Licence row puts Skype under shutdown threat

From http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Licence-row-puts-Skype-under-shutdown-threat/3809123089/0/

Skype, the eBay company, is reportedly on the verge of shutdown due to an ongoing legal battle with its founders.

Recently eBay had said it did not own the underlying technology that powers the service, prompting fears of a shutdown. Though Skype is trying to develop new peer-to-peer technology to replace the code it currently uses, how far would it be successful is still doubtful.

"Skype's business as currently conducted would likely not be possible," eBay said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing also said the new software development would be expensive, possibly unsuccessful, and "may result in loss of functionality or customers, even if successful".

If they fail in that attempt, millions of Internet users who use Skype could be forced to find other ways to make phone calls. 
HTT: Like VoipBuster maybe - see this HTT article: A cheaper service than SkypeOut (PC-to-Phone) - another one of HTT's comparison calculators shows what savings are possible

See here for the full article:  http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Licence-row-puts-Skype-under-shutdown-threat/3809123089/0/

 

PS: first article published with offline blog editor:  http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

Technorati Tags: Skype

Cool free apps: Pricelessware List 2008

Check out this list of freeware programs aptly named "Pricelessware". When I first opened it, I scanned for the power apps that I use and noted that most of them were listed... so, I figure, if the ones that I already use are listed, then those other ones that I've never heard of might also be good ones to get to know.

So, I guess I'll be busy trying out some of these in this mine of information.

Enjoy!

Yebo Millionaires: enter for free and you could win R1,000,000

Did you know that you if you are a Vodacom subscriber, then you get 2 free SMSs per week to enter the Yebo Millionaires competition?
Vodacom customers can send their nine lucky letters of the alphabet to 32082. Letters can be repeated.
A customer who has a 9 letter match will win R1 million, those that have an 8 letter match will win R200 000, for a 7 letter match customers will receive a R29 recharge voucher and for a 6 letter match customers will receive a R12 recharge voucher.

Once customers have SMS'ed in their nine letters, they will receive an SMS with an easy multiple choice question that must be answered correctly in order to qualify to play the game. Once the question has been correctly answered, Vodacom customers are now in the game and won't have to answer it again. The entrant will receive an SMS confirming that the entry has been accepted and entered into the draw and will include a reference number for the entry.

All Vodacom customers receive two free SMS's per week to enter the Yebo Millionaires game show. These SMS's will be loaded every Tuesday morning. Prepaid and Top Up customers will receive an additional free SMS for every recharge performed during the week that will be loaded at the time of recharge. Free game show SMS's can only be used to play Yebo Millionaires and SMS's not used during the week will unfortunately not be carried over to the next week. Customers can enter as many times as they like. Once the free game show SMS's have been used, a premium rate of R1.00 (VAT included) per SMS will be charged.

(Prepaid customers must have recharged at least once in that week in order to play the game)

Entries close at 12:00 every Tuesday, the day of the draw. A random selection mechanism will be used to choose the nine (9) winning letters and the weekly results will be audited by Vodacom's independent auditors. The winning letters will be revealed on a televised game show that takes place on SABC 1 on Tuesdays just before 18:30.

See here for more details: http://www.vodacom.co.za/yebo_millionaires/overview.jsp

So, all you Lotto players - try your hand at this method of winning some $s for free!

See here for the winning numbers every week:  http://www.vodacom.co.za/personal/main/rewards/winningletters