> Would then Skype be able to come back and do the same thing as an effort
> to recapture any lost users? Or would that fall under some sort of
> anti-dumping umbrella because it's now a foreign company that's giving
> services away below cost?
>
loss leaders are legal in the US unless you dominate the particular
market, then there are anti-trust laws that come into play and they may
not forbid it outright, it depends on the particulars.
Google has virtually a 0 market share when it comes to pstn terminated
voice traffic. As a result they do not have the same restrictions that
someone who dominates the market has. As VoIP to the customer in
general is only a small percentage of all telephone calls, most VoIP
providers would not have such things.
Telephony in the US is regulated, although how much depends on what
exactly you are doing. It is legal for companies to sell below their
cost, and in one FCC case it was specifically stated that companies
cannot complain if they sell below cost and someone buys and uses the
service, that the burden is on the carrier to file proper tariffs and
enter into proper contracts with customers to avoid losing money if that
is what they want.
Look at blended rate traffic, unlimited calling (which people have
stated both tmobile and verizon wireless really are unlimited), and
more. It is quite possible that these companies are losing money on
this, and these companies also are some of the largest in their
particular market (CMRS), but it is not illegal.
So I wonder why you thought it should, or would be illegal for google to
give service away for free when first starting out trying to get
customers ...
--
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com Bret McDanel
pgp key: http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x8AE5C721
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