LUXEMBOURG, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Skype, the popular free telephone service via Internet, said Monday a 'massive restart' of users' computers was to blame for a two-day breakdown that affected more than 220 million users globally.

'On Thursday, August 16, the Skype peer-to-peer network became unstable and suffered a critical disruption ... initiated by a massive restart of our user's computers across the globe' after receiving a routine software update, Skype said in a statement on the company's website.