EU agency about-faces on Skype ‘crime claims’
p2pnet news view Mobiles | Crime:- “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.”
That was p2pnet reader Chris’ take on the story that, “Italian crooks are increasingly using VoIP to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts”".
Italy’sDirezione Nazionale Antimafia, the anti-Mafia office in Rome, was behind the allegation but now, Eurojust has, “significally altered a statement in which it said criminals were using Skype to avoid detection by the authorities,” says ZDNet UK.
While telecom firms have to comply with court orders to monitor calls on land lines and mobile phones, Skype is refusing to cooperate, the IDG News Service had 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 stated.
However, in an “update” to its original statement, “Eurojust will be requested to coordinate internet telephony investigations”, making it clear, “the anti-Mafia directorate’s request for judicial co-ordination has not yet been made formally,” says the story, going on:
“The internet telephony-tapping probe is expected to be officially introduced at Eurojust “in the coming weeks or months”, a spokesperson for the agency told ZDNet UK on Friday.
“In addition, the revised statement made it clear for the first time that the initial meetings between Eurojust and the Italian judicial authorities had taken place in September 2006, and that Skype itself had been present at those discussions.”
In the new statement, references to Skype’s, “alleged refusal to share details of its encryption system have been excised”.
Asked about “the original statement’s specific references to Skype and its encryption systems,” a spokesperson said, ‘The first information [was included] as background based on information we got from a police officer in Milan’,”says the story, adding:
“ZDNet UK asked whether the removal of the references to Skype meant they had been incorrect, but Eurojust’s spokesperson refused to comment.”
behind the allegation – We Like Skype, say Italian crooks, February 24, 2009
ZDNet UK – EU agency backtracks on Skype crime claims, February 27, 2009
IDG News Service – Skype calls’ immunity to police phone tapping threatened, February 23, 2009
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