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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Nov 9th 2005 9:19pm





Skype Closer To Being Blocked In China

from the like-you-couldn't-see-this-one-coming dept

We've already established that decision makers at eBay don't read what we've been saying around here, but perhaps they should start. It wasn't at all hard to predict this one. Back in September we noted that a network traffic management company named Verso was pitching a special "Skype" filter (at which point we suggested eBay get their lawyers ready). A few weeks earlier, before eBay had bought Skype, but when the deal was close, we pointed out that some areas of China were already blocking Skype, potentially meaning that 1.3 billion people might not be available for Skype -- again, specifically suggesting that eBay might want to take this into account in the final purchase price. Of course, eBay went ahead and did the deal, and when questioned about it, one of the justifications was that Skype would help get some of the many Skype users in China interested in using eBay. Not if they can't use Skype, of course. So, surprise, surprise... Verso is on the verge of announcing a contract win to block Skype for a major Chinese telecom outfit. Not that the deal to buy Skype ever seemed to make much sense, but it's about to make even less sense.

2 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
    identicon
    agodel, Nov 10th, 2005 @ 12:20pm

    No Subject Given

    Go go gadget wallet! Seriously, this is what happens when people have too much money that they feel they must spend...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    china block, Nov 10th, 2007 @ 4:05am

    China block

    China blocking VOIP technology is to protect its local telecom industry. This also infringes on people's rights, especially non- China citizens who are in China. It's all about money and benefit. So why not the US not allow companies such as Baidu on the US stock exchange. Or place certain limitations. However, there is one annoying thing about the Ebay company which is Paypal.com. Paypal acts very communist when it comes to running their business. They do in fact block and freeze many overseas accounts for the reason of IP addresses. Especially for users in China and Hong Kong, they will often freeze accounts. In fact, Paypal was sued and lost millions due to freezing people's accounts in the USA in 2004. Now, because they are doing business internationally, Paypal is now abusing their rights in other countries because it is hard to sue internationally and the victims of Paypal's account limitations will have a more difficult time suing them.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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