Skype Hijack...mite be of intrest to us skype users??

[Captain Crunch]

VoIP user claims Skype protocol hack

Chinese firm finds a way into the network
Carl Taylor, vnunet.com 14 Jul 2006
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A Chinese company claims to have reverse-engineered the Skype protocol, allowing it to place calls over Skype's VoIP network.

According to a post on the VoIPWiki blog, a user by the name of Charlie Paglee received a Skype call from a contact at an unnamed Chinese company.

The calling party used the company's own software to initiate the call, rather than the official Skype client.

The software currently only supports peer-to-peer phone calls, but the company plans to create a completely compatible Skype client including instant messaging and user status information.

Commenting on the call quality, Paglee wrote: "The first time we talked there was a noticeable echo on my end. The second time the voice quality was crystal clear."

Paglee also noted that the software does not support Skype's Supernode feature, which can route calls through PCs running the Skype client.

"Right now every computer with Skype installed can be used as a relay to carry data between two other computers when both of those computers are only allowed to make outgoing Transmission Control Protocol calls," Paglee wrote.

"This means that very soon Skype users will have an alternative client which will not hijack their computer.

"This could eventually have a very negative effect on the Skype network if too many people choose not to act as Skype Supernodes and the network starts to deteriorate."

[yurimxpxman]

It sounds like a bad thing to me, right? Since it doesn't support supernoding I mean. I'd like to see an open-source Skype program.

[Captain Crunch]

open source.............Hell ya....

[Tyreal]

If I remember correctly, Skype was made by the same people who did Napster. When you run skype, the program takes some of your bandwidth to run the calls as well as help transfer other data for other users. So its kinda like a community where everyone who is running skype is helping out with their bandwidth. That is how they can have such good quality for free.

When more and more people start using this program that the OP posted, they will no longer be giving the bandwidth and only using. So eventaully it will lead to the deterioration of the whole idea.

[yurimxpxman]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

When you run skype, the program takes some of your bandwidth to run the calls as well as help transfer other data for other users.

That's what supernoding is

[Tyreal]

in laymans terms. This means that Skype is a P2P program.

Here is a link explaining in full how Skype works:
Skype P2P Telephony Explained

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

in laymans terms. This means that Skype is a P2P program.

Here is a link explaining in full how Skype works:
Skype P2P Telephony Explained

Very interesting article Tyreal!!! If you read between the lines in that article, you can see that Skype is really nothing more than a p2p network, hence the great quality in VOip

[Tyreal]

Indeed. :D That is why I love Skype so much. I've been using it since it first came out. I found out about it just as you guys did. Me and my buddies wanted to find a good program to use while playing an RTS game called Empires: Dawn of the Modern world. We tried those other ones like Teamspeak and Ventrillo but the quality was just too poor.