Around the Net
Skype On The Cost Of Doing Business In China
- Financial Times, Thursday, April 20, 2006 10:22 AM
In other China censorship news, Skype, eBay's Web-based telephony company, tells the Financial Times that Tom Online, its partner in China, has filtered its text messages to be in compliance with government censorship policies. The company admitted that compliance with the laws is the only way to do business in the country. Tom Online uses a text filter, which Skype says is what everyone doing business in China uses to comply with local law. In an interview with FT, Skype CEO Niklas Zennström said complying with Chinese law is no different than obeying rules governing business in western countries. He added: "I may like or not like the laws and regulations to operate businesses in the U.K. or Germany or the U.S., but if I do business there I choose to comply with those laws and regulations. I can try to lobby to change them, but I need to comply with them. China in that way is not different." China is one of Skype's three biggest markets in terms of active users, along with the U.S. and Germany. Referring, perhaps, to the controversy surrounding Yahoo's "overcompliance" with Chinese censorship laws, as activist groups have implied in their condemnation of the firm, Zennström said Skype in no way jeopardizes its users' privacy or security.
