China Bans Skype

[george]

VoIP decision means Skype now illegal

December 30, 2010

The Chinese regulator has declared Internet phone services other than those provided by China Telecom and China Unicom as illegal, which is expected to make services like Skype unavailable in the country.

The decision was criticized as a measure to protect the duopoly of state-owned telecom carriers, media reports said yesterday.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said all VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) phone services are illegal on the Chinese mainland, except those provided by telecommunications carriers China Telecom and China Uniom. The ministry gave no timetable on when the ruling takes effect.

VoIP is an Internet-based service that helps people save on phone calls. For example, a call to Japan or South Korea costs about 3.99 yuan (60 US cents) a minute, compared with 10 US cents a minute or even free for Skype users.

The decision is expected to make Skype, UUCall and other similar services unavailable in China.

"It's ridiculous," said Kan Kaili, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "VoIP is a popular technology worldwide."

Skype was not available to comment yesterday.

The ruling is designed to protect the state-owned carriers, a Xinhua report said.

Source: Shanghai Daily

[transam]

Oh dear, they now have taken over the major countries manufacturing industry to control stuff and now.............

[Jingthing]

I heard it was also illegal in Ethiopia. What other countries?

[Rumpole]

I heard it was also illegal in Ethiopia. What other countries?

Oman

[bangkokrick]

It was just a matter of time before they banned the VOIP services. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites have been banned for a number of years in China. They are deemed to be a threat to national security. <deleted>!

Cheers, Rick

[StreetCowboy]

I heard it was also illegal in Ethiopia. What other countries?

Oman

I believe UAE and Cambodia, from my experience and what has been told to me by first-hand acquaintances, and several dozen others, from 15 seconds research on the internet.

Tom Jones said 'its not unusual...'

SC

[cdnvic]

Too bad there's a ton of VoIP alternatives out there.

[Beetlejuice]

It appears China is becoming a closed country and increasingly the Government is enforcing it`s dictatorship on similar lines to Burma. Read today that China has also blocked porn sites and arrested many involved within the sex industry there. Not a bad thing but this is only part of the restrictions placed on the media by the Government.

Extreme censorship of the Internet and the media is a bad sign of things to come.

My crystal balls tell me there maybe trouble ahead, perhaps China reverting back to the dark ages like some Muslim countries.

Keep your eyes on this space, it maybe be only the beginning of what`s in store for the population of China.

Is this going to take us back to the days of the beware the yellow peril?

[pipo1000]

This report says nothing about a skype ban,other than that they will go after illegal Voip services which they say Skype isn't one of them..........yet.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-to-go-after-Internet-apf-78040210.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

[WinnieTheKhwai]

It was just a matter of time before they banned the VOIP services. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites have been banned for a number of years in China. They are deemed to be a threat to national security. <deleted>!

Um, you can add Thailand to the list of countries that blocks parts of Facebook, as well as MANY websites that are deemed a threat to either national security or proper morals.

As for the Skype ban, it may also very well be the case that they can't listen in on Skype calls. (they're encrypted). Until of course Skype provides them with a back door, at which point the 'ban' will magically go away.

News at 11.

[bangkokrick]

It was just a matter of time before they banned the VOIP services. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites have been banned for a number of years in China. They are deemed to be a threat to national security. <deleted>!

Um, you can add Thailand to the list of countries that blocks parts of Facebook, as well as MANY websites that are deemed a threat to either national security or proper morals.

As for the Skype ban, it may also very well be the case that they can't listen in on Skype calls. (they're encrypted). Until of course Skype provides them with a back door, at which point the 'ban' will magically go away.

News at 11.

In the new version of Skype you can stream you Facebook updates on one of the tabs to the right of your contacts. Maybe this innovation has made Skype illegal in China. Facebook and other social network were banned following the Muslim, Urumchi up rising a few years ago. It was deemed to be National security threat at that time.

Cheers, Rick

[Rumpole]

I heard it was also illegal in Ethiopia. What other countries?

Oman

I believe UAE and Cambodia, from my experience and what has been told to me by first-hand acquaintances, and several dozen others, from 15 seconds research on the internet.

Tom Jones said 'its not unusual...'

SC

Certainly NOT blocked in Cambodia. I live here and use Skype every day for my business.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Rumpole

[jackr]

The world doesn't revolve around that place, let them do what they want to their oppressed people... the more they rub that thumb down on them, the closer we'll be to a billion-strong uprising against the twisted, paranoid regime.

[maswov]

Banning it is really pointless, you can use a proxy server and still log on. There is also magicjack and vonage. Don't know much about magicjack but the vonage phone adapter connects to your router just like any other device. They really can't stop that or even know that you are using one.

[StreetCowboy]

I heard it was also illegal in Ethiopia. What other countries?

Oman

I believe UAE and Cambodia, from my experience and what has been told to me by first-hand acquaintances, and several dozen others, from 15 seconds research on the internet.

Tom Jones said 'its not unusual...'

SC

Certainly NOT blocked in Cambodia. I live here and use Skype every day for my business.

I don't know how the 'banning' works; as I recall (in Dubai), access to the web site was blocked, so that you could not download or upgrade software but the peer-to-peer network was still possible. So the nominal 'ban' was pretty ineffective on foreigners who already had the relvant software on their machine - and, as mentioned, VPN traffic as well...

SC

[jdinasia]

The world doesn't revolve around that place, let them do what they want to their oppressed people... the more they rub that thumb down on them, the closer we'll be to a billion-strong uprising against the twisted, paranoid regime.

Say it isn't so! China repressive?

This is just another clear example of why China really is a pit that nobody should willingly enter

[LaoPo]

SKYPE VoIP is still working in, from and to China.

LaoPo

[StreetCowboy]

The world doesn't revolve around that place, let them do what they want to their oppressed people... the more they rub that thumb down on them, the closer we'll be to a billion-strong uprising against the twisted, paranoid regime.

Say it isn't so! China repressive?

This is just another clear example of why China really is a pit that nobody should willingly enter

I really don't think that spleen, bile and bigotry help your case. I have never feared to enter on the basis of skype access. I was talking the other day to a chap who was delighted to live in coastal Manchuria, an old acquaintance from the last job in UAE. Let's face it - fifty-odd years of civil war has not helped North Korea liberalise. Liberalisation comes from opportunity, not isolation.

SC

[Rumpole]

I don't know how the 'banning' works; as I recall (in Dubai), access to the web site was blocked, so that you could not download or upgrade software but the peer-to-peer network was still possible. So the nominal 'ban' was pretty ineffective on foreigners who already had the relvant software on their machine - and, as mentioned, VPN traffic as well...

SC

In Oman, the voice and video call functions on the menus were 'greyed out' so they could not be accessed, though it was still possible to use written chat and view the other party's webcam. Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger are/were similarly crippled.

I repeat, Cambodia does NOT block these services in any way, as they can all be downloaded, upgraded and used in their entirety without restriction.

Competition within the telecommunications industry is actively encouraged and thriving here, unlike in the Gulf and certain other places, where greedy and inefficient oligarchical monopolies, both public and private, must be 'protected' at all costs.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Rumpole