Joltid

I Love the Smell of Settlement in the Morning: Skype Founders Set to Get 10 Percent, Option to Buy Three Percent More and Two Board Seats

Kara Swisher in News on November 4, 2009 at 11:38 pm PT

According to several sources close to the situation, barring any unforeseen delay, a deal to settle the Skype imbroglio is likely to be announced around the time the markets open tomorrow. While the massive agreement–which will settle a series of lawsuits waged by Skype’s co-founders–is not yet officially signed, sources said lawyers are apparently putting the finishing touches on the paperwork. Sources also said that those co-founders–Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis–will get 10 percent of Skype back for rights to key technology they control, an option to pay $83 million for another three percent of the Internet telephony service and two seats on the 23-member board.

Volpi and Index Ventures Out of Skype Deal, the Lawsuit-Happy Founder Twins In

Kara Swisher in News on November 3, 2009 at 6:58 pm PT

According to sources close to the situation, Index Ventures and Michelangelo Volpi are out of the deal to buy Skype–and their lawsuit-loving nemeses, the founders of the Internet telephony service, are in. More details to come, but it’s sure proof that the legal system, such as it was used, works.

Volpi and Index Smack Back at Skype Founders With Motion to Dismiss (Plus Filings!)

Kara Swisher in News on October 15, 2009 at 3:49 pm PT

The legal high jinks in the contentious battle over the fate of Skype got worse this afternoon, as former Joost CEO Michelangelo Volpi and Index Ventures filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the founders of Skype–Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, via Joost and Joltid–against them. It’s yet another chess move among a group of well-known tech players, who used to work together closely and are now at odds.

Dueling Skype Sides Hire Big Communications Guns

Kara Swisher in News on October 15, 2009 at 10:56 am PT

Perhaps the sides in the ever-escalating war over the Skype deal will work out their differences and settle–which is what should and probably will eventually happen after everyone realizes how stupid all this noisy legal wrangling over the Internet telephony giant is. But that day is decidedly not today, given a pair of recent big-gun PR hires by parties involved.

When Entrepreneurs Attack! All 10 New Skype Lawsuit Filings!

Kara Swisher in News on October 14, 2009 at 8:05 am PT

Earlier today, Joost and Joltid attacked! The pair of companies, which are controlled by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, filed a motion for preliminary injunction against former Joost CEO Michelangelo Volpi and Index Ventures, where Volpi now works as a partner, asking that he not use knowledge or confidential information he got at the video start-up in current dealings with the Internet telephony giant. Here are 10 filings made today related to the injunction!

Exclusive: Skype Founders Keep on Punching–File Injunction Against Volpi and Index

Kara Swisher in News on October 14, 2009 at 7:04 am PT

Joost and Joltid filed a motion for preliminary injunction against former Joost CEO Michelangelo Volpi and Index Ventures, where Volpi now works as a partner, asking that he not use knowledge or confidential information he got at the video start-up in current dealings with Skype. The move is yet another legal attack from the founders of Skype, who were on the losing side of the $2 billion deal to buy the Internet telephony giant from eBay.

Parsing the Legal Tantrums of Zennström and Friis

Kara Swisher in News on September 18, 2009 at 4:30 pm PT

Is it just me or is it completely ironic that a pair of European entrepreneurs kept out of the United States due to tantrum lawsuits from the music industry are stamping their own legal feet like two ill-tempered toddlers of late? That would be Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, who today filed yet another lawsuit in their seemingly never-ending quest to win in court what they couldn’t in business dealmaking.

Skype: A $1.9 Billion Legal Nightmare

John Paczkowski in News on September 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm PT

EBay’s plan to sell a 65 percent stake in Skype to a group of private investors is going to be a bit more difficult to pull off than expected. This afternoon, Joltid, a company owned by Skype’s founders, filed a copyright suit against eBay and the consortium of investors that just paid $1.9 billion for a majority interest in it.

Joost a Little Misunderstanding Between Friends? Actually a Knee-Capping–but Please Enjoy the Video From Better Days!

Kara Swisher in News on September 14, 2009 at 5:00 am PT

Revenge is a dish best served cold–except, of course, when one decides to serve it piping hot. And that’s just what part of one of the losing sides of the $2 billion deal to buy Skype from eBay is doing in an unusual attack on Michelangelo Volpi, a well-known tech exec in Silicon Valley. It’s Joost-y, for sure, so step right up to this sorry spectacle.