Skype filtering technology
p2p news / p2pnet:- The Inquirer reports on Skype Filtering Technology, the name used by company Vesco for a carrier grade application that "blocks bandwidth drains such as Skype, P2P messaging, streaming media and instant messaging," says Vesco’s press release.
That’s pretty nice in and of itself, but the interesting part is in the why?
In an interview with the Inquirer Vesco CEO Monty Bannerman is blatantly honest about the motivation behind the Skype Filter:
As a "free" service, Skype is raiding the business model of service providers that want to roll out VoIP services for their customers. "They’re all telling me they hate Skype and they’re telling me that they want to do something about Skype," said Bannerman in a telephone interview. "If you have something in your network that is costing you money and raiding your business model, I assure you you’re going to do something about it."
Also interesting is the fact hat Bannerman argues a lack of state regulation leaves Skype out in the open to filter. A distinction with the (minimally) regulated Vonage service is made:
Bannerman drew a distinction between the more heavily US-regulated Vonage and Skype, saying they were "different," with Vonage required to provide E-911 service and abide by other FCC regulations, while Skype had no such state-side regulation.
One can admire one thing about the guy: he really, really wants to sell – if not in the US, perhaps, due to possible future regulation prohibiting application blockage, then anywere else in the world:
"The World Wide Web isn’t just about America, plunk yourself anywhere else," he said. "This is a product for the world market."
It may be getting hard to Skype China if Bannerman’s sales pitch works: there they may just want to filter another kind of free that’s not the gratis kind.
Rik Lambers – CoCo
[Lambers is a former researcher at the Institute for Information Law, Amsterdam, who's now in transition to a new full time job in the field of IP/Internet law. He's also an associate member of the European INDICARE project, which researches consumer issues related to DRM.]
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September 20th, 2005 at 3:17 pm
This is another reason why “We the People” need to controll the Infrastructure of a worldwide network. FreeWan is one way to go. It is time to outsource the cartels!!!
September 20th, 2005 at 4:34 pm
I have two kids who have just started University. One of them has access to a dorm network that is bolted down tight. I’m trying to find out if Skype will bust through since they do have port 80 http access but via a proxy.
The other one is much more open but the T&Cs say that file sharing programs like Kazaa, Grokster and Skype are banned. Shurely shome mishtake there.
There’s an amazing amount of fud being spread around Skype. Somebody must be really scared of them. I wonder who?