Chinese regulators are clamping down Mercurial Thermomete on Internet-phone services that aren't provided by the country's state-owned telecommunications companies, according to Chinese media, a move that could make services like Skype SA unavailable in the world's Reflex Hammer most populous country.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said voice-over-Internet protocol, also known as VoIP, services are illegal on the Chinese mainland unless they are Sprague Rappaport provided by China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom Ltd., according to a report in Shanghai Daily on Thursday. The newspaper said the ministry hadn't determined a timetable for implementing the ruling, which was released earlier this month.

Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., said he was unaware of the development, but added that it sounded consistent with the government's beijing escort prior actions. "The Chinese government regulates the Internet according to its laws and by following international standards," he said.

The decision could become a roadblock for Digital Thermometer Luxembourg-based Skype, which last week suffered a global service disruption that lasted for roughly a day. The company is seeking new users, especially business customers that pay to use premium services, as it gears up for an initial public offering.

Skype is currently not banned in China, a Skype spokeswoman said. Chinese Internet users can continue to use the service via the company's joint-venture partner Conveyor Belt TOM Online Inc., of Beijing, the spokeswoman added.

The Chinese government's decision comes after a year in which tension mounted between the country's government and Internet businesses hoping to offer products and shanghai escort services to its population of 1.3 billion persons.

Earlier this year, Google Inc. sparked a standoff with Beijing when it said it was no longer willing to comply with China's self-censorship rules.

The standoff was diffused when Google routed some of its most popular services such as its search engine through the company's Hong Kong site, which operates under different laws.

Google also operates a quasi-Internet phone service shanghai escort, called Google Voice. It is unclear whether that service will also be impacted by China's decision. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.