Further proof, if proof be needed, that eBay
should never have bought Skype: the fracas currently underway between eBay
and Jajah. Jajah is an internet telephony company which has developed "buttons"
that eBay sellers, and others, can embed on their sale pages. Using the buttons,
a prospective buyer can talk for free directly to the seller without the seller
having to give out a phone number or pay exorbitant fees for a toll-free number.
eBay, however, doesn’t like the idea of Jajah buttons on its website, and has
decided to block
them. The ostensible reason is that the buttons violate eBay rules about
linking away from the website; surely it’s also relevant, though, that Jajah
is a competitor of Skype, and that eBay owns Skype. Since eBay is only very
slowly rolling out Skype buttons, and still doesn’t
allow them on its listing pages, it makes sense that eBay wouldn’t want
to allow Jajah to have a headstart in that market.
Are eBay’s worries about fraud realistic? Maybe. eBay has reason to want to
keep all communication between buyer and seller on the record: a seller can
say whatever he likes on a phone call, if it isn’t recorded by the buyer, and
the buyer can’t prove it. But if this is such a problem, it’s not clear why
eBay bought Skype in the first place.
I think that Rupert Murdoch should take Skype off eBay’s hands, and fold it
into MySpace. Talking on the phone is something much more naturally suited to
a social network than to an auction site with control issues.