The Pirate Bay has announced that it is being acquired by Global Gaming Factory X AB, a Swedish software company, that will see a new business model for the website that “allows compensation to content providers and copyright owners.”

In a statement, The Pirate Bay wrote, “We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!”

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Adobe, the owners of Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and almost every single web development tool out there, will shut down its North American operations this week to cut its operating costs as the recession affects its sales, according to Bloomberg.

The employees were told in March that it would impose closures for one week during the second, third and fourth quarters of this year, and asked the staff to take the paid vacation time. This are in, according to an e-mail from Adobe, addition to the normal holiday shutdowns.

In addition, it froze salaries, trimmed bonuses and its compensation plans, and curbed its travel expenses; along with the firing of eight percent of its workforce in December of last year to rein in costs during the slump.

The sales can be attributed to customers holding off upgrading to the latest version of its Creative Suite programs, which accounts for 60 percent of its revenue – after second quarter sales fell 21 percent.

It looks like Microsoft’s renamed Windows Live Search, Bing, is not a joke after all, as StatCounter has recorded that on June 4, the website managed to beat Yahoo, by taking some of the market share from Google – which is a big deal, as Google typically ranges above the 80 percent mark.

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The couple who listed their tractor for a dollar on TradeMe and offered to throw in their farm for free have been left "furious" after the winning bidder was denied finance by his bank and the sale fell through.

The Catlins couple Shelley and Allan Holland listed a tractor with a catch, You buy the tractor, you get a free farm.

Shelly and Allan listed the auction for $1 Reserve and within the first 10 minutes bidding was at $5500.

The Auction fetched over 380,000 views and over 1500 Comments, with over 1400 questions answered.

TradeMe business manager Mike O'Donnell said all of the top bidders had been contacted before the close of the sale, to ensure bids were legitimate. They had spoken to the eventual winner, Wainuiomata man Lance Karanga, twice, he said.

Mr Karanga raised the auction by $16968 from $233,032 to $250,000

While the auction maybe legally binding Mrs Holland said legal action was not being considered at this stage.

Mr Karanga has also had his TradeMe membership terminated.

- Lukc Chandler Reporting for TECHGEEK.com.au

IN DEPTH : European regulators have found Intel guilty and has placed a €1.06 billion fine for engaging in illegal anticompetitive practises that excluded its rival, AMD, from entering the computer chips market – the largest fine ever made since Microsoft’s anticompetitive fine in 2004.

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The leader of Telstra’s ongoing program to transform their existing IT infrastructure, Tom Lamming, has said that he will be leaving Telstra and will go back to his home country, the United States of America, on 30 June, according to the telco.

Lamming is the second high-profile person to leave the company within the last two weeks, and will follow several of his US based colleagues back home. He was appointed during the tenure of previous CEO Sol Trujillo, who will be succeeded by Telstra’s Enterprise and Government division head, David Thodey.

As of today, all of US executives appointed to Trujillo have left Telstra.

“This has been one of the most challenging but rewarding jobs that anyone could ever do,” Lamming said in a press release.

“Telstra's transformation is the largest, most comprehensive and successful I have ever seen, and we have implemented it at speed. The wider transformation has touched all parts of Telstra and the IT program has played a significant role.”

His successor has not been appointed yet.

As Telstra sets to bring in David Thodey as the company’s new chief executive, replacing Sol Trujillo; Telstra’s chairman Donald McGauchie has resigned his post as Chairman of the Board, effective immediately, as a surprise to many.

Board member Catherine Livingstone will assume McGauchie’s role. Livingstone has been with the board of directors since 2000 and has been a recipient of an Order of Australia – one of Australia’s prestigious awards.

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In a blow to a rumoured deal with IBM, Sun Microsystems has announced that Oracle has agreed to buy the Java and MySQL owner for US$7.4 billion, or US$9.50 per share - a 10 cent increase to what IBM was bidding for, in a shocking announcement that managed to send Sun's share up by nearly 37 percent.

The board has unanimously approved the deal - unlike the rejection of the IBM bid - and the company's shareholders will have to vote on the merger. It has been widely thought that IBM and Sun would make a deal, but a rift was between the two companies on whether to let them have a way to back out of a deal on not.

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