China challenges mount for eBay

eBay's development in China remains of keen interest to those tracking how the web will evolve as a tool for small business there. The Yahoolibaba deal may present challenges enough as Alibaba's Taobao.com gains serious muscle, but eBay's mystifying purchase of Skype seems to carry with it the potential for further challenges in China. Stephen Baker's post on Business Week's Blogspotting gets right to the point:

"The Chinese government is cracking down on Skype usage and blocking downloads. Chinese users are figuring out ways to get around this ban, and sharing info about where else to download Skype. But once Skype becomes part eBay, a blue-chip multinational company with interests in China, will it be easier for the Chinese to get Skype to cooperate with this communications crackdown?"