* Skype founders to get stake, board seat–report

* Index, Volpi dropped from investment group–report

* Skype founders to drop other claims against eBay–report

LOS ANGELES, Nov 3 (Reuters) – A settlement is near in a lawsuit that could have blocked eBay Inc (EBAY.O) from selling a majority stake in Web phone service Skype to Index Ventures and other investors for $1.9 billion, sources told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The Delaware federal court lawsuit, brought by Joltid and Joost, the companies of Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, accused Index and its partner Michelangelo Volpi of using confidential information in their bid to acquire a 65 percent stake in Skype. Volpi was previously Joost’s chief executive.

Sources told Reuters last month that Zennstrom and Friis have tried to buy back Skype, which they sold to eBay in 2005, and had contacted several private equity firms.

EBay instead agreed to sell to a consortium that includes Index, private equity firm Silver Lake, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen’s Andreessen Horowitz and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

On Tuesday, sources told the Journal that a settlement could come as early as this week. The settlement would drop Index and Volpi from the investment group and give Zennstrom and Friis a stake and at least one seat on the company’s board.

Under the proposed agreement, Zennstrom and Friis would end a separate intellectual-property dispute with eBay, the Journal reported. It was not clear whether the Skype founders would also drop the lawsuit against Volpi and Index for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, the Journal said.

An eBay spokesman declined to comment on the report.

See original story

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – Skype’s founders have asked a U.S. federal court to prevent Index Ventures and one of its partners from further participating in the proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of the Web phone service, according to a court filing on Wednesday.

The suit, brought by Joltid and Joost, the companies of Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, said Index and one of its partners, Michelangelo Volpi, were using confidential information in their bid to acquire a majority stake in Skype from eBay Inc (EBAY.O). Volpi was previously the Chief Executive of Joost.

Zennstrom and Friis have tried to buy back Skype and had contacted several private equity firms, according to sources.

Ebay has instead agreed to sell a 65 percent stake in Skype to a consortium that includes Index, private equity firm Silver Lake, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen’s Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Index’s Volpi was a key architect of the deal. The latest complaint, in seeking the injunction, said Volpi used what he learned about Joost and Joltid’s software, which is also used by Skype, to broker the deal.

“The entire transaction is, thus, infected with Volpi’s misconduct,” said the filing.

It also said Volpi violated his fiduciary duties while he was CEO at Joost.

Volpi stepped down as CEO in late June. He initially stayed on as chairman, but was later removed as Joost began investigating actions taken during his tenure.

The plaintiffs said Volpi failed in his fiduciary duties by beginning negotiations for the Skype deal on behalf of Index while he was still CEO of Joost, which has struggled with a lack of popular video content.

“In early 2009, at a time when Joost was in desperate need of leadership from its chief executive, Volpi had his sights and attention focused on his next business aspiration — to acquire Skype from eBay and become its new Chairman,” it said.

The documents also included an affidavit from Joost’s chief architect, Justin Erenkrantz, saying Volpi, while still at Joost, had told him he was orchestrating a bid to purchase Skype and that he had a unique advantage over a competing bid by Friis and Zennstrom. Volpi had also offered him a job at Skype, Erenkrantz said.

Index and Volpi were not immediately available for comment.

Skype’s founders had known Volpi, a former high-flyer at Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O), for years. Volpi had served on Skype’s board before the pair of entrepreneurs recruited him to head Joost.

The case is Joost U.S. Inc, Joost N.V. and Joltid Ltd v Michelangelo Volpi and Index Ventures Management, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 09-CV-00708.

A federal appeals court has found eBay and Skype have not infringed on two peer-to-peer patents held by Peer Communication, according to Skype’s general counsel…..

EBay Inc Chief Executive John Donahoe said on Wednesday that recent lawsuits will not derail a $1.9 billion deal to sell a majority interest in Web telephone unit Skype to an investor group…….