What once was a cordial relationship between Fring and Skype has gone sour with the latter threatening the former with a lawsuit if they don’t stop supporting Skype connectivity. This comes in the wake of the recently released Fring 3.2.0.5 iPhone app which adds support for the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4. In response, Fring has accused Skype of attempting to “muzzle competition.” Skype, meanwhile, asserts that Fring was violating their API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement which, in turn, forced them to give Fring the ultimatum.
In a short post on their blog, they had this to say about the whole situation:
An hour or so ago, Fring reported on their blog that we had blocked their access to Skype. I want to make one thing absolutely clear: this is untrue.
Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn’t designed to be used – and in a way which is in breach of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We’ve been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably.
However, over time, Fring’s mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers. On Friday, for example, Fring withdrew support for video calls over Skype on iOS 4 without warning, again damaging our brand and disappointing our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience.
In a nutshell, Fring is blaming Skype for bullying them into dropping Skype support while Skype is pointing the finger at Fring for what’s happening. We don’t know who’s really at fault here, but one thing’s for sure, unless they iron things out, Skype will no longer be supported on Fring. Apart from the iPhone, Fring is also available on the Symbian platform and Android Market.
You can read the full press release of Fring here.
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