By Natalia Drozdiak
BRUSSELS-- Microsoft Corp.'s Skype subsidiary has been summoned
to appear before a Belgian court for declining to hand over data
involving two criminal suspects, in a case that could decide
whether the online phone-call and messaging service should be
treated as a telecom company, a court spokesman said Tuesday.
The case comes as Europe's incumbent telecom operators gripe
that online communication services, such as Skype and WhatsApp, are
receiving beneficial treatment and aren't taxed or regulated the
same way as telecoms but still have access to their networks.
A public prosecutor opened the case into Skype after the company
refused to submit wiretap data of two suspects within an
organization who were communicating with one another, said a
spokesman for the court in Mechelen, a town 20 miles outside of
Brussels.
Telecoms and network operators can be punished under Belgian law
if they don't assist a criminal investigation when requested to do
so, the court said.
"The question will likely focus on whether the legislation [for
telecoms and network operators] is applicable to Skype or not," the
spokesman said. He wouldn't disclose details about the case against
the two suspects.
In the event that the court deems Skype to be either a telecom
company or a company that provides communication services, the firm
would have to offer up the data and could potentially face fines of
up to EUR24,000 ($26,000).
The case will also examine whether Skype, based in Luxembourg,
is obliged to cooperate with Belgian justice.
In response, Skype played up the need to protect privacy and its
headquarters outside of Belgium's jurisdiction.
"Law enforcement plays an important role in keeping communities
safe but the legal process should also protect personal privacy,
respect international borders and recognize technological
differences," a Skype spokesman said.
The European Union is working to change its current telecom
rules as part of a push to create a single digital market, which
policy makers hope will help revive the continent's anemic
economy.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the bloc's digital
chief in charge of the project, Andrus Ansip, said he was looking
into the companies' complaints that such services as Skype have
fewer obligations than telecom operators do.
"We would like to deal with those issues, but I'm not ready to
provide some kind of concrete solutions right now," said Mr. Ansip,
a native of Estonia, where Skype originated.
The Skype case is set to be formally heard in Mechelen on June
10.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
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