Skype has over 480 million accounts and carries roughly 8% of all international communications, but is not a money maker and now has an uncertain future.  eBay paid $2.6 billion back in 1995 for most of Skype’s technology and has put it down on their books as being worth $1.7 billion, still a hefty sum but also about a $1 billion loss.  That is not the worst however, the key lies in their purchase of almost all of the technology that Skype uses, they did not get it all and have been paying a licensing fee to the Skype creators for the usage of that critical piece of technology.  Those creators no longer wish to continue the licensing agreement, a move which puts Skype’s future in serious jeopardy.  Read more about this on Slashdot.

“eBay is faced with the prospect of having to close down the hugely popular VoIP app Skype due to its reliance on proprietary code still owned by Skype’s original founders, who are threatening to pull the plug on the licensing agreement they have with eBay.”

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