TechCrunch Takes Issue with FCC Tweet

TechCrunch has taken issue with a Twitter posting by the FCC (News - Alert).

Last week the FCC posted a series of articles on its blog for its "Wireless World Travel Week," which featured tips and pointers for those who would be traveling overseas who still wanted to be connected through technology.

The series, posted by Mindel DeLaTorre, chief of the International Bureau for the FCC, was pushed on the FCC Twitter feed, which contained what Jack McKenna of TechCrunch called an endorsement of Skype (News - Alert) in the June 24 posting. The post reads, "Use VoIP, like @skype, to avoid excess international charges on your cell phone bill. For more http://bit.ly/bDXABN."

The link then takes readers to the blog post, where Fring and Truphone (News - Alert), two other VoIP services, were mentioned.

"Appropriate? Nope. But why stop there? We think the FCC should give people handy tips on free news services to avoid those outrageous print media subscription fees as well. And heck, we're even a U.S. company paying U.S. taxes. How about a Twitter message from the FCC that endorses TechCrunch?," McKenna wrote on TechCrunch, noting his sarcasm.

It was the second time during the week that Skype got a bit of a publicity boost.

Google (News - Alert) translate developed a bit of a hiccup and for a while on June 22 was translated the phrase "call us for free" to "Telefornare gratis con Skype" instead of the proper Italian translation of "Chiamaci gratis"