Skype may soon join Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube on China's Internet blacklist. Today, The People's Daily, a Communist Party-run newspaper, declared that all Internet phone services other than those provided by the two state-run telcos, China Telecom and China Unicom, were illegal.
According to the article, the decision from The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is expected to make Skype, China's UUCall, "and other similar services" unavailable.
The ministry is even soliciting the public's help, setting up a hotline to collect reports and distributing PSA circulars.
"Currently, our ministry is working with relevant departments to focus on the crackdown on illegal VoIP [voice over internet protocol calls] and we are now appealing to the public for clues for illegal VoIP cases," it said in a circular.
A spokeswoman for Skype advised, "Users in China currently can access Skype via TOM Online, our majority JV partner. TOM Online offers local versions of Skype for Windows, MAC as well as mobile platforms such as Symbian and Windows Mobile. More details can be found at skype.tom.com."
While censorship undoubtedly played a role in the ministry's decision- several dissidents have been known to use Skype to communicate to those outside China- experts say there is a clear protectionist motive as well. After all, China has one of the fastest-growing Internet user populations in the world.
Wang Yuquan, a chief consultant at Frost and Sullivan in Beijing, told AP that the announcement is a subtle warning to Skype not to grow too large.
"If the ministry hadn't made this announcement, I think Skype would have offered its services in a very large scale. Now, with the announcement, it can't," he said told AP.
In 2007 Skype forged a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Internet giant Tom Group, a company that has so far satisfied most of Beijing's censorship demands. In March, Tom Group severed ties with Google. Skype China was also criticized last year for helping the Communist Party monitor calls for terms like "Fanlun Gong" and "Tibet."
However, Professor Kan Kaili at Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications told the Telegraph that "it is very unlikely that they will manage to shut Skype down."
"Skype is the market leader, but there is also MSN and Gmail Talk. The children of Chinese government officials, who are studying abroad, use these services to call home, so I do not think anyone is going to cut the lines," Kaili said. "Even if they take a strict approach, such as getting local operators to block the broadband services of people who use Skype, people will still find a way around it."
For now at least, Skype is still available in China.
Earlier today, Skype added video calling for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Stay tuned to PCMag for a full hands on with the new service.
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