This isn’t the usual sort of story I write up for you folks, but I thought it was important enough that you should know.

Swedish torrent giant The Pirate Bay was purchased by software company Global Gaming Factory X AB for a cool $7.8 million. According to Kotaku, GGFXAB intends to “introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site.”

In other words, those Swedish dudes are going legit, whether they like it or not. Based on the quote Kotaku got from Pirate Bay, I’d say they hate this turn of events. “If the new owners will screw around with the site,” they say, “nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to.”

Regardless of The Pirate Bay’s wishes, Global Gaming Factory X AB will officially acquire the file-sharing site this August. You can expect a very different Pirate Bay once the acquisition is complete, if GGFXAB has their way — and they will. The Pirate Bay isn’t in much of a position to fight the changes, after a police raid and subsequent trial which found the torrent peddlers guilty.

I think this is great news. I know many of us are guilty of illegally downloading music, games, movies, and the like, from time to time. I’ll admit I use to pirate music back in the Napster days. Today, I get all of my music through iTunes and Amazon, rent movies from Netfllix, and get games from Gamefly (not that I ever pirated games or movies, but you get the idea). There are many affordable solutions for acquiring entertainment from legitimate sources, and it looks like The Pirate Bay will soon be another. Sure, this won’t be the end of torrents, but making a huge torrent site like The Pirate Bay legit is a huge step towards the elimination of the problem.