Technology | observations

Skype Journal: Friday Scan

November 3, 2005 02:49 PM

Just received my Logitech QuickCam Fusion, now happily hanging like a lizard off the top of my laptop display. I am soooo ready for Skype video. engadget first look; Dark Vision Hardware description; buy Logitech QuickCam Fusion on Amazon, on Froogle.

National Public Radio's Larry Abramson did a segment on Internet Telephony Attracting Mainstream Users for All Things Considered, October 12, 2005. "Internet telephony, known as 'voice over Internet protocol' or VOIP, has grown to be a mainstream application that could someday replace traditional phone service. The market for VOIP is broadening to include regular households who don't care how it works but are attracted by the low cost." Features our own Kevin Delaney.

Luleå University isn't ready for Skype voice, let alone video. From a post by Peter Parnes, PhD, Chief Scientist, to the Skype Forum: "Skype has been forbidden at the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden for a while as well." Kevin Tolly's column, Can Skype be a good corporate citizen? in Network World last month, argues for Skype to make the effects of its use transparent and easily understood by enterprise network admins and IT managers. This gives them more choices than allowing/disallowing Skype at work.

Wired: Furor Grows Over Internet Bugging. Skype appears subject to US CALEA wiretap law, meaning it must make all calls tappable on demand by police. Any lawyers who can clarify the questions of jurisdiction?

  • an eBay be held accountable for Skype, now that they own it? or does that exposure end at the Luxembourg border?
  • Does CALEA apply to my employer if I'm using Skype at work?
  • Does CALEA apply to Skype if they don't run any of the hardware or networks over which my voice travels?

Is this law enforcement or Big Brother? Next thing you know, they'll want to build a breathalyzer phone into Skype. (Good advice: Don't Drink and Skype.)

Unanswered security questions from Damien Miller about the Tom Berson Skype Security Evaluation.

Weekend projects:


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Comments (3)

If CALEA is applicable to Skype, then it will kill the basic architecture of Skype. Since one of the CALEA requirements is that nobody be able to discern that a call is being intercepted, ALL calls need to be routed through interception point(s). This means Skype needs to handle all media traffic. No more P2P for media. Since signaling is a small fraction of the full load, why bother with Supernodes.

Posted by: Aswath at November 4, 2005 2:14 PM

I knew there was a reason we needed IMS! The FCC post-Powell is just the lackey of the telco camp. Hopefully this CALEA-on-IP-services nonsense will be thrown out once they take a trip to Starbucks and inhale deeply...

Posted by: Paul Jardine at November 4, 2005 7:56 PM

Phil,

If I follow things correctly, I think that CALEA only applies to part of the Skype network. I think that it only applies to the Skype In and Skype Out gateways where the Skype network interfaces with the POTS network in the US.

This is just my interpretation of what's going on.

It's clear that the technology is changing faster than most governments and organizations can react. I think this is why many governments and organizations choose to ban new technologies like Skype until they fully understand them. Banning new technologies is certainly a "head in the sand" type of approach to life in my opinion . . .

Cheers,

Steve

Posted by: Steve at November 8, 2005 8:59 AM