Business Week: The Great Firewall of China:

Skype had a dilemma. The Internet telephony and messaging service wanted to enter China with TOM Online (TOMO), a Beijing company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. Li's people told their Skype Technologies (EBAY) partners that, to avoid problems with the Chinese leadership, they needed filters to screen out words in text messages deemed offensive by Beijing. No filtering, no service.

At first Skype executives resisted, says a source familiar with the venture. But after it became clear that Skype had no choice, the company relented: TOM and Skype now filter phrases such as "Falun Gong" and "Dalai Lama." Neither company would comment on the record.

Hmmm....

1. Is the filter list embedded in Skype's source for TOM? Or updated via download? Does anyone have the url for the list?
2. Is the filtering happening in the client? Or are the TOM Skype clients passing through an IM proxy service that filters the text?
3. Does this mean that Skype ceases to be a p2p client if one of the parties is operating behind the GreatFirewall?
4. Does Skype filter voice as well as text?
5. Does Skype offer governments the option to be a hidden party to any voice or video Skype call? Or just to those downloaded from TOM?
6. Does the TOM Skype filtering engine inform the Chines agency of its specific actions and identify the speakers?
   "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)
7. Will Skype lockout specific accounts from the Skype network if asked by a government authority? Does it have to be a national security authority or will Skype respond to requests by regional and local police or civil authorities? How about divorce courts?
8. The United States (a big market too and a target for Skype growth in 2006) National Security Agency wants the power to eavesdrop on Skype conversations too. Will Skype give them access too?

Back in April I wrote that the United Arab Emirates was blocking VoIP traffic and the Skype.com web site. They still are. The latest of many comments:

Damian:

My hopes of broadband quashed in UAE as I read the terms and conditions set by Etisalat which makes VOIP basically "illegal" or against the ISP's policy. When calling a rep to confirm this I was frankly told "NO We do not allow any such Voice Telephony Services being used through our networks. eg VOIP. And if you are found using such services (refering to VOIP), including bypassing our services through the use of VPNs to disguise these activities, we will promptly cease your internet services and may well be prosecuted and fined. Hmmmm. BOO!!!! And in addition to that, their tech are consistantly monitoring such activities (refering to VOIP).

Firesupport:

2006 the Asian games will be in Qatar. lots of guests and tourists will come here in this situation Qtel can run their monopoly bad telephone network with high rates. even now they are charging a very big amount on international calls with their land and mobile lines nobody to ask if somebody ask or right about this their life will be in trouble.. the time is now someone should come to distroy this kind of monopoly systems

So who should organize an Internet Freedom protest at the Asian Games?

• UAE Etilisat moving forward with Skype call blocking. (GulfNews via BlogRamble)
• Skype Bug allows you to listen to music. (Sermonade) My WinAmp on your speakers.
• Sony to put Instant Video Everywhere on their Vaios. VoIP/Video softphone has multichat video.
• The reason webcams need blinders. (User Friendly)
• Skype rivals: Monster Communicator, JSkype, vBuzzer. Anyone try these Skype rivals?
• The GestureBank, a service of the Attention Economy (Steve Gillmor)
• Advice for working through a bad situation. (Mena Trott) Hard earned truths.
  1. Read what your customers have to say
  2. Ignore the tone of nasty complaints, but pay attention to the underlying messages
  3. Understand that the people giving feedback represent many who remain silent
  4. Don’t spend too much energy on distractions
  5. Don't be afraid to communicate
  6. Trust your customers
• At Traditional Phone Companies, Jobs May Not Last a Lifetime (New York Times). They blame fiber!
• 45k new Chinese Skypers daily. Skype may launch translation service in 2006. (Time Magazine)

Niklas Zennström speaks on intellectual property rights. (Tony Hallet, Silicon.com) "Software patents are hindering innovation. Patents should be granted when there is real innovation and real investment in innovation." "We allow third-party developers to develop on our platform. It's a great way to do it. We are helping them be successful. But there is a mental threshold you have to go through. People [at Skype] say 'Maybe we could have done that'."

EULAscan about Skype: customer written EULA reviews. My line-by-line review of the Skype Terms of Service.

Wael Ghandour's Guide to blocking Skype Blocking Skype Using Squid and OpenBSD (Help Net Security). Instructions for network admins.

Macromedia and Jabber make secure IM a selling point to the US Government. (Les perles du chat). Whereas Skype's secure messaging gets it banned? the news release. Government is a largely untapped market for Skype.

overview of the vTraveller USB handset (Gadget Spy). Skype Certified. Dial by saying the names of people in your address book. From VoIP Voice.

Skype + Trillian = SkyLlian (Hesspoint). SkyLlian brings your Skype contacts into Trillian.

Torcamp Rocked! (Alec Saunders) Bohemian 2.0?

Don't Buy DSL From This Man ... If You Can Help It (Tom Evslin). "Ed Whitacre is CEO of SBC, the huge local telecom monopoly which is about to swallow AT&T. The excitement of the progeny buying the former parent may be going to his head." Whitacre is dangerous to Skype. He thinks users and Skype should pay SBC/AT&T for Skype traffic over the DSL or cable line you're already renting.

Popular Post: Bluetooth & Skype (Skype Journal, February 2005).

• Tom Online comes to Skype's aid in China (ChinaTechNews.com). Skype's closest partner in China is negotiating with China's telcom operators on Skype's behalf.
• US Verso Tech confirms sale of Skype-blocking software in China (Forbes). How do you say "negotiating power" in Mandarin?
• Microsoft roars into VoIP market (Computerworld). "Industry observers say the catalyst for this is Skype..."
• Radio Shack to offer a range of Skype-related Products (The New York Times). Skype to be featured in holiday catalogs and displayed in stores with special "kiosks."
• ETel: Makers Wanted! (O'Reilly Radar Blog) "...looking for participants in the ETel Fair at our Emerging Telephony conference (conference is Jan 24-26, San Francisco; Fair is the evening of the 25th)".

Thanks to contributor Rick Hultz,a telecom and technology analyst who has followed Skype since it's beginning.

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:

• Big picture reading for the weekend: danah boyd's Why Web2.0 Matters: Preparing for Glocalization - Part 1 and
  Part 2. Does Skype fit into Web 2.0? How about into Microsoft's "Live" vision of application and communication services?
  
• Om Malik on the attitude change from supporting each other in a p2p community of Skype users vs. supporting eBay's stockholders. A question of brand? Buzz Machine follows up by saying those who build businesses on the contributions (words, pictures, bandwidth) of participants merely rent them.
  
• The most threatening meme for Skype: "Skype versus Gizmo Project. Its like IE versus Firefox." from the This Week in VoIP podcast.
  
• The wikipedia entry for Skype Technologies S.A. needs updating. Just dive in and add updates.
  
• O'Reilly updated Glenn Fleishman's How to Record a Podcast Interview on the Macintosh. A classic.

Ebay

First off, Ebay finished buying Skype last week. Skype Technologies, S.A., is still a stand alone company, but Ebay owns all the stock. Just over a month from the announcement; speedy, neh?

Steve Dzemidzenka tips us to an ISP-Planet interview with a company that offers pay-per-call advertising on Ebay (vs. pay-per-click); a great read and with one or two insights into models Skype may enable. A related AP story: Online ads urge surfers to pick up the telephone.

Some folks don't like Skype

Skype is still banned on university campuses in France. (Thanks, Alain.) Verso is still selling a filter to block Skype traffic. (Thanks, Mr. Harvey.) Qatar is still blocking Skype software downloads and Skype purchases. (Thanks, Jeff) Can you suggest a reliable way to tell if my Skype traffic is blocked?

From the Skype Ecology

Ipevo launched a family of Skype Certified phones last week, shortly after Linksys and Skype announced a co-branded Skype-only mobile handset and base station. While Skype says the Linksys is certified (via SparkPR), you wouldn't know it by reading the Linksys product literature, the Skype news release, or the product page on Amazon. Everyone else pays dearly for the Skype Certification and brags about it mercilessly; why not Linksys?

Look2Skype, the Outlook plug-in, is upgraded.

Maintaining the key benefit of Look2Skype which is the minimal inteference with Outlook, whereby it doesn't cause it to crash, or slow it down. Some of the new features are:

1. Instant access to all skype contacts from Outlook.
2. Extract callto:// signatures from e-mail.
3. Auto-recognise of skype contacts from e-mails.
4. Free text entry of phone numbers or skype names for contacting. Stewart Bissett

Recovery 2.0

This disaster is in a war zone.

• Families in Kashmir prevailed upon Indian authorities' better natures to open up cross-border phone service, normally carefully scheduled and monitored for security reasons.
• Volunteers are setting up a QuakeHelp Relief Hotline using SMS. Skype was unable to help with a voice line this time (they helped in Katrina relief) because they don't have SkypeIn services in India. Good sources: QuakeHelp and the QuakeHelp blog.
• Pakistan banned public access to satellite imagery of the disaster zone. Security. In a fight-or-flight, clench or relax, response, one or the other response is better. Restricting geo information breaks the decentralized operation of the Internet. You want to open up resources and remove obstacles for the many thousands of online volunteers who can put that data to work. Fortunately, relief workers voices persuaded the UN to re-publish much of the imagery and data. A win for emergent organization.
• The term "Recovery 2.0" is a flexible set of online tools and behaviors that can help invidividuals and groups organize themselves around any crisis. I've proposed a few possible projects on the wiki (feel free to register and add your own):
  • Phone Bank Network; the telephone remains the dominant way people communicate. We need tools to deploy volunteer phone banks that scale rapidly and cheaply.
  • Emergent Relay Service; provide a framework for live interpretation for cross-language and cross-mode communications.
  • Wish I could take credit: Mesh-Networking Cellphones; Why aren't there ad-hoc battery-powered "cell towers in a barrel" that could be "bombed" or floated into disaster zones to turn the thousands of useless cell phones in people's pockets into a crisis mesh network?

Skype at Work

Enterprise Skype isn't even vaporware, but the need is real. For example:

I was wondering if there exists a Skype Proxy server for enterprise use? Essentially, all Skype traffic would flow through this edge device, but would also allow for Skype-to-Skype traffic to stay internal to an organization without having to contact SuperNodes. HTTPS Proxies don't really provide any control of Skype traffic since they blindly pass all traffic since it's so volitile.

Also, is there a product that will allow multiple Skype clients to connect to a PBX simultaneously? Thus, be able to make calls from a Skype client to any phone on the PBX. I've seen some hardware solutions, but they seem primitive and only allow 1:1 communication. I'm looking for large scale many:many.

Thanks, Joe Schwendt

Another case:

Hi guys, I run a 450 person company's IT department. Yesterday Verizon had a man-hole fire and cut our lines completely, so we were phone-less for the whole day. We're a financial services company so you can imagine how freaked out everyone was.

What I was thinking last night is, what if Skype had a great enterprise version, that we could purchase 50 accounts for, and get them set up, distribute mics to our top 50 offices and have a back-up plan immediately in effect

Help Wanted:

We're always glad to post job listings of interest to the Skype Journal community.

Hi. We are currently looking for an Asterisk developer who has experience in integrating Skype to an Asterisk-powered IVR.

Skype me and I'll pass along your interest.

TOM Online faces severe competitive and regulatory problems in China per reports compiled by Jirong Zhou. Jirong posted to his Zalbazone blog that TOM Online is not only far last in a three-way race for the Chinese IM market, but that major telecom operators are defending their own VoIP strategies (vaporware?) by blocking Skype.com and SkypeOut in major Chinese cities.

This is another example of telco incumbents aggressively defending their turf. Could Skype have picked a better partner, one with stronger guanxi, one better able to negotiate access to China's major markets and forge more alliances with China's regulators and incumbents? Right now they're walking away from SkypeOut revenue. How long until Chinese users get the same service as Skype users everywhere else?

The full article, including screenshots of the blockage and quotes from Tom.com CEO Wang Leilei follow...

From this post.

Cold Water

For Tom.com, third largest Portal in China
For Skype, world's largest VOIP player
For Tom Skype, their Joint Venture.

Just 3 days after Skype and TOM Online announced an exclusive joint venture (51% TOM Online, 49% Skype), there appeared a negative news on Sina's homepage, China's largest Portal. Telecom Operators are going to block Skype in ShenZheng, Shanghai, Beijing, GuangZhou. Red circled in the up picture.

I found the picture in Tom's Skype forum showing he is unable to login SkypeNet. A journalist from First Financial Daily reported his experience by calling China Telecom Shenzhen branches' 10000 service number. They said:

We detected that he used SkypeOut which is illegal to use. His number is in the black list. He must Guarantee not to use it any more. Or he will get the FINE.

Tom failed to land SkypeOut in June. And the Information Industry Department files that it is illegal to operate VOIP except the 6 Operators in China.

Within one year, TomSkype successfully get a 3.4M user group. It's an amazing rapid speed, however it still looks too slow, compared to Tencent's hundreds of Millions user group. Wang Leilei, Tom.com CEO, said,

"It's impossible to be profitable even if the 3.4M users are all using SkypeOut. So we are not going to seek opportunities to land Skypeout in the near future. The joint company is going to enrich user experiences with TomSkype."

Virtual Operators

Though it's illegal to offer VOIP Service, there are many operators making deals under the surface. Up to now only 263 got a pc to pc VOIP operating license.

Phone to Phone and PC to Phone are settled as basic Telecom service, only the 6 Operators has the legal identity to offer service. All other parties are designated as Virtual Operators. What's their fate?

[Posted by Jirong Zhou 2005-09-08 19:36:22. Mr. Zhou is business development and marketing director for Skype developer The Masters Team, maker of PowerGramo (coming into beta soon).]

From China Tech News:

China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) reiterated that it still has not formulated guidelines concerning VoIP businesses and that many current VoIP businesses could potentially be illegal.

Companies like Netease (NTES), Tom Online (TOMO), Skype, and Tencent have all started VoIP services in China. And the 263 Group and HL95 have also recently entered the sector.

The VoIP sector offers great financial rewards for companies because voice communications on the network can be as much as ten times cheaper than traditional fixed-line phones.

MII says that it is still testing VoIP and forbids illegal "phone cafes" from opening in China. It also offered no clear date on when it will issue guidelines for businesses to operate legally.