Skype Regulatory and Business Concerns

Skype has been down for quite some time on an algorithm problem in the last days. What are the business and regulatory concerns?

A traditional telephony network have a back-up system that works in case of major problems, such as peak season, break down or catastrophe. It can, for example, re-route the traffic to another region if the network is down and there is normally enough capacity to handle the traffic even in peak situations.

I can agree that the Skype P2P service shouldn't have a 99.99% reliability, it's free, but I believe that Skype-in and Sype-out have to provide a minimum quality of service otherwise it should be replaced by competitors.

I am personally against the current political trend that give the opportunity to 'innovators' to have a completely free regulatory regime to the damage of consumers and competitors. We should think also at consumer's interests and not only on innovation per-se. For example, it is technical possible and not so expensive for Skype to provide a CLI for its clients (as required by ITU), however, it does not want to do so claiming a too high burden for them.

Skype is also another monopolist. Just think at the level of lock-in situations with Skype. If you buy a Skype phone (e.g. SMC) you cannot run another client on it or have a multiple VOIP provider (for example, on top of Skype Google Talk).

Security is another big concern. On one side Skype does not provide lawful interception, but on the other side there are rumors that the US 'Homeland Security' is controlling the traffic and has an hand on Skype's Algorithm. Can you immagine the 'Homeland Security' not able to listen to Skype's or other VOIP calls? Food for thought...

Skype is Dead

Skype is dead in Europe.

There are already rumors in the industry that the Skype out and Skype in services will be discontinued in many European countries. Why? Simple. They are not able to comply with national and European laws on quality, security and surveillance.