Internet cafe

Pirate Bay’s Would-Be Buyer Sinks, Blames Media

Peter Kafka in Media on August 27, 2009 at 4:32 am PT

A proposed deal to buy The Pirate Bay and turn it legit, which never made sense in the first place, now looks all but dead. The Swedish software/Internet cafe company that’s supposed to buy the file-sharing haven for $8 million now says investors that were supposed to finance the deal have disappeared. And it says this is the fault of the U.S. media, which supposedly spooked said investors. Sorry!

The Pirate Bay Still Hasn’t Gone Legit, Still Enjoys Poking Big Media in the Eye: The “$675,000 Mixtape”

Peter Kafka in Media on August 14, 2009 at 6:00 am PT

Remember how the rascals at file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, chastened by the Swedish courts, were going to straighten up and go legit? Going to have to keep waiting on that one. Here’s the latest reminder: Yet another thumb in the eye to the big music labels.

Illegal Downloads, Meet Suspicious Stock Sales: The Pirate Bay Story Gets Even Murkier

Peter Kafka in Media on July 2, 2009 at 5:46 am PT

The more I hear about the supposed plan for an Internet cafe company to buy the world’s best-known illegal file-sharing site, the more I think that the whole thing is a farce. So this one doesn’t even faze me: Swedish regulators are looking into insider trading charges at Global Gaming Factory X, which saw shares jump several days before it said it would buy The Pirate Bay.