Skype Founders File Copyright Infringement Suit Against eBay

Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of the international telecommunications network, Skype, are now jousting several legal battles against eBay Inc.

Zennstrom and Friis, who sold Skype to eBay in 2005 to the tune of $2.6 billion, have filed a copyright lawsuit against the firm in the United States district court in Northern California. Last March, the founders filed the original complaint on the matter in a British court. In the official complaint, Joltid, a company owned by Zennstrom and Friis, claims that eBay violated their copyright by altering and sharing the peer-to-peer source code behind the free Internet calling service. Despite the sale of Skype in 2005, the founders maintained ownership of the source code. The New York Times report. Joltid seeks civil liability and consequential damages that could total to more than $75 million a day. Meanwhile, eBay Inc. announced, some two weeks ago, that they would sell most of Skype for $1.9 billion, to a group of investors led by the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.