NY Times on VoIP, Skype Profile and the FBI

securitas writes "The New York Times Business section published a longish profile of P2P VoIP startup Skype, founded by the people that brought you P2P file-sharing client Kazaa. Previously the domain of geeks everywhere, this is significant if only because it seems to signal that VoIP is starting to garner mainstream consumer interest and serious business interest. The article discusses Vonage and a Daiwa Securities telecom report that says Skype 'is something to be scared of, and is probably set to become the biggest story of the year.' Critics dismiss it as hype. But Skype faces a potential court battle with the FBI. 'Because traffic over Skype is strongly encrypted and distributed over wide-ranging sources, it could hamper authorities' ability to wiretap.' An FBI spokesman says, '... it is something that we are looking into.' Of course last week's Minnesota federal court ruling that exempts VoIP from traditional telecom legislation doesn't hurt the case for VoIP. The text of the ruling is expected to be available this week. Read the previous Slashdot stories on Skype and the Vonage vs Minnesota case for some background."

Comments

Re:500 Server errors, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

The number of goatse.cx links on /. has been increasing. That immense, vacuous void has been sucking in approximately 30% of all outgoing /. packets.

Sad new Chong Lei-Dong dead at 41

[Anonymous Coward]

I just heard some sad news on talk radio. Famed Chinese Taikonaut Chong Lei-Dong 41 was found dead at his hotel this morning. The chosen first Chink in space had a greased up YODA doll stuffed up his rear. Even if you did not enjoy his work, there is no denying his contribution the the Chink space program. Truly a Chinese icon!