By Natalia Drozdiak
BRUSSELS-- Microsoft Corp.'s Skype subsidiary has been summoned
to appear before a Belgian court for refusing to allow authorities
to wiretap communications between two criminal suspects, in a case
that could decide whether the online phone-call and messaging
service should be treated as a telecom company, a court spokesman
said Tuesday.
The case comes as Europe's incumbent telecom operators gripe
that online communication services, such as Skype and WhatsApp, are
receiving beneficial treatment and aren't taxed or regulated in the
same way as telecoms but still have access to their networks.
A public prosecutor opened the case into Skype after the company
refused to allow authorities to wiretap two suspects within an
organization who were communicating with one another, said a
spokesman for the court in Mechelen, a town 20 miles outside of
Brussels.
Telecoms and network operators can be punished under Belgian law
if they don't assist a criminal investigation when requested to do
so, the court said.
"The question will likely focus on whether the legislation [for
telecoms and network operators] is applicable to Skype or not," the
spokesman said.
He wouldn't disclose details about the case against the two
suspects.
In the event the court deems Skype to be either a telecom
company or a company that provides communication services, the firm
could face fines of up to EUR24,000 ($26,000).
The case will also examine whether Luxembourg-based Skype is
obliged to cooperate with Belgian justice.
In response, Skype played up the need to protect privacy and its
headquarters being outside of Belgium's jurisdiction.
"Law enforcement plays an important role in keeping communities
safe but the legal process should also protect personal privacy,
respect international borders and recognize technological
differences," a Skype spokesman said.
The European Union is working to change its current telecom
rules as part of a push to create a single digital market, which
policy makers hope will help revive the continent's anemic
economy.
In an interview, the bloc's digital chief in charge of the
project, Andrus Ansip, said he was looking into complaints by
companies that such services as Skype have fewer obligations than
telecom operators do.
"We would like to deal with those issues, but I'm not ready to
provide some kind of concrete solutions right now," said Mr. Ansip,
a native of Estonia, where Skype originated.
The Skype case is set to be formally heard in Mechelen on June
10.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
An earlier version of this story was incorrect in saying Skype
is being summoned before court because it declined to hand over two
criminal suspects' data. The company is being summoned to court
because it refused to allow the two suspects' communications to be
wiretapped.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires