HOW LONG WILL SKYPE CONTINUE TO BE FREE?

The better question would first be: How long will Skype still exist? eBay bought Skype back in 2005, but failed at integrating it in its own services and therefore sold Skype at the beginning of this month to a group of investors. When Skype was sold to eBay back in 2005 however, the underlying technology was not sold as well and remained in the hands of Joltid, the company owned by the original developers of Skype. eBay only received a license to use this underlying technology. Now, Joltid is threatening to withdraw this license, which will be fought out in court in the UK next year. If Joltid wins the case, then it might be the end of Skype. Unless of course the group of investors who purchased Skype from eBay make a new deal with Joltid, but that might be costly. And then we come to your question: How long will Skype remain free? If a new deal is made regarding the license, it will most likely be very costly and investors will want to see a profit in the end, so that might lead to Skype becoming a paid service.