Topic: NEWS english - on August 26, 2007 at 4:27:00 PM CEST
Skype's black Tuesday won't be a patch on the next one
Irish Novelist Edna O'Brien once wrote a novel called August is a Wicked Month. Tell that to the folks who run Skype, the internet telephony service that 200 million people worldwide now habitually use for voice calls and instant messaging, and you'll be rewarded with rueful nods.
On Thursday, 16 August, Skype went dead and remained in that state for the best part of two days. Users were unable to log in, instant messages went undelivered and at one stage Skype even blocked people from downloading its software. From the moment the 'outage' began (about 3am Pacific Standard Time) the net was ablaze with rumour. It was, some said, a software problem. Others wondered if it might be the result of a malware attack. There were mutterings about traditional telecoms firms (whose attitude to Skype resembles that of the devil towards garlic). And, of course, some argued Microsoft must be involved.
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