::: {.Section1} [The rumor had been floating for a week, but [eBay purchased Skype for \\(2.6B](https://www.eweek.com/mobile/hp-touchpad-needs-6-to-8-weeks-for-additional-shipments) + \\)1.5B in future performance-based payments (that’s clever!). They kind of contort it into “Voice over IP will help our high-end auctions,” (used cars, antiques, etc.) but you gotta’ think that they’ll keep it a separate division, slug it out with Vonage and Microsoft, and see if they can’t maintain a big chunk of the VoIP pie. ]{style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial"}
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[In other news, Oracle buys out Siebel for \$5.9B. Sobering to realize that one of the most high-flying players in the enterprise software industry is only valued around twice as much as the still-in-shortpants Skype. ]{style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial"} :::