SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in
news:q%AXj.4704$nW2.26@nlpi064.nbdc.sbc.com:

> Todd Allcock wrote:
>
>> On the downside, their international rates are higher than their
>> competitors, often higher than just using a calling card or
>> dial-around service. Their system is non-standard, requiring either
>> a PC to run, a proprietary phone, or their software to be installed
>> on a portable device. They aren't E911- compliant (and I STILL
>> haven't figured out how they offer US phone numbers without being
>> forced to be E911 compliant.)
>
> They have convinced the FCC that they are not a landline or cell phone
> replacement, but something of an auxiliary service, because a computer
> is required to use it (unlike something like Vonage which can use an
> adapter to RJ11). It's not a specious argument that Skype is using.
> There are very, very, few people that use Skype as their primary phone
> service.

Your omnipotent view of the FCC and USA Bureaucrats is flawed. Skype is
NOT a USA company, so is NOT subject to its laws/flaws. When you make
payment to your Skype account, you are making payments to Luxembourg.
Skype has no presence in the United States so is not subject to its laws
just because a majority of its users are US Citizens living in the USA.

I bought MP3 Catalog Pro from the Russians at wizetech.com. They aren't
subject to the FCC or US Government, either. Same reason. There is no
law that says if I run Russian or Luxembourgian (is that a word??)
software it subjects the foreign country with no offices whatsoever in
the USA to USA laws/regulations/taxes/etc.

The only people paying taxes on Skype are residents of the EU because
Luxembourg is an EU state and signor to those agreements. It's why you
see the VAT prices on their overseas services and see Skype's special
services for EU residence different from ours.

The USA doesn't....YET....control the whole world. I don't want to be
here when it does, do you?