eBay, which owns VoIP service Skype, has reached a legal settlement with Joltid and Joost over the software that underpins the telephone service. Software producer Joltid and video company Joost - both founded by the same two people who set up Skype - had started litigation against eBay, which was preventing the sale of Skype to the Silver Lake Investor Group.

The settlement agreement sees Joltid and Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis joining the investor group and making a capital investment in exchange for a 14% stake in Skype. It means the Skype deal is now back on track and is expected to be finalised by the end of this year. [Press release; Skype blog]