Here's the kicker.
"And the whole issue with charging for Skype Over 3G? I already pay you for a monthly subscription, now I will have to pay extra to use it on my iPhone over 3G? "

May it be on apple, android, rim, symbian, windows phone or whatever..

As we evolve our usage from voice to video calls, and it becomes the new mainstream, the operators
like to take advantage of this change which they believe justifies (or at least they hope) additional charges
on the consumers.

And Skype happily jump aboard, they are somewhat forced by the operators, but they are certainly also willing to play ball themselves, as it creates another revenue source for them. So we go from skypeout&skypein to becoming a regular feeder as a controller of the carrier.

Will the consumers allow this?
Do they have a choice?

Consumers want: low and flat rate on consumption and lots of use (although there is a saturation point)
Providers want: multiple, less transparent and flexible revenue streams and lots of users (with use that allows them to be cheap on infrastructure)

There are plenty of other factors, and the fact that the operators still have networks to expand and improve the quality of, and that increased usage by the newer applications when they hit mainstream, will lower the quality and force the operators to invest faster and more in network infrastructure ensures that not all ends meet right away.

Then also Skype are the bad guys, but why trust Fring? What is their business model?
Skype was the parasite on the operators.. Is Fring the parasite on Skype?

Anyways, battle it out, just end up with a flat low rate all you can eat buffet for the consumers of transmissions at a usable level of quality. You are a utility company, stop countering your consumers needs please, because you will loose as incumbents. Water will always find a way, given time.. Thank you.

Quite an ingenious move.

While the initiative may seem to foster and legalize what previously have been considered acts of malevolence, it also helps the government to identify and build a register of possible future trouble makers with skills.

This will get them both a great recruitment program, but it will also give them a a great monitoring tool.

I'm not pro nor con, just saying. Nice Database of profiles. Do you bite?

1(4)+1(2)=6

While RAND must be applauded for disclosing the funding participants, they still loose severely on credibility.

They are no longer an organization which I feel confident about as an organization providing policiticians or society in general with objective research.

As such they ought to be more serious about their research objectives and their reputation, by not allowing them to become puppets in disguise.

Their credibility is down the drain.
RAND research is no longer to be trusted.

Parrot SDL is also quite interesting in this context.

http://www.wgz.org/chromatic/talks/parrot_sdl/index.html

http://www.wxwidgets.org/
http://wxperl.sourceforge.net/

Is a likely solution.

Is it that you did not know about this,
or that you did know and found it wanting?