Skype fears hang-up

The popular internet telephone service Skype could be dealt a major setback in one of the world’s largest markets as the Chinese government vowed to dial in on what it called illegal internet telephone providers.

A Chinese government circular from the powerful Ministry of Information and Industry Research called for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone services" and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them. It did not name any phone companies.