TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Free Calls With Skype???

Re: Free Calls With Skype???

Mark Crispin (mrc@CAC.Washington.EDU)
Thu, 18 May 2006 10:37:40 -0700

On Wed, 17 May 2006, Michael Muderick wrote:

> I have a Skype account, and when I try and dial the number, it tells
> me I have to buy Skype credits. What's the secret? BTW, to dial a +
> I held down the "operator" key with the left mouse button.

As the announcement on
http://share.skype.com/sites/en/2006/05/free_calls_to_all_landlines_an.html
says:

If you're in the US or Canada, you can use SkypeOut to call
any landline or mobile number in both the USA and Canada for
free.

If you're in the US or Canada and calling any other country,
OR if you're in any other country and calling landline or
mobile numbers in the US or Canada, the standard SkypeOut
rates apply.

So no, this does not give free calling to the US and Canada from overseas.

My guess is that Skype uses your IP address to validate that you are
in the US and Canada, and their list of US/Canadian IP networks isn't
quite accurate. It works for me.

They may be doing something silly like checking the country in your
Skype profile, but I doubt that since it's easy for anyone to set that
to whatever they want.

-- Mark --

http://panda.com/mrc
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.

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