China Tests US Software to Block Skype Calls

From IDG News Service:

"Verso Technologies Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to soon win a contract to block Chinese Internet users from using eBay Inc.'s Skype VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software, the company said Monday.

A Chinese telecommunications operator has begun a paid trial of Verso's NetSpective M-Class filter, a product that is designed to block VoIP calls made using Skype, as well as other peer-to-peer applications, Verso said in a statement. If the paid trial now underway in one Chinese city goes well, the operator will purchase the NetSpective M-Class application filter before the end of the year, it said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Verso did not provide additional details of the trial to block Skype or name the Chinese operator behind the project."

"In September, China Telecommunications Corp. (China Telecom), one of two major fixed-line operators in China, began blocking SkypeOut calls made from Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city that lies along the border with Hong Kong. SkypeOut is a service that allows someone with the Skype software installed on their PC to make international phone calls at a fraction of the cost that a telecommunications operator would charge."