Skype gets into the business directory business

by Stuart Corner

Thursday, 15 March 2007

Skype is moving ever more into the markets of other online services: now comes a facility that will create a global online business directory: built entirely from user contributions, totally unsupervised by Skype.

SkypeFind is feature, in beta, of the latest version of Skype for Windows (3.1), which also includes the new Skype Prime feature. It aims to be a community generated business guide. SkypeFind lets users rate, review and log businesses no matter where they live. Skype claims that in just three weeks since launch the beta version of SkypeFind has attracted more than 4500 listings in over 124 countries. Skype expects there to be over one million by the end of 2007.

The SkypeFind guidelines contain all sorts or prescriptions about what can and cannot be submitted: "Please check the information you submit to make sure it is correct and accurate. Don't knowingly submit false information; when reviewing a business, you can include truthful comments that reflect your opinion about the business. Please don't make libellous, aggressive or exaggerated comments, and try to support your opinions with the facts of your interaction...you should not submit comments or keywords or any information that is unlawful, offensive, abusive, indecent, obscene, racist, discriminatory or menacing or which does, or is intended to, cause annoyance, inconvenience or worry, or which is fraudulent or defamatory."

But at the end of the day Skype denies any responsibility whatsoever for the content: "You understand that Skype has no control over the content made available in SkypeFind and that it is not able to and does not monitor such content. Skype can therefore not guarantee the accuracy, veracity, integrity or quality of the content made available in SkypeFind. Consequently, the possibility exists that you see or hear offensive, inaccurate, false or otherwise undesirable content. Skype disclaims any and all responsibility or liability in relation to the content made available in SkypeFind."
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