Microsoft's Skype Deal Approved By FTC

-- The Federal Trade Commission is letting software giant Microsoft Corp. proceed with its largest deal ever, an $8.5 billion bid for web chat and call service Skype.

The FTC announced Friday that it had finished its review of the buyout so it can proceed if the Department of Justice also approves. Both agencies must review any deal worth more than $65.2 million, according to the FTC's website.

Microsoft already has a Skype-like service called Windows Live. But Skype lets users of different kinds of computers and phones chat directly. The deal could let Microsoft sell more digital advertising and offer more popular business conferencing tools.

Microsoft's bid is more than three times Skype's value 18 months ago when eBay Inc. sold a two-thirds stake to private equity firm Silver Lake.

Comments

[nomac]

02:14 AM on 06/21/2011

hey man did catch you on skype.
ya done with that
why dude
can't trust them, they sold out and fired everyone that got them there.

so does all my user data go along for the ride

[Kmuzu]

12:50 AM on 06/21/2011

So as Apple and Google move into the cloud .. Microsoft goes for peer-to-peer. This would be like if IBM reinvested in their typewriter division. ..

[ExtraO]

12:37 PM on 06/20/2011

And another one bites the dust!

[Equinator]

09:14 AM on 06/20/2011

It is sad to see M$ is being run by arrogant fools.

[TheNewShadeofBlue]

07:32 AM on 06/20/2011

If only there were an algorithm to remove all advertising from a website. Oh to dream of a content only web page. Remember back in the eighties when the internet was not inundated with all these annoying ads.

[AEX7]

09:54 AM on 06/20/2011

ah the good ole days of BBS and AOL Keyword pages. how i miss that 14k dial-up

[ExtraO]

12:43 PM on 06/20/2011

There is. In the Safari browser it's called "Reader". Click on the Reader button and all you see is the basic content of the page, no ads, etc. At least that's the way it works on a Mac. I don't know if the Windows version has it or not. Some people think that having to buy a Mac is a disadvantage, and I won't even begin to make a comment about that, but what you are wishing for really does exist already.

[datdamonfoo]

04:25 PM on 06/20/2011

Or, instead of buying an overpriced PC that has less features, just install an adblocker on your browser of choice and be done with it. I use Adblock+ on Firefox, and Chrome.

[TheNewShadeofBlue]

11:50 AM on 06/22/2011

thank you. I learned something knew..it is working great.

[King Cashaw]

09:46 PM on 06/19/2011

How long before Microsoft screws this up, and quietly shoe boxes Skype?

[ExtraO]

12:52 PM on 06/20/2011

They already have. They've already fired a bunch of the honchos at Skype. Microsoft never understands that it isn't just the technology, it's also the intellect behind the technology. Convinced that they already have all the brains they need in Redmond they shoot themselves in the foot every damn time, and the "innovation" you always used to hear Bill Gates yammering about gets smothered in the assimilation. Resistance is futile.

[King Cashaw]

01:19 PM on 06/20/2011

Ballmer does look a bit like the Borg Queen.

[datdamonfoo]

04:27 PM on 06/20/2011

Microsoft hasn't fired anyone; they don't own Skype yet. Don't you Apple-cultists have anything better to do than spread FUD?

[cenourinha]

08:50 PM on 06/19/2011

I suppose this means I can kiss goodbye what call quality there is now. I went to skype in the first place because all of MS's products sucked so much.

[canuckhoser]

08:29 PM on 06/19/2011

8.5 Billion and not one penny going to uncle sam. Not one. That isn't right! Maybe the baggers should get to work so the taxpayers can at least help MS with the bill....

[huffyISaHottie]

06:01 PM on 06/19/2011

You know ebay is gonna leave negative feedback over this one.

[Nihilicious]

09:02 AM on 06/20/2011

To be fair, the guy at Silver Lake had a really nice smile.

[Sam Barnhouse]

03:59 PM on 06/19/2011

I'll bet eBay is kicking their boots and heels now. Should have stuck in with it for just a *little* bit longer.

[huffyISaHottie]

06:03 PM on 06/19/2011

Give it a year and MS will sell It to AOL and that will be the end of that.....Hope huffy survives the AOL curse...I guess it could've been worse...Time/Werner could've been involved.

[DRaymond]

07:22 PM on 06/19/2011

Ebay didn't really have the ability to do anything with it.  Could e-bay have sold it directly to Microsoft?  Maybe.

Here is the real thing.  Kinect has turned ten million living rooms into state-of-the-art digital video-conference centers perfect for cross-country family gatherings and parties complete with games to share!.  They just don't realize it yet.  Skype will be the glue to that.

[datdamonfoo]

04:28 PM on 06/20/2011

This guy gets it.