So much for non-profit making
pirate sites
While Pirate Bay administrators complained that they
have not made a cent from their file sharing site, another outfit Mininova
is apparently coining it in.
According to Ars Technica Mininova, for
instance, earned €600,000 in revenue back in 2006, upping this to a whopping
€1,000,000 in 2007. The file sharing site is a legitimate business and
runs from a canal-side office in Utrecht, which means it has to post its
earnings to the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce each year.
Ars found
that in 2007, revenue was €1,037,560 before tax. While most of the cash
comes from advertising it also includes revenue from the video service
Snotr.com, affiliate partnerships, and various toolbar offerings.
The
only difference between Pirate Bay and Mininova is that the company takes
down pirated files when it is requested to do so.