Thursday, Aug 20, 2009    Text size: 

Back in June, software company Global Gaming Factory X (GGFX) bought the torrent-file search engine for about $7.8 million, or 60 million Swedish krona. At the time of the purchase, GGFX CEO Hans Pandeya promised that the site would behave itself from now on.

Starting on Aug. 27, GGFX will implement a system to make the Pirate Bay as legal as possible. This new computerized system will identify copyrighted content on the site. When it finds something copyrighted, the system will alert the copyright holder, who can either leave their content on the Pirate Bay and make money from it.

“We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site,” GGFX CEO Hans Pandeya said, later adding, “Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it. File sharers’ need faster downloads and better quality.”

But where is that money going to come from? Presumably from a new monthly fee that users will have to pay to use the site. Users will be able to waive the monthly fee by making their own computers available for file storage and sharing.

Pandeya has not revealed how much the monthly fee will be.

If a copyright holder decides not to seek payment for their content, then the content will remain on the Pirate Bay and remain available for download. GGFX will not remove copyrighted content on its own.

Meanwhile, the four men behind the Pirate Bay — Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom — are moving forward with a video-sharing site called TheVideoBay.org.