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Skype + Kazaa = ?
An anonymous reader writes "Kazaa has now embedded Skype in their v3.0 download." This isn't a surprising pairing, and it adds millions of VoIP users to the network ... the article also notes that this might bring out the spammers as well.
People using Kazaa in most cases would just leave Kazaa running in background and not bother using the messaging function. If they really want to chat to his peers, those DLers probably already know IRC which is in most cases, IRC is faster. Not to mention VoIP will compete for bandwidth from local computer, making both program slower.
Well in this case I say more power to them!
Skype is fairly bloated which the OSS will have to deal with at some point but it is really an excellent program, I wish it supported other information about users such as ICQ #'s and MSN user names. This would make it integrate better with older IM's. But on the whole their business model is pretty good.
They don't charge for fractions of a minute which they will eventually need to start doing but mostly I couldn't be happier with their business ethos.
Or is it possible to "virtually" listen to your PC/house exploiting this ?.
... and I don't use Kazaa (firewalls) , what's the point really ?...
:)
Btw, I like Skype
Mmm.. better get a tinfoil hat
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
Skype have been working quite hard to distance themselves from their Kazaa roots. Even if the their product has been great, many people have been wondering if they inluded spyware into the Skype installation, just like Kazaa. And now this!
Note: I'm a happy Skype user myself, but I can see that this might lead to their reputation taking a plunge.
I guess it makes it into more of a friends network. In the end the RIAA is going to have to sue real friends who swap CDs, send music over their IM file-transfer and listen to eachothers streams. Hows it going to look the next time they sue someone who's been sharing songs with his sister on Kazaa?
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I thought everyone had switched by now.
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Skype uses 256-bit encryption, so the only easy way to intercept this kind of voice data would be to do it before it is encrypted by bundling Skype in an evil wrapper application like say... KAZAA
People should not fear what they do not understand; people should fear because they do not understand.
No. It is a lose-lose.
1. Kazaa does not become any more legitimate because Skype is not using anything in it. It is just a bundle. I suspect that it is not even using Kazaa information for supernode and relay selection which it definitely could have done. And as many other people have pointed out putting vitamins in a cigarette pack does not make the cigarettes eligible for the taxation levied on health product. It is still taxed as cigarettes.
2. This will give a number of legitimate reasons for a list of usual suspects to go after skype. They are only waiting for an opportunity to open a broadside at it and they will grab the chance and run. I seriously doubt that Verizon would have taken such a tough "fight all subpoenas" stance if these subpoenas would have also cleaned competitors for its VOIP service.
3. As a network admin I wipe both programs anywhere I see them for liability reasons, but many people have allowed Skype, but disallowed Kazaa. I suspect that they are going to disallow both now. This will take out people who are most likely to become paying skypeOut or In customers. At the same time a bunch of freeloaders will come along who are least likely to pay anything as long as they can. So this move will also hit Skype financially in the long run.
4. The only reason I see for this move is a possible Skype IPO or digging for a new funding round. They are looking at a possibility to wave numbers at people with wallets and make a run once it becomes clear that the numbers are not related to anything substantial as far as finances go.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
256 bit encryption does not mean guaranteed secure, the crypto has to be done right..
But you have a good point about Kazaa, companies that make software whose primary purpose is helping folk to rip off copyright holders may be popular with the folk who they help but tend to be 'ethically challenged' in other ways. The peer to peer companies have long worked hand in hand with spyware peddlers.
Its like the folk who elect a government who preaches self interest and are then surprised when they govern for their own personal self interest not the folk who voted for them.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
FYI, the company that made Kazaa also made Skype.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
Kazaa get the respectability it seeks
I'm afraid it'll go the other way; the illegal piracy associated with Kazaa will taint the name of Skype, and the latter using a peer-to-peer network setup can only worsen its image (consider the claim "see, all P2P is the same and illegal...even this phone software is included with music-swapping software").