Skype (pronounced /’skaip/) is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

Skype was written by Estonia-based developers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu and Jaan Tallinn, who had also originally developed Kazaa.[1] The Skype Group, founded by Swedish-born entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and the Dane Janus Friis, has its headquarters in Luxembourg, with offices in London, Tallinn, Tartu, Stockholm, Prague,[2] and San Jose, California. One of the initial names for the project was “Sky peer-to-peer”, which was then abbreviated to “Skyper”. However, some of the domain names associated with “Skyper” were already taken. Dropping the final “r” left the current title “Skype”, for which domain names were available.[3]

The company was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion.[4] eBay has written Skype down to $1.7 billion on its books and announced a public stock offering for 2010 to spin Skype off as a separate company.[5] Some media outlets have characterized the proposed sale and ongoing provision of Skype as being under threat, because of a software licensing dispute with the original creators.[6][7] On September 1, 2009, a group of investors led by Silver Lake bought 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion.[8][9] Later this amount was adjusted when eBay and the new investors settled a lawsuit that had been brought by a holding company set up by the original founders. It turned out that the holding company had always owned the underlying peer-to-peer technology. The lawsuit was eventually settled with ownership being divided with the new investors owning 56%, the original founders owning 14% and eBay retaining 30%

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