New, Legit Pirate Bay Will Charge Users Monthly Fee, Ask For Personal Computer Resources

After last month’s announcement of Global Gaming Factory X’s intent to purchase iconic torrent site The Pirate Bay and turn it into a legitimate business, no one was really sure what to expect. Yesterday, Torrent Freak reported one major change that’ll enrage the internets, as the new owners plan to charge users a monthly fee.

Newly appointed exec and former Grokster president Wayne Rosso confirmed an interesting model: users must pay a monthly membership fee in order for the site to pay off copyright holders, but the price can be lowered by donating personal hard drive space to The Pirate Bay’s cloud.

“The more of your computer resources you contribute to the network, the less you pay down to zero,” Rosso told CNET. “The user is in control.”

No exact prices have been announced, and GGF’s purchase of The Pirate Bay is far from complete. The takeover is planned for the end of this month, but GGF still has to raise $7.8 million in funding as well as seek the approval of its shareholders.

What do you think of paying a monthly fee to file share, and the idea of lowering that fee by leveraging your PC’s resources? Let us know in the comments!