Mobile communication over Internet service Fring has announced that it is being forced to stop its four years of Skype interconnectivity following threat of legal action. The move from Skype came after Fring launched mobile video calling on iPhone 4.
Fring's service over the iPhone was blocked a few hours after last week's launch, due to the heavy traffic, and it has not been put back on the air.
Fring calls Skype's move an "anti-competitive ambush."
Fring CEO Avi Shechter said, “We are disappointed that Skype, which once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users."
Skype said in response that Fring's claims were incorrect. It said, "Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn’t designed to be used - and in a way which is in breach of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We’ve been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 14, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010