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Skype for iPhone not available in Canada
We brought you the news that Skype is now available for the iPhone last week, but what we didn't mention is that it's available in every country where the iPhone is sold, except for Canada. The CBC is reporting that there is a patent-license restriction causing the hold up, and goes on to clarify that the restriction has to do with Skype, not Apple, though it's hard to see how the issue would be with Apple.
With so few details, it's hard to be optimistic that Skype will be available on the iPhone any time soon in Canada. Message boards and even the comments on this CBC article are rife with links to pages instructing Canadians on how to go about getting a US iTunes account. Clearly Skype is a killer app for the iPhone, and if Skype can't sort out the problem, many Canadians will simply find a way around it.
It would be appreciated if Skype were to come clean and explain exactly what the issue is that is causing the problem; a little public pressure might be what is needed to gently influence the other party to relent.
Is this another case of Canadians getting the short end of the stick, or are we just a bunch of whiners up here?
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsEvenioApr 7th 2009 1:08AM
Nope, we're being screwed yet again; it's just that we're so used to being treated like peasants that we're not sure anymore when it's happening or not.
In fact, you don't even need a US iTunes Store account. All you need is a jailbroken device and a Google search for the IPA itself. I live in Parrsboro, where there is no Rogers coverage, and Skype, with some prepaid credit added, lets me use my iPhone like a phone — which I must admit seems kind of novel after all this time.
supernova_hqApr 7th 2009 1:50AM
Yeah, us Canadians always get the short end of the stick.
Unless a company is FROM Canada, we get squat service from them.
To this day, the only legal tv/movie website (that I can find) that works is CBC.
Same goes for our cellphone plans, we get ripped off REALLY bad there :(
The only thing we have going for us (for now) is unmonitored internet, no phone bugs and no mpaa/riaa.
r3loadedApr 7th 2009 3:43AM
And downloading torrents is perfectly legal too - you can always justify it by that strange tax on blank CDs (seriously, who burns music to CDs anymore?)
illuApr 7th 2009 12:00PM
The only thing we have going for us (for now) is unmonitored internet, no phone bugs and no mpaa/riaa.
Unfortunately, that's not true anymore...
TarekApr 7th 2009 7:05AM
There's a way to install and use skype in Canada:
http://blog.csmonkey.com/2009/03/how-to-install-skype-on-canadian.html
wargamer17Apr 7th 2009 9:24AM
If we can use skype on the computer in Canada and buy skype credits in Canadian dollars, why can't we get this for the iPhone in Canada?
pmowApr 7th 2009 9:35AM
/me moves to Canada
MCApr 9th 2009 1:38PM
This is spreading beyond Skype, Truphone, another VOIP product, is no longer available. As of writing, you can still see it in the App Store, but when you try to download it you get the following message:
"the item you tried to buy is no longer available."