I thought this was a joke after all the tough talk of the last couple of years but its true
http://thepiratebay.org/blogTPB is being sold for a great bit underneath it's value if the money would be the interesting part. It's not. The interesting thing is that the right people with the right attitude and possibilities keep running the site.
As all of you know, there's not been much news on the site for the past two-three years. It's the same site essentially. On the internets, stuff dies if it doesn't evolve. We don't want that to happen.
We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!
If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That's the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And - you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That's awesome and will take the heat of us.
Theres more info to be found here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/30/pirate_bay_gaming_factory_x_ab/Global Gaming Factory X AB (GGF) has agreed to buy BitTorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay for $7.7m (60m Swedish Crowns), according to a statement on the company's website.
The Swedish software outfit confirmed the acquisition this morning. Under the deal GGF has also bought file sharing tech firm Peerialism.
"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site", said the company's CEO Hans Pandeya.
GGF will take control of the site once the transaction completes, which is expected to happen next month.
"In order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary.
"Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers need faster downloads and better quality," said Pandeya.
This is totally unexpected but with the fear of imprisonement and the size of the fines they face ( but have asked folks not to help them with) maybe its for the best and the crew can stay hidden in Brazil as they are currently doing, spending all the money they have just earned.