Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is to be turned into a legal business after being bought by a Swedish software company. According to Wall Street Journal, Global Gaming Factory acquired The Pirate Bay for 60 million Swedish kronor ($9.7 million AUD).

In April, the four founders of the original site were found guilty of copyright infringement by a Swedish court. They were sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and ordered to pay 31 million Swedish kronor (around $5.1 million AUD) in damages.

In the new model, users will pay for the content, but also earn “some revenue from sharing their files”. The Pirate Bay will earn its revenue through advertising, with several investors apparently lined up. Napster underwent a similar overhaul in 2003 after it was shut down for copyright violations, but its subscriber base is reportedly on the decline.

We think the move is an interesting one, but we wonder how successful The Pirate Bay 2.0 will really be. Will users already accustomed to jacking their music and movies for free turn legit too? Or will they just move on to one of the many other file-sharing hubs that seem to pop up all the time?