Microsoft Takes Over Skype’s Operations in China with 100 million Domestic Users

Posted by Joachim Bartels | Nov 11, 2013 | China, Microsoft, Uncategorized | 0 |

Microsoft announced that it would be taking hold of Skype’s operations in China, where it currently lays claim to 100 million registered users.

Microsoft owns Skype, however not in China. Microsoft purchased Skype in May 2011, however the deal excluded Skype’s operations in China. In China, Skype had been running as a joint venture with Tom Online, a Chinese internet services firm, since 2004. Users in China who entered www.skype.com into their browser would be re-directed to skype.tom.com, where they could then download the Chinese client. Skype in China functioned more-or-less the same as other versions of Skype, save for one key difference: as is common practice in China, Tom Online would use text-filtering software to monitor discussions of sensitive issues like Taiwan or Tiananmen, and had the ability to link these discussions to the personal information of the senders and recipients.

Source: sg.news.yahoo.com

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Joachim Bartels

Joachim C Bartels is a co-founder, director, head of information resources and Editor-in-Chief of BIIA. In his capacity as Editor-in-Chief he is responsible for the selection of relevant information content concerning industry insights, trends, technological developments, standards and policies impacting BIIA members in particular and the business information industry in general.

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