We Like Skype, say Italian crooks
p2pnet news view Mobiles | Crime:- Italian crooks are increasingly using VoIP to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, says Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, the anti-Mafia office in Rome, quoted by the IDG News Service.
“Police officers in Milan say organized crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype and other systems of VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) telephony in order to frustrate investigators,” it says.
But, while telecommunications companies have to comply with court orders to monitor calls on land lines and mobile phones, Skype is refusing to cooperate, the story has Joannes Thuy, a spokesman for Eurojust based in The Netherlands, saying.
“We will bring investigators from all 27 member states together to find a common approach to this problem,” he states.
But Brian O’Shaughnessy, head of corporate communications at Skype, says the eBay-owned company, “co-operates with law enforcement where legally and technically possible” and, “remains interested in working with Eurojust despite the fact that they chose not to contact us before issuing this inaccurate report, says EUObserver in the Sofia Echo, which adds:
“EUObserver said Bavarian authorities had tried to track a Skype conversation and even had hired an IT firm to do so, but with no success.”
IDG News Service – Skype calls’ immunity to police phone tapping threatened, February 23, 2009
Sofia Echo – Eurojust to back member states authorities to monitor Skype conversations, February 23, 2009
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February 24th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Thousands of blogs repeating the same story about the mafia using Skype for felonious purposes. Come on, look a little deeper. It’s shades of Bush and Chaney post 9/11. It’s a beat up driven by politicians and special interests to nail Skype. Right wing politicians see this story as heaven sent. They get to curtail more personal freedoms and also give favors to their mates who runs the telecoms.