Ebay bans VoIP competitor

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 8 Oct 2007 at 09:50

Ebay has banned the use of the VoIP service Jajah from within its auction marketplace.

Jajah last week released a set of buttons that users could embed in third party websites, which allowed people to easily initiate VoIP calls. The company designed the buttons to make it easier for buyers and sellers to communicate.

However, Ebay has claimed that their use is a breach of the terms and conditions that forbid the use of links in product descriptions.

Although there is no way to stop their use, it has said that it will remove them from listings when it becomes aware of them. The auction website already provides a similar tool via Skype, the VoIP company which Ebay acquired in 2005.

The company requires that all communication between buyers and sellers occurs within the site itself, in order that clear logs are stored in the event of a disagreement. Because of this it also advises its users to refrain phoning or emailing each other.

Jajah says it plans to poll its users to see how many of them are Ebay users who would like to continue using the service. The company has created similar buttons for many other websites such as LinkedIn and MySpace, none of which have banned their use.