No Police Surveillance Policy Change At Skype

Skype Denies Police Surveillance Policy Change -- BBC

Microsoft's online message, phone and video chat service Skype has denied making changes to its system "in order to provide law officers greater access" to its members' conversations.

It follows reports suggesting infrastructure upgrades had made it easier to hand on users' chat data.

Skype has now posted a blog saying the changes were made solely to improve user experience and reliability.

But it added it would pass on messages to law enforcement when "appropriate".

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My Comment: But everyone now knows that the technology exists to make it possible .... a fact that Skype will never be able to discount. And while the focus is on police agencies .... no one is discussing what the intelligence agencies are doing.

Skype Is A Threat To Russia's Security?

From Reuters:

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most powerful business lobby moved to clamp down on Skype and its peers this week, telling lawmakers that the Internet phone services are a threat to Russian businesses and to national security.

In partnership with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's political party, the lobby created a working group to draft legal safeguards against what they said were the risks of Skype and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone services.

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My Comment: All of my relatives in Russia use Skype. Taking this away from them will result in a "mini-revolution" and a backlash that will impact the Kremlin.

The Russian Government/Business rgoup will try to develop an alternative .... but I am betting that it will be inferior to Skype.

But is Skype a security threat .... hmmmm .... with a projected 40% user rate in Russia within the next few years .... I would have to say yes. I am sure that many in the Congress, U.S. Department of Defense, and the White House would not be comfortable with the notion that a Russian or Chinese business/government concern would operate and/or control 40% of the telecommunications grid of the United States. In act, I am sure there will be calls to change that.

Analysis: EU To Listen In On Skype Calls?

From Spacemart:

European prosecutors are eager to abolish the legal and technical hurdles to wiretapping Internet telephone calls to better fight organized crime. As early as next week, the European Union's judicial-cooperation agency Eurojust will receive an official request by Italian judicial authorities, who want to listen in on computer-to-computer phone calls between criminals who are increasingly turning to Voice over Internet Protocol programs such as Skype.

"The possibility of intercepting Internet telephony will be an essential tool in the fight against international organized crime within Europe and beyond," Carmen Manfredda, an Italian Eurojust official, said in a statement. "Our aim is not to stop users from taking advantage of Internet telephony but to prevent criminals from using VoIP systems to plan and organize their unlawful actions." When requested, The Hague, Netherlands-based Eurojust would facilitate meetings between judicial representatives from the 27 EU member states. These representatives would then meet to identify ways for prosecutors to deal with VoIP calls.

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My Comment: The law is finally catching up to the new developments of technology and how it can be used for crimes, communicating with terror cells and/or support groups, and/or planning warfare operations.