Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom reportedly have filed a copyright suit against eBay and the investors that plan to buy Skype from it for $2 billion, says the Wall Street Journal. The suit was filed yesterday in the Northern California U.S. District Court.
The Skype founders already are involved in a suit against eBay for unauthorized use of its software.
Whether this suit scuppers the deal (or Skype itself) remains to be seen, but at least the lawyers are happy for all the work. Large law firms have been hit hard by the recession, with many having to lay off lawyers.
Given all the charges and counter-charges, maybe everyone should just adjourn to a distant island or a house in London along with a TV crew and host and work it all out.
Robert N. Charette is a Contributing Editor to IEEE Spectrum and an acknowledged international authority on information technology and systems risk management. A self-described “risk ecologist,” he is interested in the intersections of business, political, technological, and societal risks. Charette is an award-winning author of multiple books and numerous articles on the subjects of risk management, project and program management, innovation, and entrepreneurship. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, Charette was a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core Award in 2008.