WAPO: Skype offers free calls to landlines. (USA & Canada)

[rumpel]

Skype Gives It Away
The Internet Phone Firm Hopes a Free-Calling Promotion Nets More of Elusive U.S. Market
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Page D01

Internet phone company Skype Technologies SA said yesterday that customers in the United States and Canada can place free phone calls from their computers to any land line or mobile phone in the two countries until the end of the year. The move comes at a time when millions of Americans are beginning to ditch traditional long-distance service and experiment with technology that allows people to talk using an Internet connection.

Skype already offers free international and long-distance calls to other Skype users, but it normally charges a small fee for calls made from computers to phones and for other services, such as voice mail. Executives at the firm said they hope the offer will spur growth in the United States, where adoption has been slower than in China and Europe, where Skype was founded. The firm was bought last year by eBay Inc.


I did not know e-bay owns it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/15/AR2006051500558.html

[wakeme2008]

1. it was only like 2 cents a minute to begin with

a worker friend call his kids from his cruise ship every day with it. :)

[rumpel]

2. I am very new to this

I have it for the free International calls, but have not tried the landline thing yet. Sure am going to try, now.

:)

[wakeme2008]

3. The speed on cruise ships is a little faster than 56kb but not

much and it worked for him.

I forgot to say his kids are 1 and 2 1/2. Not sure the 1 yo go much out of the conversion. :rofl:

[rumpel]

4. Terms of Service

2.1 No warranties. Skype shall endeavour to provide the VoIP service with minimum disruptions. However Skype cannot guarantee that the VoIP service will always function without disruptions, delay or other imperfections. Since the VoIP service will be transmitted through public Internet lines and the public switched telephony network, You understand that there may be power outages or Internet service disruption and You may experience some disruptions in the VoIP service, e.g. packet loss and delay. Additionally, You also understand that calls to or from the public switched telephony network are not encrypted and as such, could be potentially subject to eavesdropping by law enforcement officials or other third parties over the public Internet. Skype will not be liable for any disruption, delays, eavesdropping or other omissions in the VoIP service.

Article 22 — PERSONAL AND TRAFFIC DATA
22.1
Personal and Traffic data. Upon designation of members into a Skype Group, the Skype Group Administrator shall be responsible to inform each member that each Skype Group Administrator may in the course of Skype Group Service provision obtain information concerning their personal and traffic data. The Skype Group Administrator represents and warrants to keep all such personal and traffic data confidential and use and protect it strictly in compliance with applicable data protection act(s).

Do we have a Data Protection Act?