Network management Toolkit

Kazaa founders tout P2P VoIP

Ben Charny CNET News.com

Published: 12 Sep 2003 10:30 BST

Kazaa, Lindows' Michael Robertson -- who's next to get into VoIP? Napster creator Shawn Fanning? It seems as if the same people who shook up the music industry are now focusing on the traditional telephone industry. Why is that?
The time is right to take on Internet telephony. Broadband penetration is high enough, and people are ready for it; it's been an unfulfilled promise for years. P2P technology is really very well suited for Internet telephony, so it is a natural next phase.

Why did you give Skype in an instant messaging (IM) user interface and combine it with a text-based form of communication?
Skype is telephony software, but we feel that instant messaging is a good supplemental feature. If you're talking to someone, you can chat with someone else at the same time. When we designed Skype's user interface, we tried to combine the ease of use of cell phones. Everyone knows how to use them. With instant messaging, it also gives you the ability to see when your friends are online.

So you are also taking on some real heavyweights -- all the major IM makers?
Again, Skype is telephony software, and the instant messaging capabilities are just supportive. People are getting Skype because it's the best telephony software available. That being said, we do think that many people are tired of bloated IM clients from large companies such as Microsoft and would be eager to replace it with something simple that just works.

Jeff Pulver of FWD is trying to make it possible for all SIP-based, computer-to-computer VoIP services to be able to dial one another. Is Skype participating in this effort?
Skype is using a proprietary protocol simply because SIP, which is the protocol most other companies are using, could not do what we wanted it to do. We believe that if you want to make something happen, you should not use whatever standards the telecom industry has defined. You need to innovate something that truly solves real-world problems. Having said that, we're very much for interoperability and will be happy to work with Jeff to make FWD and SIP interoperate with Skype.

Do you worry about backlash from traditional phone and cable companies? Couldn't these companies, for instance, invoke the "no multiple connections" clauses in their customers' contracts to thwart your efforts?
When you buy a broadband connection, you expect to be able to use it the way you choose. If an Internet service provider were to start blocking Skype, this would undoubtedly lead to disastrous public relations, a mass exodus of users to more friendly providers and the very real possibility of anticompetitive lawsuits. Besides, Skype only threatens those ISPs that also provide telephony services. Lots of ISPs only provide Internet access, and they will welcome anything that drives up demand for their broadband services.