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Skype Protocol Has Been Cracked
nsrCZ writes "The Skype core protocol has been reverse-engineered by a Chinese company. The interesting thing is, that although the protocol is closed, it is not patented and thus it is not against the law to crack it. If it's true, then it could affect the whole eBay/Skype business in many ways, including that they might not get their piece of the emerging Chinese cake." From the article: "By cracking the Skype protocol, the company claims it can also block Skype voice traffic, Paglee said. 'They could literally turn the lights off on Skype in China very, very quickly,' said Paglee, who is also a lawyer and engineer, speaking from California on Friday. The company could transfer the technology to the Chinese government, which has continually sought ways to tighten its filtering and control over the Internet. So far, the company doesn't have any plans to market its blocking capabilities, Paglee said."
I love how the Chinese innovate. Corporate espionage, reverse engineering and overall IP infringement...Skype should have patented its technology, but it's not like the Chinese respect IP anyway.
Math
Closed Skype protocol gets cracked in X months == Skype releases a new version with a new closed protocol that'll take X more months to crack. Big deal...
Anyway, Skype is a big no-no for me. I don't like software that connects to who-knows-what and uses bandwidth all the time without any way to know what the heck it's doing.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I'm sure Skype's lawyers might see this differently.
If this happened in the US, lawyers would be crying "foul!" on the basis of the protocol being a Trade Secret, and they would have something to say about the agreement that one sees when installing the software. I believe I remember seeing a "no reverse-engineering" clause in there.
This being a Chinese source, though, means that US rules don't necessarily apply.
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
Closed protocols are not a substitute for security. Any traffic that goes over the internet can be intercepted. Once you have the packets, it's just a matter of figuring out what they mean. This certainly does raise concerns that tapping into Skype conversations may become easy, but this was bound to happen eventually and should be no surprise to anyone.
Besides, who really cares? Phone conversations can be tapped into. Cell phones, too. Everyone knows not to transmit confidential information over the phone.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? First of all, let's address this statement:
Perhaps you wrote this incorrectly, but, by definition, nothing is useful unless you use it. Would you care to elaborate why you think their service is useless crap? Oh yes, this nugget of gold:
What you're saying, implicitly, is that you have no real qualms against Skype aside from their lack of openess with respect to their protocol. That's absurd! I could understand if you disliked this about their service, but to actually hate their service because of this one fact is borderline stupid.
The DMCA also prohibits the construction, possession, and/or use of a device to defeat copyright infringement. In a case where the law contradicts itself, the people with the most money win.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What's to stop them from changing the protocol now?
The several million people whose copies only support the current one.