Skype suit: founders escalate attack on former partner, ex-CEO of net TV's Joost

Given how fast legal motions are flying in the ongoing battle for control of Skype, the web-calling giant at the center of a $2 billion tug of war, one could be forgiven for wondering if the company's two billionaire founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, have nothing better to do than send lawyers' children to college. In fact, Zennström and Friis are busy working on a "secretive" subscription-based music start-up called Rdio, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, according to The New York Times.

But they still have time to lob legal missiles in the direction of Michelangelo "Mike" Volpi, their one-time "guy" and former CEO of the Internet TV service Joost that the pair also founded. In court documents filed Wednesday, they seek to enjoin Volpi from using confidential information to benefit Index Ventures, a member of the consortium trying to buy 65 percent of the web-phone giant Skype for $2 billion. It's just the latest in a series of legal actions by the duo against Volpi, Skype and the consortium.