VoIP phenomenon Skype is the subject of much-rumored sales talk — the latest scuttlebutt has Murdoch paying $3 bil. for the privately held company based in Luxembourg. But most seasoned observers scoff at the notion that Skype, which offers VoIP service at little or no charge, could be worth that much.
For one thing, no one knows for sure how much revenue Skype is generating given its low-cost calling business model, and for another, no one knows just how many customers Skype has. And Skype isn’t about to spill the beans.
But, Skype’s official blog, ShareSkype, has an item today proclaiming that the company has passed 150 mil. downloads and 50 mil. registered names. Registered names is not synonmous with users, so it’s likely that the true number of Skype users falls somewhere below 50 mil. Techdirt puts the range at 1.5 mil. (the number of paying Skype customers) to 50 mil.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 10:36 PM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBackI love the often-amusing serendipitous appearance of Google Adsense ads. A post today by Peter Rojas in Endgadget blisters Sprint Nextel’s plan to charge $2.00 per music download 
for its mobile phone users. Rojas doesn’t mince words about what he thinks of the high price:
The good news: Sprint Nextel will be launching a wireless music download service between now and the end of the year. The bad news: They’re going to completely screw it up. Unfortunately for Sprint Nextel customers (and ultimately, Sprint Nextel shareholders), it sounds like execs at the company are living in a fantasy world.
In general, he pretty much lambasts the company and its management. But what appears at the end of Rojas’ rant? A series of Google Adsense ads for Sprint’s mobile voice service. (Check out the thumbnail picture.) Talk about mixed messages.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 4:14 PM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Courtesy of Dan Gillmor, the city of San Francisco issued guidelines on Tuesday for its project to “ensure universal, affordable wireless broadband access for all San Franciscans.”
Plans call for cheap or even free Wi-Fi service in the 49-mile square city. Dell and other computer makers have offered to donate thousands of computers to the city’s low-income residents. One interesting feature of San Francisco’s request for information on the project: the network must support fixed, nomadic and portable high-speed Internet access with portable referring to broadband connectivity by an “in-motion” subscriber.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 4:01 PM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Courtesy of Techdirt, a New York woman aims to make legal history by fighting the RIAA in its suit against her for illegally distributing copyrighted works. Ever since the RIAA began suing users of P2P networks, all of the cases have been settled out of court, with the alleged infringer usually paying the requested fine of $4,000 to $5,000 rather than racking up legal bills to fight the suits.
But, the woman in question, Patricia Santangelo of White Plains, NY, claims that she did not upload or download music via Kazaa, as the RIAA alleges, but that instead one of her children’s friends did. The RIAA typically sues the person whose name is on the Internet account used for the alleged infringing, and Santangelo’s name was on the account. The RIAA has been willing to settle for a payment of $7,500 from the single mother, but Santangelo is unwilling to pony up the money because, she says, she didn’t do anything.
Because none of the RIAA’s suits have gone to trial, no one has tested the music industry’s targeting of the account holder, instead of the person who may have actually engaged in the illegal activity.
“It’s really surprising” no one has attacked the record companies’ basis for the lawsuits, he said [Morlan Ty Rogers, Santangelo’s attorney], “because the record companies’ claims are actually very weak.”Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 10:02 AM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A little-noticed capability in the beta 7.2 version of Tivo’s software allows customers to transfer videos downloaded from the Internet to the Tivo connected to the TV set. Users need to download the videos into a special folder on their PC, and can call these up on the Tivo device using the “Now Playing” button at the bottom of the screen.
A very intriguing development given how much work all the media industries have devoted to bridging the divide between the PC and the TV. (Courtesy of PVR Blog).
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:46 AM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe town of Hermosa Beach, California has joined the growing ranks of municipalities that offer Wi-Fi services. The city council unanimously approved on Tuesday a non-exclusive, renewable five-year franchise with the owner of Treyspan Inc. that calls for the delivery of subscription Wi-Fi services citywide.
The franchise requires Treyspan to pay 5% of its gross revenues in franchise fees (a new development to me — does anyone else know of Wi-Fi operators paying cities franchise fees?) plus $60 per year, per attachment for attaching their facilities to city-owned poles or buildings. The price of the service ranges from $20 to $60 per month, depending on the package.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 8:54 AM | Print | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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