settlement with Joltid Limited and Joost N.V., the firms that own the rights to Skype's peer-to-peer technology. According to eBay, the settlement ends all litigation by the firms, and gives Skype ownership of all software previously licensed from Joltid. As part of the deal, Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will become investors in Skype, and receive a 14 percent stake in the firm. Index Ventures will no longer be included in the investment. Zennstrom and Friis, who owned Joltid, were contending for Skype and filed suit after Index Ventures and Silver Lake made their bid for Skype in September.