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The case bears similarities to the privacy dispute between the
U.S. Justice Department and Microsoft over whether prosecutors
should get access to emails stored on company servers overseas,
which is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Belgian judge at the Antwerp-based appeals court had asked
Skype to share data on a suspect in an organized crime
investigation on the basis that telecoms operators in the
country are subject to such a requirement.
Skype said it was not a telecoms operator and did not have the
technical capability to comply with the request.
Wednesday's judgment, which confirmed the ruling of a lower
court, said that Skype was "indisputably" a telecoms operator
and that references in Belgian law to "telecommunication"
included "electronic communication".
The court also upheld the 30,000-euro ($36,000) fine and
dismissed Skype's argument that Luxembourg, where Skype and its
servers are based, could block such co-operation, as the data
the court was looking for originated in Belgium.
A spokesman for Microsoft said the company was considering
further legal options.
The European Commission, the EU executive, is looking into rules
for sharing digital evidence across borders, with a legislative
proposal expected early next year.
($1 = 0.8445 euros)
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Foo Yun Chee, editing by
Ed Osmond)
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