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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 7, 2009

Skype, eBay make software deal
EBay Inc. has settled a legal skirmish with the founders of Skype that threatened to complicate eBay's plans to sell most of the Internet phone service to a group of investors for $2 billion.

The online marketplace operator said Friday the settlement gives Skype ownership of critical software that had been licensed from Joltid Ltd., a company founded by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Zennstrom and Friis sued Skype owner eBay and the investor group that planned to buy a state in the company.

In return, Zennstrom and Friis will get a 14 percent stake in Skype. They also agreed to make a "significant" capital investment in Skype, eBay said.

'Gone Wild' founder sentenced

A judge sentenced "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis on Friday to time served and a year of probation for filing false income tax returns.

Francis, a soft-porn mogul who filmed and marketed videos of young women, initially was accused of taking $20 million in fraudulent tax deductions earlier this decade.

Homebuilders back on market

The housing bust left homebuilders with plenty of red ink as they walked away from swaths of land they no longer needed. But now they are on the hunt again, vying for choice parcels, even in foreclosure-riddled markets such as Orlando, Las Vegas, and Southern California, where prices are cheap and there are early signs of a recovery.

While not a full-blown land rush, experts note a surge in land deals since early summer as home sales and prices began to stabilize. For the better lots, competition is fueling bids well above the asking price.

Jobs data, credit cut borrowing

Consumers borrowed less for a record eighth straight month in September amid rising unemployment and tight credit conditions. Economists worry the declines in borrowing will drag on the fledgling recovery.

The Federal Reserve said Friday borrowing fell at an annual rate of $14.8 billion in September, the biggest decline since July and was larger than the $10 billion drop economists expected.

A wire report

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