How RBOC Can Clamp Down On Skype
In Om’s latest post on Skype’s acquisition rumors (more here), he left quite a bomb at the end. . .
So what does that really tell me? Two things. First, Skype is open to the right offer. Secondly, the asking price of $3 billion is tad too over optimistic. There must also be realization that in not so distant future, the wireless and wireline operators are going to clamp down on Skype, and create quality of service issues for the service. More on that later.
well here is how they can do it. . . (not technically but rationally)
Taking a note from the WiFi world, the legality of sharing bandwidth has yet to be determined. Most ISPs except Earthlink and Speakeasy have terms in their customer contracts that expressly prohibits sharing bandwidth with a third party (targeting WiFi Access Points). Lots of ISP’s have already sued companies for “sharing” bandwidth via an open AP or shared WEP/WPA password.
Now, if I remember how Skype works, Skype members are essentially nodes in the Skype peer-2-peer network. As a result, every node acts as a router, directing traffic/packets from another node until it reaches its ultimate destination. Once someone joins the network by downloading the application, they are essentially letting other people’s “voice traffic” hop through their ISP connection on the way to the final IP address. Technically, this could be considered bandwidth sharing.
There are plenty of RBOC’s with huge traction in their ISP/DSL service. If they want to, they can shut down the Skype applet by claiming the users are violating their customer agreement. Not everyone needs to do shut Skype down to effect Skype’s QoS, if just 10% of ISP’s do this, quality of the Skype network will deteriate exponentially.
I’m not sure its the best business practice to piss off your customers (the music industry learned this), but you never know if the RBOC’s will get desperate enough.
