Verizon To Allow Skype Calling On Its Network 98
The Verizon press release begins: "At the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Verizon Wireless and Skype today announced a strategic relationship that will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March." What used to be one of the most protective carriers anywhere has been opening up in major ways since the introduction of the Motorola Droid. Phandroid summarizes: "Starting next month, Verizon Smartphone users with data plans will enjoy free and unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls to anyone on the planet. And you’ll enjoy amazingly cheap Skype International calls as well. All this from Verizon Wireless’ 3G network." Some are wondering how the DoJ and law enforcement will react to a major upsurge in fully encrypted traffic.
NSA (Score:2, Insightful)
fully encrypted, hahaha. yeah right.
Data and unlimited plans (Score:5, Insightful)
More and more people are purchasing data plans. And it sure seems like every major network is pushing to move as many users to an unlimited plan as possible. Where many people used to have service in the $30-$40 range, more and more people seem to be paying closer to $100 (pre-tax) for cell service.
Why complain about people using data when data plans are so profitable? And does it matter if they're not using minutes if they pay for an unlimited plan anyway?
One guys twitter... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is translated to "some are wondering"? Seriously, who is Christopher Soghoian and when did he become a bellweather?
Re:NSA (Score:5, Insightful)
fully encrypted, hahaha. yeah right.
My thoughts exactly. Nothing gets THAT large without some eyes and ears from our good "friends" in three-letter land...
Re:They'll probably be granted access. (Score:5, Insightful)
How about SIP or IAX calling?? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:They'll probably be granted access. (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that Skype would not be the "telecommunications provider" in this context. Verizon (or other ISPs) would. Thus, Verizon is required to have backdoors to allow third parties to intercept ... *drumroll* ... the ciphertext.
Don't be a provider. Be a software author. CALEA doesn't say anything about programmers or software vendors. CALEA is about the people in charge of the wires. CALEA is obsolete if people use modern tech.
OTOH, surely Skype, the company that made a specially-modified government-approved version of their software for use in China, actually would cooperate. And that raises the question: who has audited how Skype does key exchange? Who certifies identities? Skype, that's who.
The story here is VoIP in general. Skype itself is a specific sideline that will hopefully fade into history.
Re:Data and unlimited plans (Score:3, Insightful)
you won't catch me paying that much. i pay $2.50/month for my cellphone and i'm happy with what that buys me.
Re:Not so fast (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, "international" means "outside the US".
Re:NSA (Score:2, Insightful)
What stops anyone from just writing an Android app that is a properly, open sourced, encrypted SIP client? If that's possible, then unless they've broken either Diffe-Hellman or AES then we'd be good to go when talking about our plot to take over the world.
dancing in the streets, more likely (Score:5, Insightful)
With glee, probably. Since Skype won't talk about how its protocols and software work, it's entirely possible that they have methods of monitoring all calls made on the network. (In fact, one Austrian official admitted [h-online.com] that they have no problem intercepting Skype communications.) Even if the full encryption spec is published for cryptographic review and is found to be sturdy, the clients are closed-source, meaning they could simply wait for a specific kind of packet and switch the call into an unencrypted or poorly-encrypted mode for easy wiretapping.
Re:Skype collaboration (Score:4, Insightful)
If a device contains a microphone, a radio receiver, probably an SSD, and maybe an accelerometer, and is carried throughout the user's unique physical walk through life, has trouble generating truly random numbers, then something is terribly wrong.