SKYPE – FREE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE

Skype has released a preliminary version of software that allows voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony via a peer-to-peer network. The company was created by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, two of the creators of KaZaA (the most used music file sharing software at the moment). Zennstrom is quoted as saying this is "a real opportunity to do something that is disruptive in a very positive way." The company reports on its website today, "1,258,967 downloads and counting". The software in now available in Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Portuguese and Swedish. An article on the innovation is published in the New York Times By NICHOLAS THOMPSON, October 12, 2003.