New York (ECN) - T-Mobile Deutschland representatives announced this week that Apple iPhone users in Germany would no longer be allowed to use the VoIP Skype service. The reason that representative of Deutche Telekom gave for blocking Skype was the possibility of potential network problems due to high traffic. Deutsche Telekom Company representatives said that the application would be permanently blocked both physically and contractually until further notice.
Skype is a software application that allows users to make telephone calls over the internet and through Apple's iPhones and iPodTouch. Calls made to others with this application are free, while calls made to landlines or mobile phones not using Skype accrue a service charge. Skype is headquartered in Luxembourg, with offices in London, Tallinn, Tartu, Stockholm, Prague, and San Jose.
However, the rationale for the blockade of Skype may have legal basis, as the T-Mobile Deutschland's spokesperson Alexander von Schmettow pointed out in his response. Contracts signed by iPhone users explicitly prohibit modification of the phone's applications. Adding VoIP Skype violates that contract, and he stated that people who violate their contracts could expect them to be them cancelled.
This blockage of Skype may allude to a larger and broader issue that companies like Skype, Google, and others have recently been waging - the battle to keep the internet free. Perceived attacks on the freedom and open access of the internet are not new, and many countries have blocked particular content or sites for a multitude of reasons. However, Skype cites limiting access as an increasing problem and points to the lack of regulation pertaining to these limits as the source of the problem. Particularly, Skype insinuates that lack of regulation makes the blocking of particular applications clearly unfair.
Companies like Skype that promote free and open access to the internet have additional fears of new legislation that is slated to be voted on later this month within the European Union to fill this regulatory void. The new legislation may legitimize restrictions such as the ban on Skype by company Deutsche Telekom and could actually make the problem worse by allowing internet service providers to selectively allow and decline applications without providing any rationale or allowing users to voice opposition.
