eBay Rethinks Skype Purchase

The Internet auction giant eBay has acknowledged that it paid too much for the Internet phone service Skype, which it acquired in 2005 for $2.6 billion.

Now Skype is to take a charge of $1.43 billion, as projected earnings have not matched up to reality. Though the popular calling service is expanding its membership, it is not doing nearly as good a job of actually making money.

Niklas Zennstrom, the co-founder and chief executive of Skype, has now resigned, though he will remain as a non-executive chairman of the board. He told InternetNews.com: "My plan was to leave the company when I thought it was ready for the change and when the earn-out had been paid.

"The company now has a solid plan and I'm pleased with the earn-out settlement." Mr Zennstrom and the co-founder of Skype, Janus Friis, are also the duo behind the new internet TV service Joost.

Personal information on eBay users posted

Personal information about eBay users has been posted on an internet forum, it has been reported. The technology site AuctionBytes.com as the first to notice the incident.

Included in the information is what appears to be users' credit card numbers and contact information. The data, which involves 1,200 eBay users, was actually posted on eBay's Trust & Safety discussion forum, a forum where security is the main focus.

Nichola Sharpe, a spokeswoman for the auction site, said: "This information could have been obtained as part of an account takeover. Since this time, our Trust and Safety team has been proactively addressing this situation." "We are in the process of proactively contacting members by phone." She added that the "credit card numbers" posted by the users' names do not match the card numbers eBay has on file.

Founded in 1995, eBay is based in San Jose and owns both Skype and PayPal.

Skype Blackout Fixed, Caused by Massive PC Restart

Skype Blackout Fixed, Caused by Massive PC Restart
By Clint Boulton
August 20, 2007

Microsoft Windows patches and millions of PC restarts cracked Skype

The blackout that left millions of Skype users without the ability to make Internet phone calls from their PCs for two days was, ironically, triggered by the service's users. Skype offers a P2P (peer-to-peer) VOIP (voice over IP) software service, which allows users to make phone calls, instant messages and videos over their computers with a broadband Internet connection. The service is free for users of the Skype network and is extremely popular, boasting more than 220 million users.

Click here for the entire story.

Skype Hit By Bug

The popular Internet calling service Skype has been hit by a bug that has caused it to go offline in certain regions, it has been reported.

Many users in Europe and the Americas were unable to log on to the service on Thursday because of what Skype called a "software problem". Users in Germany, Finland, the US, Brazil and Colombia all reported problems with the service. Many could not log in for up to 14 hours. The company stated: "Our engineering team has determined that it's a software issue. "We expect this to be resolved within 12 to 24 hours."

Skype was founded by entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis in 2003 and was sold to the internet auction giant eBay in 2005. Services offered by Skype include voice and video conferencing, transferring files and instant messaging. Zennstrom and Friis are also the team behind the new internet TV site, Joost and the file-sharer Kazaa. Click here for information on other digital products and services.

Skype Teams With Nokia To Provide Broadband Calling Experience

Skype Teams With Nokia To Provide Broadband Calling Experience

Popular Internet calling service Skype has joined with Nokia to develop a new mobile calling function. Announced at the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, the collaboration basically consists of making Skype mobile on the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. As long as there is a wireless Internet connection available, customers can use Skype wherever they so choose, under the new service.

Ari Virtanen, vice president, convergence products at Nokia, said: "Skype is the recognized leader of internet communications with over 136 million registered users worldwide. "Nokia's new N800 Internet Tablet is designed for mobile Internet. Together, we can develop communications devices beyond expectations." The Nokia N800 is to become available sometime in the first half of 2007.

Meanwhile, special software has been developed as an add-on for Skype, which can tell whether a person is lying. The software analyzes the voice stream of the person and shows their stress levels to the user. Skype is currently the most widely used Internet communication service and is available in 28 languages. Users of Skype can avail themselves of free voice, video and instant messaging over the Internet.

"Digital voice is one of the fastest growing broadband services," states Mark Weibel, EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, the industries leading comparative shopping website. For more information on VoIP and digital voice visit www.broadbandnational.com