According to numerous articles on teh web, including Techdirt, CNN and others, Skype's founders claim the license for the technology used to operate the service has expired.

eBay purchased Skype several years ago for gobs of cash. Typical of the internet behemoth, eBay would buy companies with no clear strategy on how to integrate or develop the product. Skype grew on its own virally.

ebay announced they would eventually spin off Skype earlier this year.

Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype that sold it to eBay, claim the sale did not include the underlying technology that runs the Instant Messaging engine and that the technology was licensed. They claim the license has expired, placing the future of Skype in question.

Older developed Instant Messenger systems, such as ICQ, have a possible opportunity now to capitalize on the market and regain market share.

Marc Lesnick
Conference Organizer
Social Media Conference