[Asterisk-Users] Skype purchased by Ebay 2.6 Billion

Mon Sep 12 13:14:52 MST 2005

I hope we see very strict privacy protection and information sharing 
laws passed. That's the thing that scares me most about companies buying 
other companies for the user base. I have seen many online privacy 
policies stating that information is exchanged between companies owned 
by the same mega-corp. I would love to see a law that requires a real 
signature on hardcopy in order to do that much info sharing.

I can't knock paypal. I use them when I don't want to give cc or bank 
numbers directly to a new vendor. I also have one of their free debit 
cards and I love it. They decline transactions if the funds are not 
there. My bank will pay the transaction and then charge me $22 for 
overdrafting the account. Thanks to paypal the card numbers I use for 
things like travel, gas and groceries don't wind up in a bunch of 
internet vendor databases. My risks are limited to the amount I transfer 
from my bank account to paypal(no charge for that).

Anyway, paypal is not a monopoly. In most cases they are cheaper than 
bank wire transfer or moneygram. Within the US I pay a lot less than 
3.5% taking credit cards directly, even less for echecks. Just about 
anybody in the US can get the same deal I get. The thing to remember is 
that ther is about $30/month in fees to pay if you don't actually have 
any transactions. So anybody who only collects about $10k or less a year 
with a paypal business account is not getting such a bad deal at all. 
Anybody over that volume can get a real merchant account. The last one I 
got was for a new corp that I formed. Everything was done with phone, 
email and fax. I started the process on a Wednesday morning. I had the 
visa/mc merchant number the next day and by Friday had my authorize.net 
virtual terminal, amex and discover all set up.

Kanuri, Seshu (Company IT) wrote:

>That theory sounds great on paper, but consider some of the factors
>below.
>1) On the web there are no loyalties. Today it is Skype but tomorrow
>certainly belongs to GoogleTalk, if they can put Encryption. How
>difficult is that to do? Whose quality is better? Skype or Googletalk? I
>read that already 10% of the Skype users have migrated to Googletalk and
>the numbers are soaring. Googletalk is still in Beta.
>
>2)Paying users of payPal are hardly 5% of the 75 Million that they are
>boasting of. And the numbers are coming down as PayPal has come to be
>known as a 'PreyPal' of late. Many have stopped using this when the
>charges have started ripping them off at 6% of the transfer amount for
>International payments (even between canada and USA) and about 3.5%
>within USA.  
>
>3)What is the percentage of paying users of Skype? 1%  - 2%, may be.
>These customers may already be Ebay's customers.
>
>Ebay seems to be going like Time Warner buying AOL because it's user
>base. There are several similarities in this deal.
>
>Skype is cool, it has good stuff in it. How much effort does it take for
>Google to add these features and make the googlers start using Google
>Talk - a month or may be two.
>
>My 0.02 cents
>
>Seshu Kanuri
>
>
> 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
>[mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Colin
>Anderson
>Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 2:06 PM
>To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
>Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Skype purchased by Ebay 2.6 Billion
>
>While ostensibly people see this purchase as Ebay being a "me-too" VoIP
>player with GoogleTalk and Microsoft buying, what's it called, Teleo? ,
>I think there's a deeper plan. Let's look at the numbers:
>
>-Huge installed base, like 30 to 70 million users (those are the numbers
>I hear kicked around) -Secure, encrypted P2P client that works great
>through firewalls -Name brand recognition. Even my mother in law has
>heard of Skype and she is a techno-illiterate.
>-Installed base loyalty. People who use Skype, love it. 
>-Oh yeah, it does voice, too. (sarcasm on purpose: voice is only
>partially the point)
>
>So what Ebay could do with this is use the Skype client as an Ebay
>portal that they control. Why, do you ask, would they want to do this?
>Several
>reasons:
>
>-Break away from browsers with security flaws and inherent
>social-engineering tactics like phishing. Nobody controls the WWW. Ebay
>now controls the Skype network, controls the encryption, everything.
>Less fraud for Ebay to deal with, assuming they repackage the client
>into "Ebay 2.0 - download now for free!"
>
>-Paypal integration - back to voice, wouldn't it be nice to pay for your
>phone bill (a Skype account -> regular PSTN) through PayPal? 
>
>-Repositioning of Ebay as an online solution provider once the "Ebay
>Way" is fleshed out, much as Google has moved beyond search into "holy
>crap" stuff like video on demand, mapping, etc. In the end, isn't it a
>good business plan to become an indispensable, comprehensive middleman
>instead of a one trick pony? Voice is just one aspect of it. 
>
>-30-70 million users ain't bad. They may be Ebayers - they may not.
>However, this gives Ebay a huge "installed base" that they can play with
>before they bring new products and services to the general market.
>Skype users are crazy about Skype, and they will download any client
>that Ebay shoves down their throat, as long as it's free. Later, once
>the service is worked out and debugged, *then* they will do
>micropayments for the service (via PayPal, of course) 
>
>still, 2.6 bil is a crazy price and I agree that they paid too much. I
>would have loved to be a fly on the wall and see the other offers and
>who was in the running. The Skype guys have made no secret that the
>whole reason that they created Skype in the first place was to make
>money and to be bought out. I'm sure there is champagne and hookers
>galore at the Skype offices today. 
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dean Collins [mailto:Dean at collins.net.pr]
>Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 11:27 AM
>To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
>Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Skype purchased by Ebay 2.6 Billion
>
>
>This is the most insane decision taken by eBay ever.
>
>If I was an investor I would be devastated.
>
>There is nothing wrong with a company starting up a voice over ip
>service but this isn't what eBay should be doing.
>
>Companies need to understand they are stewards for their investors money
>not the ultimate owners and that if they cant deliver ROI on this money
>then it is their duty to return the money via dividends or share buy
>backs.
>
>eBay is insane and this is the beginning of the end for them.
>
>
>Cheers,
>Dean
>
>
>
>
>  
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users- 
>>bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Cory Andrews
>>Sent: Monday, 12 September 2005 1:08 PM
>>To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
>>Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Skype purchased by Ebay 2.6 Billion
>>
>>Good news for service providers in my opinion, Ebay will likely start 
>>alienating Skype users like they did with Paypal users.
>>"SkypeSucks.com" domain already taken, shucks....
>>
>>http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3837895
>>
>>--
>>Cory J Andrews
>>Partner / Purchasing
>>+++++++++++++++
>>VOIPSupply.com - Everything you need for VOIP
>>454 Sonwil Drive
>>Buffalo, NY 14225
>>+++++++++++++++
>>tf voice - 800-398-VOIP X22
>>l voice - 716.630.1555 X22
>>f - 716.630.1548
>>e - Cory at VOIPSupply.com
>>AIM - b2Cory
>>    
>>
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