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?