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cause A little while back, Microsoft agreed to buy out Skype — an $8 billion agreement, the largest in the tech titan’s history by far. The deal, a surprising one by any stretch, just passed regulatory scrutiny.
effectBefore the company’s merger with Microsoft goes final, the comany is reportedly firing a bunch of top executives — timing it so that the workers don’t get full paydays for the merger. Lamesauce. source

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Microsoft really wanted this. Microsoft right now is trying to do things to keep up with other faster-growing technology companies.
Bahl & Gaynor Inc. money manager Matt McCormick • Explaining why Microsoft went after Skype — offering a reported $8.5 billion for the company. They offered that much because they had to. Skype reportedly rebuffed any offers that were less than $7 billion. Steve Ballmer, during the announcement of the deal, suggested that the technology would be used for, among other things, its Xbox console, Office technology, Windows Mobile phones (where they could gain a real advantage, by the way) and corporate phone software. Skype is so widely-used that Microsoft could be sitting on the next generation of phone technology — something they need to stay in the game. (Also, a side note: Google was the only other serious bidder, but they didn’t get close to $7 billion.) source

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» The deal is close: Reports suggest a deal could be reached by Tuesday, which of course would be big. See, Skype has a huge userbase — around 663 million users — and they make billions of minutes worth of VOIP calls each year. Clearly Microsoft would be a better choice to own this company than eBay, but then again, anyone would’ve been a better choice than eBay.

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China wants to stamp out “unauthorized” VOIP services. The country’s Ministry of Information and Industry Technology said as much in a statement a couple of weeks ago – pointing out that the only services that could run VOIP services were China’s big telecom companies. Skype, still inexplicably partly owned by eBay for some reason, has been gaining major popularity in China lately. Which suggests that, while not explicitly stating it, that the Ministry’s statement was targeted at Skype, with the possibility of lawsuits. Skype, by the way, is on track to make $1 billion from an IPO next year, or more money than God. source

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So it’s official: Skype has just eaten Apple’s lunch in the video-chat market. Video chat over 3G? Interoperability? Apple can’t do either right now. As long as Skype can bounce back from their recent outage and keep customers happy with them, FaceTime will lose. source

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$1.9 billion amount eBay sold 65% of Skype for this morning – it went to private investors source

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What is Pranknet? The until-now anonymous network, led by Windsor, Ontario resident Tariq Malik, has been a loose collective of shut-ins, some with criminal records, using Skype and chat networks to commit a campaign of terror on chain businesses – largely restaurants and hotels – around the U.S. source

What is Pranknet? The until-now anonymous network, led by Windsor, Ontario resident Tariq Malik, has been a loose collective of shut-ins, some with criminal records, using Skype and chat networks to commit a campaign of terror on chain businesses – largely restaurants and hotels – around the U.S.
The crimes In one case, they caused hotel employees to destroy sprinkler systems, causing $50,000 in damages. In another, they convinced a hotel employee to drink a patron’s urine. Most infamously, they convinced KFC employees to go outside, strip naked and urinate on each other. source

What is Pranknet? The until-now anonymous network, led by Windsor, Ontario resident Tariq Malik, has been a loose collective of shut-ins, some with criminal records, using Skype and chat networks to commit a campaign of terror on chain businesses – largely restaurants and hotels – around the U.S.
The crimes In one case, they caused hotel employees to destroy sprinkler systems, causing $50,000 in damages. In another, they convinced a hotel employee to drink a patron’s urine. Most infamously, they convinced KFC employees to go outside, strip naked and urinate on each other.
Take cues from TSG The mainstream media could learn a lot from The Smoking Gun – which is owned by Time Warner, by the way. Here’s an organization that posts funny mugshots, sure, but then posts these killer investigative pieces full of finished homework that lots of people read. Newspapers, take note. source

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19 Jun 2011 22:56