Skype Journal

Monday reading: New PR firm, eduSkype, Emergency dialing, Sex Video, Dating, Multiparty Video

2008-10-12T22:47:00.001-07:00

Text 100 became one of Skype's PR firms. Text 100 is a much larger firm than 3 Monkeys Communications, dropped after just five months. Text 100 has presence in North America (new New York office opening last May), EMEA, and APAC (ten years in Japan). They already serve clients eBay, PayPal, Nokia, Cisco, and IBM. via PR Week UK.

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Education and music was the topic on the MusTech.Net podcast. Skype's Ian Robin guest starred on last week's show. Distance learning, language instruction, music education, music performance. Ian is an alum of Skype partner Vosky.

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Tom Keating's "Vonage slams Skype for not following emergency rules" is a simple and thorough explanation of UK Ofcom's rules, how they apply and don't apply to Skype, who claims what, and where policy conflicts with technology.

Clear labeling for UK VoIP by June, March 2007
Who's In Charge Here? Carrier Battles for Revenue Sustenance, June 2007
Will It Take UK's Ofcom To Make Canadian SkypeIn Numbers Available?, December 2007

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Deadspin's "Kendra Wilkinson Will Skype Your Brains Out" delights in a Playboy Playmate's experience that Skype video is better than phone sex. So that's what all the Skype High Quality Video fuss is about!

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Michael Pennington's Wazzum is making turn-key software for dating services. Project "Orange" should launch next month. Key feature? Launching Skype video calls. Saves hosts from paying for video bandwidth.

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It's been more than a year since Philippe launched ooVoo's six-way video calling, a year that included an upgrade to high resolution video, Windows only. Apple iChat has had multiparty video for years, Mac only. Meanwhile, Skype just teases...

tags: skype, video, sex, dating, apple, ichat, wazzum, playboy, playmate, "Kendra Wilkinson", kendra, wilkinson, text100, text 100, mustech, ofcom, uk

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Michael Robertson: Use Skype - Go Directly To A Chinese Prison

2008-10-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Reposted with permission from Michael Robertson's blog.

A research firm recently revealed that eBay and TOM are colluding with the Chinese government to spy on users of Skype. Together they monitored user's text chats and stored those containing politically sensitive topics like freedom, democracy, Tibet, opposition to the communist party and Falun Gong. They also track voice call participants. Presumably they turned this data over to the government and it's impossible to track how that data has been used.

“What people have been implicated by their Skype usage and subsequently interrogated, imprisoned or executed?”

If history can be a guide it's logical to assume that the data resulted in prison terms or worse. In 2005, Yahoo was involved in a similar disclosed incident in which it turned over emails to authorities which netted a 10 year prison sentence for a reporter who dared to talk about democracy. I wrote about it when it happened and questioned where one draws the line chasing the almighty dollar (or Yuan). Two years later Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang was in front of Congress explaining the situation and apologizing to the mother of the imprisoned.

In response to the revelation of spying on calls and instant messages a spokesman for Skype incredibly stated that Skype is "the most secure forum of publicly available communication." eBay points the finger at their Chinese partner TOM claiming they had "no knowledge or consent" of this privacy breach. This level of compromise requires access to source code which eBay would have had to provide them. Maybe eBay didn't have direct knowledge of these alterations. However no one can deny China's well known efforts to police and censor their citizens net activities which surely eBay executives know about. To provide the source code with no auditing or oversight shows at best a convenient excuse. One wonders how long this would have continued without the whistleblower and how many other countries Skype cooperates with to allow the same spying.

More likely at least some within eBay/Skype knew exactly what TOM was doing and consented because it gave them access to the enormous Chinese market. Its estimated that nearly half of Skype users are from China. This is why Cisco and others design special networking equipment enabling the Chinese government to snoop and lock down their country's net activities. Similar to Skype they are lured by the dollars awaiting any country that cracks the Chinese market.

I would call on eBay to be forthcoming with information on this situation by publicly disclosing details of this situation which will require tough questions of their partner and Chinese government. This would demonstrate that eBay's publicly stated "concern" is more than a press tactic. Specific questions eBay should answer include:

When did this spying start?
What users did it affect?
When specifically did it stop? Has it stopped?
What specific terms were monitored? (Users have a right to know if their messages have been implicated.)
What people have been implicated by their Skype usage and subsequently interrogated, imprisoned or executed?
What steps will be taken to defend these people or get their convictions overturned?
Has previously stored data been deleted? How can users be sure?
What will eBay do to insure that this spying isn't reactivated as soon as the press attention subsides?
What other companies and countries are monitoring Skype communications?
What auditing steps is eBay implementing to make sure this does not happen again?

Let me be clear about Gizmo5's policy and refute Skype's spokesman's claim that Skype is the "most secure". Gizmo5 doesn't spy on calls and messages and we wouldn't give that info to any government. We encrypt calls between Gizmo5 users and have given no one the decrypt key. We would not allow a partner or government to do wholesale monitoring of communications - no matter how many billions of prospective customers they have. If ordered to take action by a government that defies basic Western freedoms we would do it only under threat of imprisonment and the information would then be disclosed in this blog condemning the action and striving to defend any of those adversely impacted. I challenge eBay/Skype to do the same. Defend their users. Defend their brand. Defend freedom.

-- MR

Michael Robertson is an entrepreneur, co-founder of Linspire, SIPphone, and MP3tunes.

tags: skype, gizmo5, china, freedom, encryption, privacy, censorship

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SkypeOut Feature Added to 3's Skype-Enabled Phones

2008-10-11T05:07:00.001-07:00

Mobile carrier pioneer 3 has taken another step that reduces costs for mobile calling worldwide from any of the Skype-enabled mobile phone handsets in their offering. Effectively it means that 3's customers can not only make free calls to other Skype contacts but also to any landline and mobile worldwide via an implementation of a SkypeOut type of service at SkypeOut rates. Skype-to-Skype calls remain totally free as well as Skype Instant Messaging activity.

As a result 3's pricing plans and policy covers monthly subscribers and pay-as-you-go customers. For the latter a top-up will now provide ninety days of free Skype access. Most importantly there are no extra charges from 3 for using SkypeOut. And the fair use policy still applies. These plans apply to the two Skypephones as well as several models of both Nokia E-series/N-series phones and Sony Ecrisson phones.

What is 3's motivation to do this?

They have no connection charges for Skype-to-Skype calls
3 will receive revenues through Skype's affiliate marketing program or a similar arrangement for SkypeOut calls.
It is a key marketing tool for low cost recruiting of customers, building on their previous "Free Skype call" marketing activities.

With the forthcoming launch of Blackberry Bold at 3, similar customer benefits can be obtained using iSkoot, although without carrier support, there may be additional charges to access an iSkoot point-of-presence.

3 continues to pioneer development of business models for the incorporation of Skype into the mobile conversations world. 3's services are available in U.K., Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Hong Kong and Australia.

Tags: Skype, SkypeOut, 3, Hutcheson-Whampoa, Blackberry Bold, iSkoot

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Sequoia Capital to Companies: Think Cash Flow

2008-10-10T11:48:00.001-07:00

I won't add much more to Om Malik's truly scary report, Inside Details of Sequoia Capital’s Doomsday Meeting With its Companies.

Of the hundreds of companies in Skype's ecosystem (termination suppliers, API developers, embedded hardware, IP licensors, mobile, payment), which ones lack a year's cash in the bank and a positive cashflow?
Of those at risk, can Skype help them survive the tough times?
As markets get mean, will Skype be able to cheaply buy talent and technology from failing startups and competitors? Who could you look at?
How fast can Skype turn Prime, Find/Directory, and Skype for Business services into revenue generators that delight and scale?

Many great little communications companies are not safe. I fully expect the dead pool to be filling up by eComm09 in March as cash flows dry up and founders call it quits.

tags: skype, sequoia, sequoia capital, doomsday, economy, cash, cashflow

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Carriers, Apps face off at OpenMobileSummit

2008-10-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

How open is open? Skype's Jonathan Christensen will be on a panel at the OpenMobileSummit. Open access for apps to carriers is on the menu.

I'll be there, along with folks from AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, Verizon, Google, Amazon, AOL, Yahoo!, Nokia, RIM, Qualcom, Sun, Symbian, Funambol, Mozilla, Intel, Disney, MTV.

$100 off if you register with "SKYPEJ". The $300 early bird pricing ends Friday midnight.

tags: skype, openmobilesummit, events, conference, openmobilesummit08, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, Verizon, Google, Amazon, AOL, Yahoo!, Nokia, RIM, Qualcom, Sun, Symbian, Funambol, Mozilla, Intel, Disney, MTV

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Skype to FCC: Mobile carriers blocking Skype is proof of closed networks

2008-10-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

Skype asked the FCC to support unfettered customer freedom following statements at CTIA's conference last month. CTIA and Sprint retorted with balderdash and Skype's Christopher Libertelli sets them straight in this short, direct letter. Emphasis mine.

October 8, 2008

Electronic Filing

Chairman Kevin J. Martin
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
12th Street Lobby, TW-A325
Washington, D.C. 20554

Re: Ex Parte Presentation; RM-11361

Dear Chairman Martin:

Skype Communications S.A.R.L. (“Skype”) responds briefly to CTIA’s letter of September 24th and Sprint Nextel’s letter of September 26th, both of which take issue with Skype’s earlier letter to you regarding the lack of openness of wireless networks. CTIA and Sprint go to great lengths to rebut Skype’s characterization of remarks made at a CTIA conference earlier this month, which Skype viewed as indicative of a hesitant, closed network mentality among wireless operators.

Rather than prolong an empty debate about whose characterization of remarks at the conference is correct, let me point out that Skype’s application is forbidden, blocked and otherwise interfered with by the largest CTIA members.[1] When CTIA members claim that “the entire Internet is open,” the intended implication is that the entire Internet is open, including to multi-modal Internet communications applications like Skype. The truth of the matter, however, is that, despite their representations to the contrary, applications are blocked even on the most recently-announced advanced handsets.[2] The proof of Skype’s argument is in the conduct of CTIA members, no matter what speeches are made at conferences. If Skype is blocked, the network is not open.

I also would like to take this opportunity to remind you that CTIA is currently suing the Commission to overturn the very openness rule they now claim to embrace. If the wireless industry is serious about openness, CTIA would immediately withdraw that litigation.

CTIA attempts to sidestep the fact that its members’ networks are not open by arguing that Skype itself is closed and, apparently, therefore cannot advocate consumer empowerment principles and network openness. To make this point, they cite a blog post by Mr. Michael Robertson, CEO of Gizmo Project, a VOIP application. Fundamentally, Mr. Robertson is wrong. Mr. Robertson confuses open networks with open platforms. Skype is an open platform. Anyone, anywhere on the planet can download Skype for free, and he or she will be able to use Skype. Skype’s software is open to any application developer through our public Application Programming Interface (‘API’) program. Over 10,000 developers have taken advantage of this API and are part of Skype’s developer program. In fact there are many applications that use Skype’s APIs to send calls to/from Skype users and SIP endpoints, including VoSky, Fring, etc. Skype also recently collaborated with Digium/Asterisk, which will now bring Skype into “soft PBXs” for millions of users and allow many forms of applications and services to connect to Skype seamlessly.

Mr. Robertson is also wrong on the law. He rehashes the incumbent wireless operators’ various arguments against network neutrality and confuses to whom the Internet Policy Statement applies. Openness rules are properly targeted at network operators because of the limited intermodal choices available to US consumers in a wireless market dominated by the top three operators. Conversely, there is nearly limitless choice in Internet applications, with fierce competition and few or no barriers to entry. Quite properly, therefore, the Internet Policy Statement applies to networks and not to applications. Its aim is to assure an open Internet so that consumers can choose from the limitless number of applications available to Internet users, absent discrimination by network operators. To apply it to Internet applications would flipt the Internet Policy statement on its head. What the network operators are doing is very different. They restrict consumer choice by blocking Skype and other applications to which consumers would like to have access. To apply the Internet Policy Statement to Internet applications would flip the Policy Statement on its head.

We greatly appreciate CTIA’s invitation to attend the April show in Las Vegas. If CTIA members would like to prove their openness once and for all, Skype’s top executives will be available to attend the conference. When a Skype user can legally call the Chairman of the FCC on the mobile broadband networks of each of the top three wireless networks, we will know that their conduct is consistent with the consumer empowerment principles of the Internet Policy Statement.

We look forward to working with the Commission and CTIA members to ensure that the whole Internet – including multimodal applications such as Skype – is available to consumers.

Respectfully submitted,

Christopher Libertelli
Senior Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs
SKYPE COMMUNICATIONS S.A.R.L.
6e etage, 22/24 boulevard Royal,
Luxembourg, L-2449 LUXEMBOURG

1. Most network operators continue to restrict VoIP and or P2P applications on their network in apparent violation of the protocol-agnostic network management techniques employed by other operators, including Comcast.

2. See, e.g., Daniel Roth, Android: No VOIP for You -- and Other Oddities With the Google Phone. Sep. 23, 2008. In addition, commenting on the iPhone’s closed operating system, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, said "Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down...I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed." Oct 8, 2008

tags: skype, sprint, nextel, ctia, policy, suit, api, sip, vosky, fring, digium, asterisk

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Fall-Winter-Summer growth

2008-10-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

Jean Mercier is the Skype Numerologist and a regular contributor to Skype Journal.

As usual after a Northern Hemisphere Summer, the growth of Skype users is again visible. Not that there is no growth in summer but

less people are working,
more people switch their computers off while they are in the garden, or
they are traveling and have less access to Internet.

Therefore, fewer users are online at the same time.

Those summers are very visible on the "million milestones" graph that I published last week. In all the past years, excluding the first year, the dots representing the "million milestones" are quite close to each other (see the brown left braces), except when there is a July-August period in the middle (see the red "summer" arrows).

So, what for 2008-2009? I would guess that Skype will as usual add two more "million dots' to its graph before July 2009 (see the Sky(pe) Blue extrapolated dots), going well over the 15 million people online. And I predict also that Skype will reach 16 million concurrent users somewhere around September 2009. But it is only a guess :-)

About growth speed

Each time that I pretend that the growth of Skype isn’t exponential, but linear or even slowing down, fellow blogger Hudson Barton tries to refute it. See his comment on my last post for instance (yes, aaytch, is Hudson himself)!

Perhaps I was a bit too fast and too rude to answer (I apologize for this), because indeed the last 12 months were much better, than the previous 12 months. But anyway, let me analyze the table above, to explain why I still feel I am right. The table shows the top or record concurrent users online at several dates in the past.

The third column is the mean daily (rounded) number of additional concurrent users online at “peak time” for a certain time span. For instance:

The last two weeks (before September 22), the mean increase was 35000 additional concurrent users online.
The last year it was 9800 additional concurrent users online.
And so on.

How do we predict the future? Based on the last two weeks (+35000)? Or on the last 6 months (only +5300!), or on the last year? We can’t predict the future of course, we only can make guesses.

Choosing periods smaller than a year is often wrong for predicting long term growth. Changes in speed in smaller periods can however teach us something about temporary effects (the success of the launch of new Skype features, or the seasonal “Northern Hemisphere summer” effect).

For the long term past growth, we the see that the 2007-2008 season (+9800 users/per day) was very much better than the previous season (+6500). Does this mean that the growth is much faster? Is Hudson right? Could be, but in my opinion, the season 2006-2007 (+6500) was a very bad one compared with the two previous ones (+8300 and +10000), and last year (+9800) was just catching up again.

Only the future will tell, and some signs are very promising: Asterisk, Client version 4.0, Skype for iPhone, perhaps even multiparty videoconferencing, …

tags: skype, trends, stats, statistics, seasonality

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TOM-Skype Breach: Questions from 2006

2008-10-08T04:18:00.001-07:00

Reblogging this post from 19 April 2006.

The Financial Times' Alison Maitland scored an interview with Niklas Zennström that ran yesterday. In it Zennström confirms the TOM-Skype joint venture censors text messages on behalf of the Chinese government. He claims: "One thing that’s certain is that those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users."

I posed the following questions to Skype but they have no comment beyond trying to insulate Skype from responsibility.

"The Skype offering in China is actively managed by our joint venture in the country; TOM Online. Skype works hard to co-operate with local laws and regulations in all markets where we do business."

Is TOM only filtering chats where at least one of the callers' accounts were signed up by TOM Online?
Will TOM filter chats if both parties are Chinese nationals but outside the PRC, say traveling in the US?
Is TOM only filtering conversations where at least one of the parties are using the custom version of the Skype client written for the joint venture?
Will TOM filter conversations using the TOM client being used by non-PRC nationals who are outside of China?
Does TOM's contract with Skype provide for disclosure to Skype and Skype users when their information is provided to a government official?
Are records of what the filter does kept? If so, by whom? Does Skype have or keep copies of those record?
Does the filtering mechanism use a list of keywords? If so, is the list public? May I have a copy? Who has the list? How often does it change?
Are the keywords only in Simplified Chinese or are they in other languages too?
Is China the only country where Skype and Skype's partner have set up filtering?
Do all Skype chats have the potential for a hidden participant, whether human or a robot?
Are filenames for transfer subject to filtering?
Are people's names among the keywords?
Are the content of files transferred via Skype also subject to filtering?
Does Skype encrypt end-to-end the IMs that are subject to filtering?
In a multiparty, multinational chat, can I as an American citizen have my text to a British subject filtered if someone from Shanghai is in that chat too?
Are audio conversations, where at least one party is in China, being listened to, filtered or recorded?
Are all calls filtered, or only if users meet certain criteria, or are conversations selected for filtering randomly?

Skype's founders are not strangers to prickly questions of international law and corporate ethics. Their background with file sharing firm Kazaa left them very aware of the business and technology strategies available and their legal and social consequences. This is also a context where phone companies completely block Skype.com and Skype conversations.

Did the ethics conversation ever take place at Skype when they agreed to the Chinese joint venture?

Who was involved and was there a real debate?

And did eBay understand this situation before the acquisition?

TOM-Skype Breach: Does TOM-Skype bring users?

2008-10-07T16:50:00.001-07:00

So, why Skype doesn't just walk away from a partnership?

Results matter.

86 thousand new people have signed up daily for two years.

You have to do what's right, but the temptation to stay and the cost of leaving is strong.

Source material...

In the 2006 Annual Report:

At the end of January 2007, there were over 31.5 million registered TOM-Skype users, up from over 9.0 million at the end of February 2006, an increase of over 22.5 million new registered users.

In the 2007 Annual Report:

At the end of February 2008, TOM-Skype registered users were close to 63 million, up from about 31 million and 51 million at the end of December 2006 and July 2007, respectively.

In the news release titled "TOM Online Reports Second Quarter 2007 Results":

At the end of June 2007, we have over 42.0 mn TOM-Skype registered users up from over 35.5 mn at the end
of March 2007.

So, moving things one day for the convenience of starting on the first of a month:

Date	TOM-Skype Accounts (millions)		Source
3/1/2006	9.0		ANNUAL REPORT 2006
1/1/2007	31.0	71k	ANNUAL REPORT 2007
2/1/2007	31.5	16k	ANNUAL REPORT 2006
4/1/2007	35.5	67k	TOM Online Q2-2007
7/1/2007	42.0	71k	TOM Online Q2-2007
8/1/2007	51.0	290k	ANNUAL REPORT 2007
3/1/2008	63.0	56k	ANNUAL REPORT 2007

tags: skype, trends, accounts, statistics, china, tom-skype, tom, chart

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TOM-Skype Breach: A Promise

2008-10-06T11:50:00.001-07:00

Skype made a promise to its users from the very start. Here's a page on their web site, No adware, spyware or malware, where they make that promise to this day.

No adware, spyware or malware

Skype is totally safe from these pesky blighters.

Skype protects and maintains your online security and peace of mind. This means that it will not display unwanted and intrusive advertising, or allow any malware or spyware to operate.

No adware – no intrusive adverts.

No spyware – nothing logs your online activity.

No malware – no programs that could adversely affect your computer.

What is adware?

Adware is a type of software that makes money by automatically delivering unwanted advertisements usually as pop-ups. Normally it is very hard, if not impossible, to turn off the adware causing the problem.

Because you always have the ability to turn advertising messages off on the Skype software, we believe Skype is free of adware.

What is spyware?

Spyware is a type of software that automatically installs itself on your computer, usually without your knowledge, and covertly collects and transmits data about your computer use. For example, spyware may monitor a user’s behaviour and pass on details of a their online activity (for example, their usernames or passwords) to a third party for use in identity theft and fraud.

Skype does not allow any spyware to be included.

What is malware?

Malware (or malicious software) relates to software that is designed to infiltrate or damage a computer operating system or other programs. These are often described as computer viruses, worms, or Trojan horses. They sometimes come combined with other software and load in the background.

Skype never allows any other programs to be installed unless you are clearly informed of their presence.

As of 6 October 2008.

tags: skype, adware, spyware, malware, brand, marketing, behavior

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Andy's Travel Tips ...

2008-10-06T07:15:00.001-07:00

Andy Abramson at VoIP Watch travels a lot to keep up with his ever expanding list of clients. And he has been having his home office renovated for the past few months. So he gets more experience than most of us dealing with all the trivia of travel, including keeping his communications costs down. Check out his post "Mastering Better Working Anywhere" for the details including:

7. For places you visit regularly, buy a pre-paid SIM card, avoid roaming rates. If you visit multiple countries get a travel sim from SIM4TRAVEL or MaxRoam. If you are in WiFi environments a lot, get an account with client Truphone. Bottom line is you will save money and be more connected.

He failed to mention his overall mobile strategy but Saturday he called me from a new Skypephone 2; I initially took the call on my Blackberry Bold (to which my Skype account is forwarded). Perfect call quality for a 5 minute conversation; when I arrived home we continued the call over my PC Skype connection with excellent voice quality. Andy thinks 3 sets the standard for carrier services; the final confirmation? He actually bought two Skypephone 2's (the second one for his wife) on prepaid plans for a total of £99. His conclusion:

Bottom line, if you're heading to the UK or any country 3 serves, you can expect this kind of a great experience. That makes 3 a Working Anywhere Approved carrier.

Tags: 3, Skypephone, SIM4TRAVEL, MaxRoam, VoIP Watch, Andy Abramson

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Monday - Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 Workshop

2008-10-05T16:08:00.001-07:00

From the Yahoo! Messenger Blog:

Have questions about the new Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 that we released recently? Join us for a live, moderated Workshop on Monday, October 6th at 3pm Pacific time (time zone converter).

At the workshop you’ll be able to submit questions directly to Yahoo! staff members about our latest 9.0 version. We’ll answer as many questions as we can during the workshop, and we’ll post the transcript from the Workshop here on the blog afterwards.

Unable to attend on October 6th but still want to participate? You can pre-submit your questions before the Workshop by going here:
http://forums.prospero.com/yh-event001

Melissa Daniels
Yahoo! Messenger Community Manager

tags: yahoomessenger, yahoo, workshop, events

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Nart Villeneuve's Q&A on TOM-Skype's Firewall Breach

2008-10-05T04:57:00.001-07:00

Internet Censorship Explorer Nart Villeneuve has been getting lots of questions about his "Breaching Trust" report and issued a Q&A that answers some common questions. Initially he describes how he determined that messages containing key words were being uploaded to a web server. (The technologically curious can get the answer through accessing the link.) He then goes on to say:

Is “normal” Skype affected?

No. The Skype software downloaded from skype.com is not affected by the behavior. The only time “normal” Skype users are affected is when they communicate with TOM-Skype users.
What is TOM-Skype and what is the difference between it and Skype?

If you go to www.skype.com from China, you are redirected to skype.tom.com — so that’s [the] version most Chinese people will use.
In 2004 Skype developed a relationship with TOM Online, a leading wireless provider in China, and announced a joint venture in 2005. Skype and TOM Online produced a special version of the Skype software, known as TOM-Skype, for use in China.

What is Skype saying, have they said anything to you?
I contacted Skype to have the security issue fixed before the report was released. So, they have configured the servers so that one can no longer view the logs and they have deleted sensitive files, such as the one containing the encryption key. Other than that contact, I’ve only seen the statements they’ve made to reporters.

The irony here is that if I find someone using the "F" word inappropriately, at my discretion, they may be deleted from my Facebook friends or Twitter contacts. In one case I reported the use to the person's parent; that person continues to be a Facebook friend but now posts without the expletives. The paranoid in me could ask "are the Chinese trying to clean up the expression of the English language?"

In closing, I would recall that Skype was involved as an element of the process in getting out to the world the message when some "Free Tibet" demonstrators put a banner up on the Great Wall of China last spring.

Hat tip to Rebecca MacKinnon for pointing to this Q&A. As mentioned in my comment to her post, for the first time in its five year history, we have seen a timely response in a crisis situation directly from the top executive at Skype; hopefully this reflects on the new directions and attitude Skype's new management team is taking in becoming more transparent with the public. Of course, along with the reported dialogue between Nart and Skype personnel, it means all the technology speculators out there have no opportunity to exercise their minds by delving into the (non)-complexity of how this was detected and corrected. But the blogosphere will survive; other issues will be taken up.

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TOM-Skype Breach: What is filtered most?

2008-10-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

Milk powder. Ah, so the list is updated frequently.

SARS. Cripple public safety worker communications for the next outbreak?

Skype. Hah!

Chart and terms provided in BREACHING TRUST: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype platform by Nart Villeneuve, Psiphon Fellow, The Citizen Lab, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Information Warfare Monitor Joint Report, ONI Asia (JR01-2008). 1 October 2008.

tags: skype, tom-skype, communist, Communist Party, Falun, Hu Jintao, Taiwan independence, Wen Jiabao, quit the party, Jiang Zemin, June 4, Olympic Games, Nine Commentaries, Li Hongzhi, earthquake, democracy, Tibet, Mao Zedong, Circumvention, Deng Xiaoping, Diaoyu Islands, Kuomintang, Tiananmen, milk powder, SARS, Voice of America, free door, filter, anti-blockade browser, Garden Network

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TOM-Skype Breach: Chinese TV News

2008-10-04T23:43:00.001-07:00

Ｓｋｙｐｅ在中國的合資公司Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ，爆發擅自儲存數以百萬則用戶的簡訊，並且將訊息儲存在缺乏足夠保密措施的電腦上，使外部人士可以很容易監控這些簡訊，對此Ｓｋｙｐｅ公司向用戶道歉。

根據加拿大多倫多大學的電腦安全專家發表報告披露，Ｓｋｙｐｅ在中國的合資公司Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ長期監控用戶在網上聊天的記錄，並且把包含了敏感內容的訊息，儲存在可從公司外部進入的伺服器上，但是由於缺乏安全措施，使外部人士可以輕易的查看經過監控系統過濾的超過一百萬則簡訊，其中很多包括政治敏感詞彙，包括共產黨、法輪功、胡錦濤、台灣獨立、溫家寶等政治敏感關鍵字，地震、奶粉等字眼也在監控範圍之內，由於Ｔｏｍ－Ｓｋｙｐｅ並沒有將事先這項行為通報Ｓｋｙｐｅ或是獲得Ｓｋｙｐｅ批准，因此Ｓｋｙｐｅ向用戶提出道歉。

[Google machine translation:]

Skype's joint venture in China, Tom-Skype, the outbreak of the unauthorized storage of millions of messages the user and the message will be stored in a lack of adequate security measures on the computer, so that outsiders can easily monitor these messages, the Skype's users are An apology.

According to the University of Toronto, Canada, computer security experts issued a report on disclosure, Skype's joint venture in China, Tom-Skype users in the long-term monitoring on-line chat records, and to contain sensitive content of the message can be stored in an external company to enter the server , But due to the lack of safety measures, so that outsiders can easily see through the monitoring system to filter the more than 1,000,000 text messages, many of which include politically sensitive terms, including the Communist Party, Falun Gong, Hu Jintao, Taiwan independence, Wen Jiabao, and other politically sensitive keywords , Earthquakes, and words such as milk powder is also within the scope of monitoring, as the Tom-Skype has not informed in advance of this act or Skype was approved by Skype, so Skype apology to the users.

tags: skype, breach, china, news, tom-skype

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excellent

2008-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

I think there should be an e-motion on my cell and skype which displays Mr. Burns with hands clasped together every time I type "excellent"

- Ben Ross

tags: skype, twitter, emoticons, emotions, the simpsons, mr. burns, excellent

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TOM-Skype Breach: Stated Risks

2008-10-04T12:34:00.001-07:00

This excerpt from the eBay Form 10K for the year ending 2006, Item 1A: Risk Factors, page 32 (screen 36 in the PDF), refers to Tom Online. TOM Group took TOM Online private.

Our operations in China are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China.

Our operations in the People’s Republic of China, or PRC, are conducted through our EachNet subsidiary, a recently announced joint venture between EachNet and Tom Online, and a PayPal subsidiary. EachNet and PayPal are Delaware corporations and foreign persons under the laws of the PRC are subject to many of the risks of doing business internationally described above in “There are many risks associated with our international operations.” The PRC currently regulates its Internet sector through regulations restricting the scope of foreign investment and through the enforcement of content restrictions on the Internet. While many aspects of these regulations remain unclear, they purport to limit and require licensing of various aspects of the provision of Internet information services. These regulations have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of foreign investments in PRC Internet companies, including the entities through which we do business in the PRC, and the business operations of such companies. In order to meet local ownership and regulatory licensing requirements, EachNet is operated through a foreign-owned enterprise indirectly owned by eBay’s European operating entity, which acts in cooperation with a local PRC company owned by certain local employees. The PayPal China website is operated through a foreign-owned enterprise owned by a PayPal subsidiary, which acts in cooperation with a local PRC company owned by certain local employees. We believe the current ownership structures of EachNet, the joint venture between EachNet and Tom Online, and PayPal comply with all existing PRC laws, rules, and regulations.

The law may not mean what we think it means.

There are, however, substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation of current PRC laws and regulations, and it is possible that the PRC government will ultimately take a view contrary to ours. The People’s Bank of China, or PBOC, has recently proposed guidelines for payment settlement organizations which may require PayPal to identify and negotiate a new business relationship to act in cooperation with a local PRC entity that is not owned by local employees and has a substantial operating history, and to obtain prior approval of the relationship from the PBOC.

Just because we have a contract, doesn't mean we have any control.

There are also uncertainties regarding EachNet’s and PayPal’s ability to enforce contractual relationships they have entered into with respect to management and control of the company’s business.

If our partners break PRC rules, we could lose everything.

If any of the entities through which we do business in the PRC were found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, they could be subject to fines and other financial penalties, have their business and Internet content provider licenses revoked, or be forced to discontinue business entirely. In addition, any finding of a violation of PRC laws or regulations by any of the entities through which we do business in the PRC could make it more difficult for us to launch new or expanded services in the PRC.

About Skype specifically:

Although Skype does not conduct operations in the PRC directly, it makes its software available through a joint venture with Tom Online and its software is used by residents of the PRC. PRC regulations surrounding VoIP telephony are unclear and the PRC or one or more of its provinces may adopt regulations or enforce existing regulations that restrict or prohibit the use of Skype’s software.

Does China have laws protecting citizen privacy?

Did Skype contract for detailed, SLA-degree security and privacy with TOM-Skype? Or were requirements left general and abstract?

tags: skype, china, privacy, prc, regulations, tom online, law, tom-skype, tom skype

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fring iphone buzz

2008-10-04T07:21:00.001-07:00

Fring is clearly tapping pent-up demand for access to Skype on mobiles. The enthusiasm for rejoining your Skype network is infectious.

The biggest limits for me: no multichat support (a big part of my onlife), no background processing (like I only live in Skype?). Jim Courtney's hands-on test may dampen your enthusiasm for fring on the iPhone. Have you had a good experience with fring?

tags: skype, fring, iphone, apple

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Making Skype Calls from Fring for iPhone

2008-10-03T20:49:00.001-07:00

Earlier today Fring, known for aggregating various IM and VoIP services onto a mobile phone, announced Fring for iPhone had become available on the Apple App Store. So I gave it a tryout this evening, exchanging chat messages and then a couple of voice calls to Skype destinations.

My quick comment:

the other party's voice was both a bit fuzzy and somewhat weak in volume.
both other parties complained of some echo; I did not hear echo at my end.
The call appeared to be going out over the iPhone's WiFi connection.
Calls went out over the WiFi connection.

The benchmark in call quality would be my experiences earlier this week where twice , when my home office cable was disconnected due to "cable plant" improvements in my neighborhood, I used iSkoot on the Blackberry Bold to call into SquawkBox via the CalliFlower voice conferencing service over the Rogers 3G network.

Let 's just say in the iSkoot calls, the technology was transparent to the discussion and I could lay the phone on my desk while still actively participating. Whereas my Fring calls would not have been of sufficient quality to carry on natural dialogue participation in a conference call. While Fring has shown to be a leader in demonstrating the potential to make such a call, it has some work to do to achieve business grade call quality.

My other comment, now having used Skype IM chat on both devices. It's much easier to have a text conversation via the Blackberry with a QWERTY real keyboard. Thick thumbs on a "touch" keyboard many errors make; as I said in my brief Fring-enabled IM Skype chat session with Dan York - I was sending these IM messages "under duress" (and with about a 25% typing error rate).

Note that during registration I encountered a bug whereby Fring would not recognize my email address, which includes a "dot" between first and last name. This is a known bug which we hope they will fix quickly, especially due to the privacy issue raised in the linked Fring forum discussion.

More to follow once I will have had a few days' experience in its use.

Mobivox leaves freemium services behind

2008-10-03T10:22:00.001-07:00

So your free users never become paying customers? What should a smart business do? Fire the freeloaders! Refocus on the profitable customers.

Mobivox did exactly that this week. After studying user behavior, data showed conversion from free-to-fee was near zero, and nothing would change that. Mobivox will devote the freed up resources to enhancing services for its commercial clients and to building up its Mobivox PL voice application platform.

Kudos to Mobivox's new management for an adult decision.

tags: mobivox, mobivoxpl, freemium, strategy, voip, platform

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eComm 2009 Call for Speakers

2008-10-03T06:15:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the most informative event I have attended on behalf of Skype Journal was last spring's Emerging Communications (eComm) 2008, held in Mountain View's Computer Museum. Three days of speakers who covered a wide range of subjects on the Emerging Communications Space.Organizer Lee Dryburgh has been putting together a repeat for next March, In order that participants can intermingle more often outside the event itself, Lee has moved the location to the San Francisco Airport Marriott. And he has just issued a "Call for Speakers".

This isn't a traditional telecom conference. The eComm audience has very high expectations of speakers. They are both seizing opportunities of the post- telecom era (or re-inventing traditional products and services) and can engage the audience. Rules include a ban on "brochure speak" from stage (overt marketing pitches) and a strict enforcement of the clock.

To keep informed on eComm 2009 program developments, join the eComm 2009 Facebook group. For more information visit the eComm 2009 website.

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The Story Behind the Story: How a Canadian cracked the Great Firewall of China

2008-10-03T05:24:00.001-07:00

As a four time graduate of the University of Toronto, I am glad to see the atmosphere for investigative research is thriving at my alma mater. A researcher at their unique Citizen Lab, "focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics", is responsible for uncovering the TOM-Skype security breach that has had widespread coverage.

Globe and Mail reporter Matt Hartley has obviously gone to the lab for an interview with researcher Nart Villeneuve for his article in today's editions: How a Canadian cracked the Great Firewall of China. .... the irony of where "lost passwords" can lead you:

When he couldn't remember the password to his Chinese MySpace account he decided to take a look at Skype.

...Using a TOM-Skype account on one computer and a regular Skype account on a nearby laptop, Mr. Villeneuve would type a word into one computer and see if the other computer received the message, to see what information would be filtered out by the service's censorship tools. When he typed in a common four-letter expletive and hit send, it didn't show up on the other computer. But he noticed something else.

Read on. Further along Matt reports:

After he contacted Skype on Wednesday to inform them of the breach, the company moved quickly to plug the holes in the TOM-Skype servers, Mr. Villeneuve said.

And, as Phil has already reported, Skype President Josh Silverman responds here, including this comment:

It's important to remind everybody that the issues highlighted in yesterday's Information Warfare Monitor / ONI Asia report refer only to communications in which one or more parties are using TOM software to conduct instant messaging. It does not affect communications where all parties are using standard Skype software. Skype-to-Skype communications are, and always have been, completely secure and private.

New York Times, Oct. 2 (registration required)

Wall Street Journal (may encounter a walled garden), noting that TOM-Skype has 69 million users, places this story in the perspective of other "Doing business in China" stories involving Microsoft, Google and Yahoo.