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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."
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.
I love how the Chinese innovate. Corporate espionage, reverse engineering and overall IP infringement...
Yes, the US have been a good master.
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.
Thanks for sharing your generalizations about the most populous country in the world. Obviously every aspect of China meets your concise description.
Because the US respected all the British IP in its early days.
Skype should have patented its technology, but it's not like the Chinese respect IP anyway.
:-)
Erm, ok, if they patent it, don't they have to disclose details of it? Kinda defeats the purpose of having a secret closed protocol that Skype wanted. I think there might be a better way to protect IP, via "trade secret" or something like it, but I am no specialist in the area
-Em
RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
What's to stop them from changing the protocol now?
The several million people whose copies only support the current one.
Even if our ancestors were also "wrong". . .
IF our ancestors were also wrong. . .
It remains to show they were wrong, and in doing so you necessarily question the legitimacy of the USA's sovereignity. We were signatory to no treaties to "respect" British IP and our ip laws still differ. It took a special act of Congress to partially respect the British copyright of Peter Pan (which is, in effect, in perpetuity, forbidden by the US Constitution).
If and when China does not respect American ip they are wrong because we are both signatory to the Berne Convention treaty, even if we were both wrong to do so.
And bearing in mind that the current administration has declared that treaties it has willfully signed are not binding upon it, as that violates American legal sovereignity. Yes, the Supremes have recently bitch slapped them over that, but the current adminstration seems to be gearing itself up to treat that as a legal opinion not actually binding upon it.
And herein lies the real damage that has been done to America's international standing in the past few years. If we declare null and void international law to which we are signatory on war, torture and due process why the fuck should anyone respectfully decline to copy Pauly Shore movies, no matter how cruel that is?
KFG
And so is reverse engineering skype. I don't see why everyone is harping on China here. It's not like their the only country to do this.
It's just ignorant xenophobia that allows people to bad mouth an entire nation based on what are essentially standard operating practices anywhere else.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.