aurora's blog: Skype Tells Nimbuzz to Buzz Off

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Skype Tells Nimbuzz to Buzz Off

Skype has ordered Nimbuzz to remove support for Skype in their application by October 31st - Halloween no less, but this is no trick. Nimbuzz currently has 30 million users and the theory is that Skype is removing support for third-party access to their service ahead of their planned IPO. You probably recall the fring vs. Skype battle where fring also lost access to Skype services back in July.

However, a Skype spokeperson denied the IPO was the cause:

We believed that Nimbuzz’s application was in violation of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement (EULA). Skype offered to meet with Nimbuzz and discuss the issue; however, we have not heard back from them since our last correspondence with them in early August. Like any company that has APIs or an SDK, Skype has certain rules that guide the development of apps using those tools. Such rules help protect the Skype brand and our end user experience.

Nimbuzz (& fring) have offered access to Skype services for years, so what have they done wrong to merit their access being cut off? Only recently did both start offering competing outbound services (NimbuzzOut & fringOut), so it's pretty clear Skype didn't like that and were looking for an excuse to cut them off.

Skype has just jumped the shark. They are no longer the cool kid on the block. The more they try and put up a walled garden, the more chance competitors will take market share.