Skype accused (again) of illegal practices
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If it’s not China that refuses Skype, it’s its neighbor, South Korea, that gives Skype a hard time. Through its Korean partner, Auction, the softphone company is accused of illegally register new users without government’s approval.
Both companies are working together since February 2006. So far, no date has been given for the verdict, but if they are found guilty of laws violation, they might face a around €126,600 fine ― not that much, but quite heavy for the charge ― and 3 years of jail.
“We understand the Korean laws do not mandate registration for VoIP services between personal computers, the only feature that is provided by us now. As a result, our business raises no legal issues at all at the moment,” said an Auction spokesman to the Korean Times.
He added that in any case, Skype-Auction will have to get the government’s blank-seeing, as the partnered companies plan to introduce a new PC-to-phone service in the future next months.
This case could slow Skype growth in the South-East Pacific region. But for a while, only, as the voice client enjoys a very high popularity in there. For example, China is just the biggest market for Skype, with over 13 million registered users. The USA, the second biggest zone, only shows 6 million Skypers.
See also: Skype censors messages to China
May 8, 2006 | By Nuno
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