Skype has made it possible to place phone calls from one’s computer to anywhere around the globe, for little or no money. Just a simple software download and you can communicate with friends and/or business associates in Europe or Asia, or just around the corner. Register an account with Skype and computer to computer calls are free, and computer to a telephone (land line or wireless) costs pennies per minute.

This innovative Internet calling service was created by a European duo, who sold it to eBay for billions in 2005, and is trying to buy it back. Niklas Zennstrom, a native of Sweden, and Janus Friis, of Denmark, plan on making their bid by pooling their own resources with those of private equity firms.

Although eBay has increased their registered user base from 53 million, when they purchased Skype, to more than 405 million today it seems that Skype has few synergies with eBay’s core e-commerce and payments business.

Please go to Brad stone’s article in the New York Times for more.