Settlement due on Skype lawsuit tomorrow

Skype co-founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis are set to receive a cash bonanza tomorrow, following reports that agreements will soon be reached on three outstanding lawsuits.

If all goes to plan Zennström and Friis will get 10 percent of Skype, along with the option to buy another three per cent of the VoIP firm for US$83m (AU$90.95 million) and get two seats on the board.

The Skype founders sued Skype owner eBay in September alleging copyright infringement.

The suit claimed that Zennström and Friis, along with their company Joltid, retained some rights to the software, specifically a piece of the peer-to-peer communication system called Global Index.

Zennström and Friis further alleged that the code had been disclosed to other parties and altered after Skype was sold to eBay. This was apparently against the terms of the original agreement.

Joltid said in September that damages could amount to US$75m (AU$82m) a day.