Grokster in Talks To Be Acquired By Mashboxx; Labels May Drop Claims

(sub. req.) P2P service Grokster, in the wake of an adverse U.S. Supreme Court ruling, is in talks to be acquired by Mashboxx, an upstart legal P2P service, reports WSJ.

According to the story, Grokster itself is expected to have little or no value. Instead Mashboxx would likely share a portion of any future revenue Grokster generates with Grokster’s current owners. It is unclear who Grokster’s owners are, though they are believed to include its founder, Daniel Rung, who lives in Nevis, West Indies, where Grokster is based. The Grokster brand name would likely remain in place, though it would operate under the Mashboxx system.

Mashboxx is a legal P2P company cofounded by former Grokster President Wayne Rosso…The service, expected to launch in the next few months, has announced it signed a deal with Sony, and is finalizing deals with the other major labels.

Any deal would depend on the record labels dropping their pending legal claims against Grokster, and the story says labels are seriously considering that.

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