eBay, Skype, Others Sued by File-Sharing Software Co.

Ebay, the online auction powerhouse, and its subsidiary Skype were among 22 firms sued by the company that produces the software that drives popular file-sharing network Morpheus, in relation to the voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology they use to provide phone calls over the Web, the Associated Press reports via The Washington Post.

StreamCast Networks fingered the founders of Kazaa, another file-sharing service, as well because it claims the employees developed the VoIP technology along with Skype, according to the AP.

StreamCast says in the suit that it should have been given the right of first refusal after the Kazaa founders sold the company and the technology to another firm, the AP reports.

San Jose-based eBay bought Luxembourg-based Skype last year for $2.6 billion in cash and stock.

Earlier this week, StreamCast logged a modified complaint in U.S. District Court that requested $4.1 billion from the defendants, as well as an injunction to stop eBay from offering Skype services, according to the AP.

“Defendants have orchestrated an elaborate overseas shell game in an attempt to steal and wrongfully profit from technology that rightfully belongs to StreamCast, and which the defendants have used and are using to their advantage,” the complaint reads, according to the AP.

An eBay spokeswoman declined to respond to the AP’s request for comment.

Just last month, Skype announced that it had reached the 100 million subscriber mark, and a couple of weeks later it decided to give its U.S. and Canadian customers free calls to landlines or PCs, which they previously had to pay for, until the end of the year.  For more, read Skype Reaches 100M User Mark and Skype Offers U.S., Canadian Customers Free Calling.

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