The real reason is that they can't tap Skype. Link: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/2241223 Posted by: Zonk, on 2005-09-09 23:37:00 from the no-freebies dept. [1]Retrospeak writes "According to a Reuters report [2]China is starting to block Skype service in Shenzhen, an affluent southern city of China. Local Chinese media report that China Telecom has plans to eventually block the service throughout its coverage area nationwide. Could this have something to do with the fact that China Telecom charges close to $1 per minute for calls to United States and Europe?" From the article: " A China Telecom spokesman had no comment on the reports about the Shenzhen blockage, but gave a broader view. 'Under the current relevant laws and regulations of China, PC-to-phone services are strictly regulated and only China Telecom and (the nation's other fixed-line carrier) China Netcom are permitted to carry out some trials on a very limited basis,' he said." References 1. mailto:retrospeak@retrospeak.com 2. http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2005 -09-09T133130Z_01_BAU948593_RTRIDST_0_NET-TELECOMS-CHINA-CHINATELECOM-DC.XML ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.leitl.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature which had a name of signature.asc]