Hi! I believe they will sattle this down. This is just a common case of corporate muscling around. In the end, eBay will sign some long term contract with Joltid or just buy it off for a billion or two. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lino and Louie" <[email protected]> To: "skype english list" <skypeenglish at emissives.com> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 3:24 PM Subject: [Skypeenglish] Shock threat to shut Skype
> Someone on my Twitter point me to this article. I hope this doesn't > happen > to Skype next year. > Shock threat to shut Skype > > Niklas Zennstrom and, inset, Janus Friis. > > Asher Moses > July 31, 2009 - 1:38PM > 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. > > > Source: smh.com.au > > Lino Morales and Louie Lab > Remember, friends don't let friends go to hell. > Email and Windows Live Messenger: > lino.morales at lljfm.net > Skype lino_and_louie > Twitter: > www.twitter.com/lino_and_louie > For Blind Christian Men, visit: > http://morales-family.lljfm.net/mailman/listinfo/blindmen4christ_morales-family > to subscribe to Blind Men For Christ. > And check out our site at: > www.lljfm.net > where you'll find our blog and other links. > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Thanks for posting to the skype english list. To access scripts for the > latest version of skype go to > http://www.dlee.org/skype > To access tutorials and other goodies go to > http://www.marrie.org/skype/skype.html > thanks and have a wonderful day. > > > _______________________________________________ > Skypeenglish mailing list > Skypeenglish at emissives.com > http://emissives.com/mailman/listinfo/skypeenglish_emissives.com
