Jump to content
House Price Crash Forum

Skype Could Be Cut Off - One For The Conspiracy Theorists


Recommended Posts

0
HOLA441

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6735381.ece

Ok, to me this looks like a straight forward dispute over intellectual property and as a Skype user I'd be really annoyed if this came to pass. But we all know how Skype is seen as dangerous in some countries and indeed I have been to some where it is quite clearly blocked.

What do people here think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1
HOLA442
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6735381.ece

Ok, to me this looks like a straight forward dispute over intellectual property and as a Skype user I'd be really annoyed if this came to pass. But we all know how Skype is seen as dangerous in some countries and indeed I have been to some where it is quite clearly blocked.

What do people here think?

People here think !!??

That came out of left field.

As for the interent - it is the main source of info/chat for anything that is counter 'Government'.

So therefore they must be very interested in how it is run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2
HOLA443
3
HOLA444
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6735381.ece

Ok, to me this looks like a straight forward dispute over intellectual property and as a Skype user I'd be really annoyed if this came to pass. But we all know how Skype is seen as dangerous in some countries and indeed I have been to some where it is quite clearly blocked.

What do people here think?

Skype is convenient, but has never been a safe proposition. It's old-fashioned lock-in to proprietary and unpublished protocols, which means you're completely at the mercy of someone's whim.

As to why they've succeeded in the marketplace, that's an interesting topic.

http://bahumbug.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/w...usiness-models/

I wonder if this is also a triumph of Skype’s business model? Skype is monolithic, well-promoted, very easy to sign up to, and largely consumer-oriented. SIP is democratic and backed by a wide range of competing providers, none of which has the profile and clout of a Skype. And the SIP providers are much more geared to providing higher-value solutions to business rather than the consumer/soho market. And the mere fact of being democratic – and consequent lack of a single signup point – is probably holding it back in the mass market.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4
HOLA445
People here think !!??

That came out of left field.

As for the interent - it is the main source of info/chat for anything that is counter 'Government'.

So therefore they must be very interested in how it is run.

Well I tend to believe the Government has more important things to worry about than what some random people post on internet forums or what they talk about on IP Telephony.

As a general rule I'd expect the bad guys would not want to discuss their plans out in the open, so I am sure they are likely to use encryption technology and email over other methods - thought I am sure they probably prefer to meet face to face. Skype to be honest is not very secure which is why most companies will not use it for commercial discussions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5
HOLA446

I do not know anything about Skype - beyond that it's free way to make phonecalls (or something like that).

A few people I know have mentioned Skype, and they're generally same people who use Bebo, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.

So I don't mind if they turn it off - especially if it annoys a few people that I dislike.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6
HOLA447
Well I tend to believe the Government has more important things to worry about than what some random people post on internet forums or what they talk about on IP Telephony.

As a general rule I'd expect the bad guys would not want to discuss their plans out in the open, so I am sure they are likely to use encryption technology and email over other methods - thought I am sure they probably prefer to meet face to face. Skype to be honest is not very secure which is why most companies will not use it for commercial discussions.

That is what I would hope too. However this Government ? Everything seems to be about control.

Communciation is key to that. Anyway I doubt this is a conspiracy. However I am sure there is much the Government does that falls right into that category.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7
HOLA448
8
HOLA449
Guest DissipatedYouthIsValuable

*Sends bits over port 80*

*Meets man with carnation in buttonhole beneath clocktower. Puts out cigarette, leaves briefcase*

Edited by DissipatedYouthIsValuable
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9
HOLA4410
10
HOLA4411
http://www.aupix.com/

plenty of alternatives around.

Interestingly many of them based in Singapore where companies with Boards stuffed with PhD level engineers rather than sales gimps are beginning to do rather well.

Exactly it's not difficult to replace, i doubt you need a PhD engineer to implement a bit of simple VOIP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11
HOLA4412
12
HOLA4413
13
HOLA4414
Guest skullingtonjoe
As a general rule I'd expect the bad guys would not want to discuss their plans out in the openns.

They don`t - just have meetings inside 10 Downing Street. They`re called `The Cabinet` :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14
HOLA4415
15
HOLA4416
16
HOLA4417

I'm back! Did you miss me? (probably not).

It's a straightforward business decision. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype, put the P2P technology (the same as they put into Kazaa) into a separate company called Joltid. The technology has always been licenced to Skype. When they still owned Skype, the licencing fee didn't matter to them as they were paying out with one hand into the other. Now that they have zero economic interest in Skype, the licencing fee IS important and that is what is under dispute.

Skype is not completely decentralised - a small amount of centralised hosting is still needed to maintain your contacts list (notice how your full list of contacts comes up when you log on using a completely different machine?).

Now, what have I missed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17
HOLA4418
Werent labour the main offenders in shutting down pirate radio in the 1960s?

People seem to think the tories are the anti-free speech types. IMO history tells a different story. Deep down labour are almost always totalitarian commie filth.

an anecdotal about a social club I used to be involved with (it's a more specific activity than that but it would be identifiable if I gave specifics out)

It reflects the rise of the new labour public sector client state. The committee used to be mainly private sector white collar types. The website discussion forum had some healthy - and even some unhealthy, but who's to say - debate even about how the club worked etc. I know nothing awful happened as I was on the committee myself for a period.

The committee of the last 2 years has been all public sector white collar types - very much reflecting the new professional order. And the website is now subscription only, members are not even allowed to give email addresses out, secure logon and secure messaging only, ie completely superviseable by the committee of the group. It's breathtaking the control freakery involved to 'protect' the members on the website - the average age must be about 30!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18
HOLA4419
As I have about 7 euros at stake here...

How can a peer to peer technology over IP be proprietary? I thought it was all open source these days. What's the magic in Skype that eBay can't replicate?

Damned cunning those Scandinavians.

That's the thing. Technology for VoIP has existed for nearly 20 years. It's all in the name and how easy it is to set the software up - this was something that Skype spotted an opportunity for. There are far superior (technically and quality) systems that use SIP. It's just that setting up the software takes a bit more thought. A really excellent service is http://www.sipgate.co.uk/user/index.php - it gives you a free UK telephone number and you can call any other SIP service for free. You have the added benefit of being able to call fixed PSTN numbers and you can move your telephone number around and even transfer your number from BT.

Edited by Von Moses
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19
HOLA4420
As I have about 7 euros at stake here...

How can a peer to peer technology over IP be proprietary? I thought it was all open source these days. What's the magic in Skype that eBay can't replicate?

Damned cunning those Scandinavians.

Mainly the ability to make calls between two computers that are both behind firewalls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20
HOLA4421
I'm back! Did you miss me? (probably not).

It's a straightforward business decision. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the founders of Skype, put the P2P technology (the same as they put into Kazaa) into a separate company called Joltid. The technology has always been licenced to Skype. When they still owned Skype, the licencing fee didn't matter to them as they were paying out with one hand into the other. Now that they have zero economic interest in Skype, the licencing fee IS important and that is what is under dispute.

I like Niklas, he's straightforward - he negotiates hard, but he's always been fair - and will respect someone fighting their corner. But he does not miss many tricks - which is why he's got the IP in Joltid and has the licence - he got some good advice at the time, and unlike many, he took it....
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information