I wish I had a source for this; but, thought maybe somebody out there could shed some light on whether there might be something to this.
> Skype fans, we have something to tell you and you're not gonna to like it: >your Internet telephony service of choice may soon be defunct. > >Why would a platform with twice the number of Facebook users (480 million >and counting) go kaput, you ask? Well, because along the way a lot of lame >stuff >happened, and now eBay is being sued for breaching the licensing agreement >for the peer-to-peer technology at the heart of Skype, which was not >included >when the auction king bought it back in 2005. > >Skype: A History > >Niklas Zennstr?m and Janus Friis founded Skype >back in 2003, but things didn't >get interesting until >eBay > acquired it in 2005 for a whopping US$ 2.6 billion. Since then the platform >has introduced veideotelephony, a convenient PayPal payment option, suffered >a highly publicized system-wide crash and for exact reasons unknown, lost >Zennstr?m as its CEO in 2007 when he stepped down to become non-executive >chairman >of the board of directors. > >The plot got especially thicker in spring of this year when it became clear >that Zennstr?m and Friis had intentions of buying the platform back, and >buzz >over exactly why they had sold it in the first place began to resurface as a >point of confusion among users. > >The Battle > >Fast forward to present times and we're smack in the middle of an all-out >war between Skype and >Joltid, >the peer-to-peer company that owns the core of Skype and is lead by >Zennstr?m and Friis. > >Word 'round the way is Skype filed a claim against Joltid in the English >high court in March and, in response, Joltid filed a countersuit, claiming >Skype >had no right to use or modify certain code. As a result of the so-called >breached license agreement, Joltid said it would terminate the agreement >altogether, >leaving eBay without the guts of the platform. > >eBay admitted in an April filing with the SEC that "although Skype is >confident of its legal position, as with any litigation, there is the >possibility >of an adverse result if the matter is not resolved through negotiation. In >such event, Skype would be adversely affected and the continued operation of >Skype's business as currently conducted would likely not be possible." > >Life Without Skype > >It's unimaginable, that's for sure. >Other popular VoIP solutions > include Google Talk and iChat, but surprisingly neither of the mega brands >holds a candle to Skype in this particular niche. If the platform is lost to >a legal battle, a lot of people are going to be a lot of angry. > >eBay is scrambling to throw together their own peer-to-peer core technology >in the event that they lose the case, but the SEC announcement contained >alarming >warnings such as the new software development being fairly expensive, >possibly unsuccessful, and could result in loss of certain functionality or >customers. > >This certainly puts a damper on eBay's plans to release Skype as a separate, >publicly listed company next year. > >The high court is scheduled to hear arguments concerning the trial in June >2010, so if you're a Skype user you've got at least a few more months left >before >what could be the platform's D-Day. Keep watch with us >here > until then. Sincerely, The Constantly BAREFOOTED Ray "Old friend, what are you looking for? After those many years abroad you come With images you tended Under foreign skies Far away from your own land" George Seferis Phone or Fax:: +1 (985) 360-3614 Cell: +1 (985) 791-2938 e-mail: rforetjratcomcastdotnet Skype Name: barefootedray
