China will crack down on what it called illegal Internet telephone providers, according to a circular from the Chinese government seen today that could potentially affect Internet calling service Skype.
The statement, from the powerful Ministry of Information and Industry Technology, did not mention any carriers by name. It called for a crackdown “on illegal VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone services” and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them.
Skype, partly owned by web retailer eBay Inc, has been growing in popularity among Chinese individuals and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls. The circular, dated December 10, did not say what amounted to illegal services and did not name any VoIP providers it considered to be breaking the law.
Spokespeople for the ministry and the ministry’s office gathering information for the campaign did not answer telephone calls on Friday. Skype could not immediately be reached for comment.
The move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled Chinese phone carriers - China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile - which provide the bulk of China’s telephone services.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post yesterday quoted an unidentified ministry official as saying VoIP services could only be provided by the big three Chinese operators. Spokespeople for China Telecom and China Unicom did not answer phone calls on today. A spokeswoman for China Mobile, reached in Beijing, referred calls to the firm’s Hong Kong office. Attempts to reach the Hong Kong office were not successful.
VoIP calls allow users to make international calls for much less than commercial providers, or even for free if both parties are using VoIP. Many businesses that use VoIP services to cut down on their international telephone costs could lose access to the cheaper alternative.
Skype, which has about 124 million users worldwide, hopes to raise about $1 billion in an initial public offering expected next year.
(Source: Reuters)
on Jan 1st, 2011 at 07:00
This has been discussed with in the government going back to 2004. China Telecom the largest provider in the country has said in the past it’s revenues lost to skype account for around 33% (2008 figures). There has been a few attempts since 2005 to block skype, but all users nee to do is go through a proxy service and get around the firewall put in place.
When I lived in China I use to use skype all the time for local and national calls, The cost per-min was less than the mobile and landline services I had. China Unicom and China Telcom have introduced VOIP services, but they have not been very stable. Also to apply to use one of the services by one of these companies you need to give your ID number and all kind of personal information. The calls made on the services offered by China Unicom and China Telecom are also monitored. IN 2008 when the uprising in Tibet happened many users were cut off in mid call and have not been able to sign in since. SMS messages are also blocked and sent out with a 10min delay. Words like Tiananmen 1989, Tibet, democracy, freedom ect ect.
In 2007 the China Minister or Information and Industry Technology said at a meeting of the top government officials “Skype is dangerous for the stability of China”. The Ministry also submitted a report to the top leadership showing how a protest or government revolt could happen because of services like skype. The way the Central Government and the Public Security Bureau (PSB) keep and eye on people using these services is more or less the same as what the Stasi in the former GDR was doing. Last year in Shanghai a 22 year old university student was arrested and was sent to a re-training program after one of his classmates told the PSB he was using skype to communicate with a democracy group in Hong Kong.
on Jan 3rd, 2011 at 17:20
I think this also misses the point that recording/monitoring Skype voice traffic is not as easy as normal phone calls. So tracing who people are talking to and what about is not so easy for the Chinese government.
Knowing who people are calling is almost as important as knowing what they say. IP addresses are not as helpful.
In the USA international traffic is monitored for key words used. This is not so easy with VOIP and ever changing CODEX’s.
Also Skype offers chat and video. No need to say or type anything just hold up a picture message. All not so easy to monitor.
Tony