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Skype + Kazaa = ?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the you-can-chat-with-the-pirates dept.

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.

29 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Skype by Vicsun · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here is the wikipedia entry, and here is Skype's general FAQ which will probably answer any questions you have.

  2. So this means... by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll be able to get calls from random strangers asking for songs? I guess I could sing them a few bars.

    1. Re:So this means... by TheMediaWrangler · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.
    2. Re:So this means... by Mantorp · · Score: 5, Informative

      on regular skype if you accept calls from everyone and list yourself in the directory random people will call you all the time

    3. Re:So this means... by brianosaurus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...companies that make software whose primary purpose is helping folk to rip off copyright holders ...

      I'm so tired of this.

      The labels in the UK just announced they've had their best earnings ever. US music labels have increased revenue even while decreasing the quantity (and quality) of releases. If anyone is getting ripped off, its the consumers NOT the music companies.

      Downloads are an excellent way to preview music before you buy, so you can spend your $15 on music you know you will enjoy instead of being disappointed. Happy consumers will likely purchase more than those who get repeatedly burned buying 1-hit wonders.

      Not all p2p software is backed by unethical companies, and a lack of ethics isn't unique to that industry by any stretch of the imagination. The RIAA has hardly been ethical with their scare tactics.

      I do agree with your comment about the government.

      --
      blog
  3. Ooops... forgot the second link by Vicsun · · Score: 3, Informative

    General FAQ link

  4. I wonder who would use it. by SYSS+Mouse · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  5. Ring Ring by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Beep....
    You: "Hang on, ive got another call"
    You: Click "Hello?"
    Caller: "Hello, this is the RIAA, stop singing happy birthday to your grandson on the other side of the world."

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
    1. Re:Ring Ring by shird · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ring Ring...

      You: "Hello?"
      Madonna: "What the fuck do you think youre doing?"

      --
      I.O.U One Sig.
  6. P2P legitimate uses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a good thing.

    Let's please have legitimate uses for P2P so that the greedy fuckers at RIAA and MPAA can't run around trying to ban P2P on the basis that it only has detrimental uses.

    Imagine if cooking or hunting wasnt invented, knives would have been banned cause it would only be used for killing people.

    Think about it .. why is the bomb makin illegal?

    Ridiculous but true.

    1. Re:P2P legitimate uses by DaHat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ahh the typical stupid P2P zealot who thinks that copyright infringement, just because it hurts the MPAA and RIAA is ok.

      Yes, p2p does have legitimate purposes, unlike the VCR though, many services, including Kazaa are primarily used for copyright infringement.

      The reason they have gone after Kazaa and not say... the maker(s) of bit torrent, is that Kazaa was designed from the get go for copyright infringement. Bram Cohen didn't have downloading music and movies in mind, but legitimate content distribution, to quote from the BitTorrent website:

      You have a great product, many customers, and are delivering your product to hordes of happy customers online. Serving large files creates problems of scaling, flash crowds, and reliability. As you grow, they become more central to your business, but your bandwidth costs go up as well. It's a vicious cycle.

      There is a solution. BitTorrent is a simple software product which addresses all of these problems.

      Kazaa on the other hand, like Napster and many others were with... less legitimate purposes in mind.

      Besides... last I checked, the war the MPAA and RIAA had on P2P had nothing to do about it having no legitimate uses, but was how many users were using it.

      The moral of this story? You need to grow up and stop with your "nyeh, guns don't kill people, bullets do" style arguments and recognize both sides of this issue (one you weren't even able to identify), even if you happen to disagree with one or both sides.

      --
      Help Brendan pay off his student loans
    2. Re:P2P legitimate uses by Queer+Boy · · Score: 3, Insightful
      So uh, what if I were using a P2P program in a country that didn't recognise copyright. Would it be OK then?

      You seem to have the attitude that just because some people believe that IP is real and there are laws, that everyone should hold that view.

      Westerners...

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
  7. This is a marriage made in heaven :-) by muditgarg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This looks like a win-win for both. Kazaa get the respectability it seeks and Skype get the huge customer base of Kazaa.
    Especially as recently Dutch Supreme Court ruled Kazaa legal

    1. Re:This is a marriage made in heaven :-) by arivanov · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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/
    2. Re:This is a marriage made in heaven :-) by Trailwalker · · Score: 4, Funny

      And the happy couble will be called Skuzza

  8. Spyware heaven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful


    so skype are now bundling their product with a spyware brimming p2p application that costs more in technical support to remove it and the damage it does than the PC is worth ? /me adds skype to DNS 127.0.0.1

    1. Re:Spyware heaven by grolschie · · Score: 3, Informative

      A quote from their site:
      "Advertising - delivered by Cydoor and the GAIN Network"

      Cydoor and GAIN are definitely spyware.

  9. Will skype show a window correctly ?. by Gopal.V · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Or is it possible to "virtually" listen to your PC/house exploiting this ?.

    Btw, I like Skype ... and I don't use Kazaa (firewalls) , what's the point really ?...

    Mmm.. better get a tinfoil hat :)

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
  10. Smart move of Skype? by d95adam · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  11. Re:Skype by Linker3000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...And so we add to 'RTFA' the new acronym 'LTFG' = Learn To Farkin' Google

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  12. P2P going towards a friends network by t_allardyce · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  13. Re:Antitrust case? by Spad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Kazaa hardly has a monopoly on P2P software

  14. Do people still use Kazaa? by Nine+Tenths+of+The+W · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought everyone had switched by now.

    --
    Slashdot: News for Nerds, Stuff that matters only to them
    1. Re:Do people still use Kazaa? by Espectr0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      To what? The fasttrack protocol is still the best and most populated one to get files. Edonkey just sucks, requiring you to hunt servers, and have share ratios. Gnutella just doesn't cut it either.

      I use poisoned on macosx, which is a pretty UI on top of gift.

      --
      Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
  15. Hmm... by Mathiasdm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait a minute... You mean I can actually combine spyware, viruses AND receiving phone calls from total strangers? Wow!

    --
    Join the anonymous, help develop the network: http://www.i2p2.de
  16. Skype is only for kids anyway by blackhedd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Until they stop dissing SIP and play nice in the sandbox with the rest of the world, kids are all they'll get.

    1. Re:Skype is only for kids anyway by Nurgled · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The proprietary technology always (since the Internet has become popular with non-geeks) wins. See Jabber vs. AIM/MSN Messenger.

      Branding and prettiness always wins over technical superiority, especially in a world where most people are stuck behind awkward NAT gateways that they don't really understand. SIP might be open and friendly, but it's a royal pain in the ass to deploy for most home users, especially if you get two people behind the same NAT gateway wanting to use it.

  17. And how long before voice ads? by binaryspiral · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So I get a P2P client with more spyware than a warez site, and now they shove a voip client in it - will they also generate audio ads?

    I don't understand why Kazaa is still being used when there are so many other viable P2P clients out there that won't harm your PC.

  18. Bandwidth? by Kerhop · · Score: 3, Funny

    Will VOIP have any bandwidth left to use when there's also Kazaa and spyware traffic on the line?