The Register:

"A scathing criticism of Skype, the new Voice over IP Peer-to-peer system from the KaZaA founders, was voiced in the Wall Street Journal last week in an article by Lee Gomes, stating that �Skype calls are peppered with frequent voice drop-offs, as well as all manner of clicks and pops and the call often ends for no good reason. A traditional phone call may not be any sort of audiophile dream, but at least it's reliable.�

The author said that Skype has no chance of becoming the new global phone network as its creators hope, because it is largely unnecessary with phone bills down to just $40 or so a month and discount international calls coming on the scene. The article went: �Free music. Now that was a great Internet deal. But free phone calls don't have quite the same appeal.�

Niklas Zennstrom, Skype founder, immediately hit back at the comments in a communication with Faultline: �Lee is comparing Skype, 8 weeks out of beta launch, with the traditional circuit switched phone companies who have been around since the T-Rexes (well OK for 100 years at least). "