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You may think Yes Minister is a comedy. I know it's a documentary - Peter Lilley
Licensing dispute could scupper Skype
EBAY'S INTERNET TELEPHONY outfit Skype could be forced to shut down its Voice over Internet (VoIP) operations if a licensing deal with peer-to-peer (P2P) technology company Joltid is not amicably resolved.
Skype has been using Joltid's software technology since its launch in 2003, but a dispute over licensing in March this year led to an attempt by Joltid to terminate the licensing agreement.
Joltid claimed that Skype had no rights to "possess, use or modify certain software source code and that, by doing so, and by disclosing such code in certain US patent cases pursuant to orders from US courts, Skype has breached the license agreement."
Now this might seem like a straightforward spat between two legal departments each trying to carve out a bigger slice of the Internet telephony pie for their own respective companies, until you dig a little deeper into the detail.
It turns out that when Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom sold the outfit to Ebay for $2.6 billion, he cleverly decided not to include the essential piece of P2P technology on which the system was built in the asking price, and went off to form Joltid. Which is a bit like selling KFC for billions, but not including the recipe for the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.
Although the men in grey suits at Skype are being chipper about the whole situation – saying that they are "confident of their legal position" and are developing new software which will let them dispense with Joltid altogether, a recent SEC filing by Ebay states that the software development may not be successful, may result in loss of functionality or customers even if successful, and will be expensive in any event. All of which is partly why Skype has been devalued to $1.7 billion, apparently.
If Skype does lose the right to use Joltid's software as the result of the litigation, and if alternative software isn't developed in time, Skype would be "severely and adversely affected and the continued operation of Skype's business as currently conducted would likely not be possible".
Skype recently asked the High Court for an interim ruling that it is not in breach of the license agreement and that Joltid's notice of breach and notice of termination are invalid.
A trial in this high-stakes legal dustup is currently scheduled for June 2010. µ
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I claim ownership over any form of:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
printf("Hello world");
return 0;
}
Any infringement of my ownership will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.
Including syntactically correct versions.
Skype potentially shutting down? Good riddance. 'Twas about time SIP standard-based services took over. Google Voice, anyone?
I hope Skype go down! Not because of this stupid legal case but for trying to own part of the internet.
I've got an IP and I'm not afraid to use it!
What are you talking about?
SEC filings are always predicting the negative outcome of legal dispute, its a way for higher management to cover their personal behinds from shareholders' lawsuits; even if they are 100% sure they will win they state there is a risk of losing it, so that doesn't really mean anything. People should stop reading into SEC filings more than to gain past statistical figures.
I hope that whichever lawyers checked this deal through and then okayed buying the Skype family silver, but neglected to realise the knives and forks might be useful, are publicly named, shamed and struck off.
We could do with some lawyer culling.
This is not just the grey suits rattling their sabers. eBay has conceded the Skype acquisition hasn’t worked as originally conceived. Synergies with eBay’s business did not materialize and performance benchmarks on original deal price were not met.
If eBay indeed wants to take Skype public, why the seemingly negative talk on its unwanted stepchild? It is strange they do not show more confidence in ability to dispense with the Joltid technology and develop their own before an IPO or going to court in 2010. eBay just wants Skype out of the house and they are haggling with the founders on what it will take to make all parties go away happy.
Meanwhile the potential scupper to Skype's service is an opportunity for new alternative VOIP services that are innovating where eBay hasn't. I have recently found one called Zenring, which extends beyond Skype to allow free global calling from your mobile and frees you from your headset, PC and location. Zenring provides free international calls for Mobile-to-Mobile, Mobile-to-PC, PC-to-Mobile, and PC-to-PC without the need to buy credits like Skype and others.
So fear not a cut off Skype users, Zenring is available now to all users to join globally. Its free to join and free to use. Please take a look at http://www.zenring.com
The Skype EULA is a bit shocking anyway...
From what was (once believed to be) point to point encryption became:
www.skype.com/legal/eula/
"
...
3.2.4 Licence: You hereby grant to Skype a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable licence to Use the Content in any media in connection with the Skype Software, the Products and the Skype Website.
...
Content: means any and all content consisting of text, sounds, pictures, photos, video and/or any type of information or communications.
...
"
They might soon have a TV channel: 'funniest Skype calls of the day'
The EULA seems to cover that already...