Skype’s failure to declare itself an electronic communications operator in...
Skype’s failure to declare itself an electronic communications operator in France could be classified as a criminal offense, telecom regulator the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) said Tuesday. Skype is headquartered in Luxembourg but offers…
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VoIP services to French users. If not all of those services are e-communications services, “this does not seem to be the case for the service that allows Internet users located in France to call fixed and mobile numbers in France and around the world” via computer, it said. While a company isn’t required to obtain administrative approval to become an e-communications provider in France, it must declare itself as such, ARCEP said. The fact of engaging in the business of electronic communications, and particularly of offering a telephone service to the public, requires compliance with certain obligations, which include routing of emergency calls and putting in place the means to perform legally ordered interceptions, it said. ARCEP said it notified the Paris public prosecutor of Skype’s failure.