If the stories of other file-sharing firms that sold out are any indication, Pirate Bay’s move to sell itself and go legit might not play out so well. Here’s what happened to some of its peer-to-peer predecessors that were put up for sale.

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The news this week that Napster is relaunching with a $5-a-month subscription plan that includes 5 free MP3 downloads would appear to be a troubling development for RealNetworks’ (RNWK) rival Rhapsody service, which will set you back $13 a month for a streaming service that lacks the free MP3s. It is also no doubt irritating to Real that it comes from a company that is now a unit of Best Buy (BBY): in the past, the Best Buy digital music store was a re-branded version of Rhapsody, which came pre-loaded on non-Zune, non-iPod music players sold by the retailer.

Earlier this week, I chatted about the situation with Neil Smith, VP of business management for Rhapsody America. His spin on the Napster story is that what they’re really doing is going head-to-head with Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes store–that Napster is “all about the downloads.” He says Napster basically wants to use the new approach to get into the pre-paid music gift card market, using the free downloads as a driver to steal share from Apple. He thinks selling tracks is more their goal than “turning the tide toward subscription from purchase,” which is where Real is focused.

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Looks like Chris Gorog really was serious about selling off perennially troubled Napster, after all. He’s selling the company to Best Buy for $121 million. That’s $2.65 per share, which works out to be $54 million net of cash.

The good news for Napster shareholders is that Best Buy is paying twice Friday’s closing price. The bad news, for anyone who’s held the stock for any length of time: A year ago NAPS was trading above $3.

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Best Buy (BBY) this morning announced a deal to buy online music site Napster (NAPS) for $2.65 a share in cash. That comes to $121 million, or $54 million net of Napster’s $67 million in cash and short-term investments as of June 30. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Best Buy said it signed employment agreements with Napster CEO Chris Gorog and other key senior managers of the company to stay on after completion of the deal.

Napster had revenue in the March 2008 fiscal year of $127.5 million, with a loss of $16.5 million. Best Buy will use cash on hand to complete the deal.

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This morning, Napster (NAPS) mailed a letter to shareholders advising them not to vote for three dissident investors–Perry H. Rod, Thomas Sailors and Kavan P. Singh–who are seeking seats on the company’s board, and to instead back the three incumbents seeking to keep their seats. Not a big surprise; did you think the board was going to say otherwise?

Still, the venom Napster spews in the direction of the dissident group is quite impressive. Napster notes that the dissidents have never served on a corporate board before, “meaning they would require on-the-job training.” They also note that their work experiences “are irrelevant to a company in the highly competitive digital music business.”

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Three investors have disclosed in a lengthy filing with the SEC that they play to stage a proxy fight for three Napster (NAPS) board seats. The trio includes Perry Rod, who describes himself as an independent investor and president of Market Rap LLC, a company developing an investor community site, as well as chairman of The Paradise Project, “a non-profit religious organization;” Thomas Sailors, of investment firm Cloverdale Investments, and a former managing director at Bank of America Securities; and Kavan Singh, who owns 10 Cold Stone Creamery franchises and other business interests.

Where’s Carl Icahn when you need him?

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