Shock threat to shut Skype

By dvb2000
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Mentor

dvb2000

Posted
Posted

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/biz-tech/...90731-e3qe.html

eBay says it may have to shut down Skype due to a licensing dispute with the founders of the internet telephony service.

The surprise admission puts a cloud over the 40 million active daily users around the world who use Skype for business or to keep in touch with friends and far-flung relatives.

A recent study by market researcher TeleGeography found Skype carried about 8 per cent of all international voice traffic, making it the world?s largest provider of cross-border voice communications.

The online auction powerhouse bought Skype from entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis for $US2.6 billion in 2005, but this did not include a core piece of peer-to-peer communications technology that powers the software.

eBay has since been licensing the technology from the founders? new company, Joltid, but the pair recently decided to revoke the licensing agreement.

The matter is now the subject of a legal battle in the English High Court of Justice, with eBay trying to force Joltid to let it continue using the technology.

In a quarterly report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, eBay said in no uncertain terms that if it lost the right to use the software it would most likely have to shut Skype down.

eBay said it was working on developing ??alternative software?? to that licensed through Joltid, but this ??may not be successful, may result in loss of functionality or customers even if successful, and will in any event be expensive??.

??If Skype was to lose the right to use the Joltid software as the result of the litigation, and if alternative software was not available, Skype would be severely and adversely affected and the continued operation of Skype?s business as currently conducted would likely not be possible,?? eBay wrote.

In the filing eBay also said that, even if it was successful in developing alternative software, the technical challenge of assuring backward compatibility with older versions of Skype?s technology ??may be difficult to overcome??.

This was echoed by analysts, with the Info-Tech Research Group?s Jayanth Angl telling Bloomberg that ??it would be quite difficult to replace what they already have as the underlying component to their service??.

??There are a number of barriers to that, not the least of which are legal barriers,? he said.

The case is set to go to trial in June next year, which could seriously hinder eBay?s plans to spin Skype off as a separate company in a public stock offering next year.

Already, eBay has had to write down Skype on its books to $US1.7 billion, an admission that the business is not worth nearly as much as it originally paid for it. However, its revenues for the second quarter grew 25 per cent to $US170 million.

But, even though Skype has not been a major financial success, it has succeeded in becoming the dominant internet telephony service globally.

Skype has more than 480 million user accounts - almost twice as many as Facebook - and the application comes bundled with more than 50 mobile phones and even the Sony PSP.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/804722-shock-threat-to-shut-skype/
Share on other sites
Grand Master

+Ryster Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted
This is great news! eBay really deserve whatever they get for constantly raising their fees. It's not like they're short of money. :crazy:

It's not like they're a business out to make money or anything like that. /sarcasm

The only way to tell a company that their prices are too high is to stop buying their products. As long as you continue to pay those high fees, they'll continue charging them.

Grand Master

Comic Book Guy

Posted
Posted
Crickey! Skype shutdown would be a major problem for me and my contacts...

See the post above yours, there are two alternatives, Gizmo5 is more Skype-like, but VoxOx is the new app on the block and gets my vote.

Mentor

Inklin

Posted
Posted

They can't just shut down skype, there would be massive outcry on all corners of the globe and I suppose there will be a lot of unhappy companies... I was thinking of changing my phone to 3 UK for the free skype abilities but this has put me off until I know skype is safe!

Grand Master

Chicane-UK Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
See the post above yours, there are two alternatives, Gizmo5 is more Skype-like, but VoxOx is the new app on the block and gets my vote.

New offerings are all well and good but there are a LOT of services now dependent on Skype. There are are countless devices made and sold specifically to work with Skype - even the mobile network "3" here in the UK market a phone which is exclusively a Skype mobile phone.

Add into that the companies who depend on Skype for business, and have Skype-in numbers, etc - it does add up to make a headache that a lot of companies who sell products based on Skype and companies / people who use Skype could really do without! :(

It's an unacceptable situation frankly.

Enthusiast

Futurix

Posted
Posted
See the post above yours, there are two alternatives, Gizmo5 is more Skype-like, but VoxOx is the new app on the block and gets my vote.

It will take a lot of time for all my contacts (including my non-techy parents) to switch to something else...

And VoxOx is too US-oriented. Not sure about Gizmo5, cannot find anything about UK in numbers on their website.

Grand Master

Comic Book Guy

Posted
Posted
It will take a lot of time for all my contacts (including my non-techy parents) to switch to something else...

And VoxOx is too US-oriented. Not sure about Gizmo5, cannot find anything about UK in numbers on their website.

VoxOx is not US oriented, I am in Canada, signed up no problem, why because it does international.

Grand Master

BajiRav

Posted
Posted
Well quite, if Skype wasn't closed source, you don't get issues regarding licensing happening. Hopefully if eBay decide to re-release Skype without the licensed part, they decide to open-source Skype to protect it in the future.

Open source doesn't magically avoid licensing issues.

Grand Master

Vykranth

Posted
Posted

The whole story is probably the tip of the iceberg shadowing some backstage negociations for a renewal of license between Skype and Joltid. EBay is trying to make Joltid the bad guys which cling to their patents and licenses.

A beautiful example of modern greed and gullibility.

Grand Master

+M2Ys4U Subscriber¹

Posted
  • Subscriber¹
Posted
New offerings are all well and good but there are a LOT of services now dependent on Skype. There are are countless devices made and sold specifically to work with Skype - even the mobile network "3" here in the UK market a phone which is exclusively a Skype mobile phone.

Add into that the companies who depend on Skype for business, and have Skype-in numbers, etc - it does add up to make a headache that a lot of companies who sell products based on Skype and companies / people who use Skype could really do without! :(

It's an unacceptable situation frankly.

Quite frankly, it's their own fault for depending on a service not under their control. I think a similar thing could happen with Twitter, were it ever to shut down suddenly.

I put the blame for the entire problem, however, squarely on eBay on this one.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Linux 7.1 arrives with an NTFS overhaul and major hardware performance boosts

      By [deXter] · Posted

      I think you meant the "ntfs3" driver, but yes there have been a lot of fixes for it in this release and previous releases, not 100% sure if the issue you mentioned is fixed though. In any case, the new "ntfs" driver in 7.1 doesn't have that issue (at least, no reports of such have come thru), but your kernel needs to explicitly enable support for the new driver first (like how CachyOS kernel has it), and you need to edit your mount points in /etc/fstab to use "ntfs" instead of the other drivers.
    • Epic Games says Unreal Engine 6 will help developers "build content faster" using AI models

      By LoneWolfSL · Posted

      Epic Games says Unreal Engine 6 will help developers "build content faster" using AI models by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Epic Games is rolling out the latest major update to Unreal Engine 5 today, and at the same time, the company also dropped some information on the next-generation version of the product, Unreal Engine 6. This was already revealed a few weeks ago alongside the new Rocket League upgrade reveal. The company says it is combining the features of Unreal Engine and Unreal Editor for Fortnite to create this new version of its popular media creation tool. On top of creating entire games, the new engine will also focus on letting developers operate large-scale live service titles more easily, whether by shipping content into their own ecosystems or into Fortnite. The use of large language models is also mentioned here, with Epic saying it will be a core part of the engine. "We see LLMs, generative AI models, and tools like Claude and Codex playing a central role in helping you build content faster while maintaining the creative control you need," adds the company. Here is the rundown of what's new about version 6 of Unreal Engine: With all these changes to the programming model, portability upgrades, and generative AI integration, Epic says the new version of the engine will "change a lot about how games are made." The company aims to ship Unreal Engine 6 into early access in late 2027, with a full release planned for 12-18 months later. Epic Games also dropped a lengthy blog post about the new Unreal Engine 5.8 update for game developers over here. The release is focused on delivering better performance, customization, and streamlined workflows for development teams. This will be the final major update for this version of the engine before Epic switches to focus fully on Unreal Engine 6's early access launch.
    • The 2TB Samsung 990 PRO NVMe SSD hits lowest price in over three months

      By notta · Posted

      Watch Louis Rossmann's recent experience on YouTube about trying to get a warranty replacement from Samsung. It's crazy.
    • Nearly half of American adults now use AI, but concerns are also growing

      By ad47uk · Posted

      That is the thing, how many of these people don't realise they are using AI? If they use Google Search they have no choice but to use AI. So yes, maybe half of American adults do use and I expect a lot of Uk adults do to, but I bet most of them don't realise it. Myself, i avoid the rubbish.
    • Nearly half of American adults now use AI, but concerns are also growing

      By excalpius · Posted

      They use FREE AI. They aren't paying for this meme-generating slopware...

  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      Vincian earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • First Post
      Jocimo earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      suprememobiles48 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Windows Guy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Prasann earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      500
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      163
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      88
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      68
    5. 5
      neufuse
      65
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!