Originally Posted by
GUWonder
That said, Skype is a different story: as long as the company has a physical, operating unit in any given country with plant, equipment and corporate management personnel here, the company opens itself to the possibility of being regulated by the authorities having jurisdiction where such company assets and business activity is conducted reside.
Yes, but Skype needn't have any facilities in-country to serve customers there. If there are no Skype super nodes, nor physical connections with Chinese operators, then Skype isn't going to be easy for the authorities to put under their thumb. That said, I know that Skype would prefer to have direct connections with the fixed and mobile operators in China. So yes they are required to follow most of the same rules as the others. And as Google found out, you play by the rules or you get out.