Skype may spend $50 million on an
acquisition as it faces a lawsuit that targets the very foundation of the voice-over-Internet-protocol company. Citing multiple sources, TechCrunch.com says Skype is in negotiations to buy peer-to-peer VoIP startup Gizmo5, which has a Skype-like service with about 6 million users.
The backstory: Throwing a wrench in
the sale of 65% of Skype by eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis
sued eBay and the investor group paying about $2 billion for the stake over an IP dispute that began in March. Zennstrom and Friis are running Joltid Ltd., which used to license its "global index" software to Skype but terminated that license in March. Without that tech, Skype doesn't work.
One option Skype is looking at is to build the tech in-house, but that's proving to be a tough and slow process, even though it has hired some senior execs to tackle the initiative. So acquiring Gizmo5 could be a short-term fix. TechCrunch, though, says a deal is far from consummated and there could be other bidders. -
Baz HiralalGo to the storyAlso see:Skype founders sue eBay, sale in dangereBay's Skype sale
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