Skype's been cracked?

Earlier this week, a gentleman named Charlie Paglee received a Skype call from a colleague in China -- nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that this particular call was coming from an unofficial, homemade Skype client. Paglee, who cofounded the VoIP startup Vozin Communications, claims that the Chinese friend he spoke with is part of a team that has successfully reverse-engineered the Skype protocol, possibly paving the way for a series of third-party clients that would delight consumers but provide no small amount of frustration to Skype-owner eBay. Although this unlicensed client is currently only able to perform peer-to-peer calling -- presence, instant messaging, and super node features have not yet been implemented -- it seems to be only a matter of time before the engineers have a more robust demo available for public download (they're supposedly shooting for an August release). And since all of this work is going on in China, eBay has no legal means of shutting down the client's development, but even if they did, it's probably already too late -- now that the cat is out of the bag, it's pretty clear that an open-source Skype client is inevitable, and that eBay's future business plans will have to take that reality into account.

[Via GigaOm]

[Josh* @ Jul 16th 2006 11:33AM]

I want skype on my DS Lite and I don't freaking care how. :D

[JJ @ Jul 16th 2006 11:49AM]

Isn't Skype illegal in China?

[Chester Coronel @ Jul 16th 2006 12:26PM]

Isn't there an Skype API?

[Tech^CF @ Jul 16th 2006 12:29PM]

Maybe someone can make a wm5 client that doesn't require 500mhz cpu and that can actually use the right speaker!

/qtek s200 owner

[AndrewNeo @ Jul 16th 2006 12:31PM]

Chester: Yes. It requires the client to be open to use it. And using the audio streams would require you to virtualize the audio adapters or something like that (record the audio loopback, etc.)

[hw3 @ Jul 16th 2006 12:44PM]

hey sorry to sound like a newb or something, but what does this mean?

[pri @ Jul 16th 2006 12:53PM]

is this legal? i mean doesn't ebay have rights to the skype protocol and can't they tell the business in china to stop or risk a lawsuit or something... it just seems to easy...

another thought was, couldn't skype change their key or protocol a bit?

[jorellh @ Jul 16th 2006 1:14PM]

China has laws against this kind of stuff, which they enacted just to appease the US, but they don't enforce them.

[Aaron Rodriguez @ Jul 16th 2006 1:16PM]

maybe they could finally engineer a builtin recording system.. we recently switched to gizmo for all of our recordings just for the recording feature (for recording podcasts)

[Chris @ Jul 16th 2006 1:28PM]

Hah, yet another example of China's inability to be original. Their government complains about license fees and patent restrictions, urging domestic companies to come up with their own protocols...and this happens. They can't compete, so they steal.

What was the last original product out of China? Gunpower, which by the way, I'm very fond of.

If this company wanted on open source client to compete with Skype why didn't they invest their time and money in such a product? All this venture ends up doing is ruining the business plan of another company and diluting a good product. Is it any wonder why the rest of the world despises and resists the the business practices coming out of China?

Just remember, you get what you pay for.

[David @ Jul 16th 2006 1:46PM]

It'll be open source, dont think they are in it for the money

[3rdsun @ Jul 16th 2006 1:54PM]

I for one welcome our Chinese overlords...lol couldn't resist

[Storm9 @ Jul 16th 2006 2:04PM]

Why in the world does it matter? Skype is free anyway...

[bounchfx @ Jul 16th 2006 2:08PM]

"unlicensed client is currently only able to perform peer-to-peer calling -"...

ah.. can't skype already do this for free..?

I'm not getting what the big deal is here..

i thought in skype you paid to be able to call actual phone lines from computer.

is peer to peer not cpu > cpu?

anyone?

[eberan @ Jul 16th 2006 2:11PM]

skype for psp...PLEEEEEAAASSEEEEE!!!!

[mike i @ Jul 16th 2006 2:17PM]

chris:

Besides being totally wrong on every point, what I really don't appreciate your nationalist & racist perspective. Quit watching lou dobbs and get a clue.

[grindboy @ Jul 16th 2006 2:41PM]

Is there a version of Skype for PDA, it would have to run of WIFI. Just think it could replace mobiles altogether!!

[Karl Viklund @ Jul 16th 2006 3:22PM]

If it's tru I hope they update Skype to stop this.

[chris @ Jul 16th 2006 3:30PM]

They did pay people to do somthing, reverse engineer an nonpublic protocol. Now maybe i could use skype with GAIM. For those who say that the client is free to start with. Well AIM is free but other clients do exist that can use the AIM protocol. Replace AIM with YAHOO,MSN

[Regbo @ Jul 16th 2006 3:33PM]

Why do you hope that they update Skype to stop this? I though competition is always a good thing? Think about AOL Instant Messenger. They had a huge majority of Americans hooked on their service and then started packing ads on your buddy list and giving you KEWL new features like bonzi buddy or other adware crap like that. If the same thing didnt happen to AIM then people would not have alternatives like Trillian or Gaim to use, and AOL would continue to abuse their power as an instant message monopoly. For all those who still dont understand what this does, it will not only promote competition and force skype to add more features, but could enable users to port a full featured skype to any platform as long as they have the time and energy to write it. Just look at Macs that still lack video support in skype despite the fact that it has been promised for over a year. Competition is always a good thing.

[Sin Adam @ Jul 16th 2006 4:21PM]

grindboy, they do.

Now speakin of skype on PSP - there's an interesting idea. Who knows a chinese dude here? =D

[Bryan @ Jul 16th 2006 5:23PM]

If Skype were Apple what would they do to respond to this hack?

[Adrian @ Jul 16th 2006 5:27PM]

I've got one application that connects me to ICQ, MSN, GTalk, checks my email and gets my RSS feeds. All my contacts of all the networks are combined into one handy contact list and I don't have to bother what IM network my friends use.

Only for Skype I have to open up the Skype client which makes me open it only when I know I'll need it. Some friends now started to use Skype as a IM replacement and I really don't want to have another application run in the background.

Best would be a Skype plugin for my client so that I could use it together with my other accounts in one clean interface. I hope this means I don't have to wait too long anymore.

[C Dizzle @ Jul 16th 2006 7:15PM]

It is always nice to see another open source product added to the ever growing pack, but the only goods news seems to be for the developers of this product. Skype offers a simple and almost totally free service. While I am always glad to see competeition vs. the giant software rights gobbling corporations, who will benefit? Certainly not the already massive Skype user-base, who will now be subjected to updates* and upgrades* that will ultimately have them digging into their pockets. If any good is to come out of this, the code should be made public immediately, so that any benefits can be exploited and if it proves worthwhile the switch will be moderately painless. Instead, what I am sure will happen is this company will develop a parallel product, incompatible with the original, with a more robust business plan for all investors. This will come at a price for us all...

[ms @ Jul 16th 2006 10:59PM]

It would even be legal to do this in other countries, e.g. the United Kingdom. The intellectual property laws speciifcally allow reverse engineering for interoperability purposes (e.g. the UK copyright act) - i.e. discovering and using an API. The competition laws in Europe would also help as well. The key here is that if you do this, you can't use any of the code from, say Skype, directly - you must discover the API and construct your own code from that discovery.

Having said that, there are probably some tricks that Skype could use, e.g. requring the the sessions rely upon patented cypto algorithms (so any interoperable client also must license the algorithms)., etc. But knowing what I know about IP law, I have some faith that the courts would see through these corporate tricks, especially when the company in question has a large market share (and in the market for Voice over IP, I reckon Skype would be considered dominant).

[Chris @ Jul 16th 2006 11:48PM]

mike:

From someone that makes a living writing software I can tell you that anything can be reverse engineered for a price. The cost of doing so is usually slightly less than the investment in development. On this point I'm correct.

China doesn't like paying license fees for technology to the US...do a google search.

My opinion doesn't have anything to do with being nationalistic. Where did you get racist? I don't care where you're from...a theif is a thief.

I'm not looking for your appreciation :-)

[tekdemon @ Jul 17th 2006 12:09AM]

What the heck is with the comments being filled with idiotic anti-China nonsense?
First off, Skype is not illegal in China, China is one of Skype's largest markets if not THE LARGEST. Which is probably why chinese engineers are working on making a compatible client.
Secondly, reverse engineering is LEGAL, you dimwit racists. It's legal in China, it's legal in the USA, it's legal in Canada.
Are you idiots so thick that you don't realize that the PC you're probably posting your racist nonsense on has a BIOS that was originally REVERSE ENGINEERED FROM THE IBM BIOS?!!?

Stealing/cracking source code and then using it in your product would be illegal, but you're always free to reverse engineer something compatible-the code isn't the same, but it works with the same things.

Take a look at trillian, if it were illegal to reverse engineer protocols then trillian would be about as illegal as you could get.

[zuricher @ Jul 17th 2006 2:14AM]

c'mon, don't you think the NSA did this already 1 year ago =)
now if someone please could come up with a javascript skype client that works with wifi gsm mobiles!

[Loi @ Jul 17th 2006 3:28AM]

Chris, who said they're even getting paid?

And you do come across as a racist cock.

You may not be shouting racist abuse, but your small-minded view on things you don't fully understand about a country you talk about like you can generalise the entire population, you just sound like a dick.

[Another Chris @ Jul 17th 2006 6:20AM]

I think you'll find that most Software End-User License Agreements (ULA) that come shipped with the software prevent you from reverse engineering software legally. It is for example illegal to reverse engineer Microsoft Windows, Office, etc.

Skypes EULA: "2.3 No Modifications. You will not undertake, cause, permit or authorize the modification, creation of derivative works, translation, reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling or hacking of the Skype Software or any part thereof."

And it's true, I'm afraid, that China does not have the concept of Copyright in its laws, which creates big problems for companies shipping software such as Microsoft for example, and Skype!

Anyhow, i think the only advantage of having "cracked skype", is that people will be able to look at how it operates and finally consider and prove/disprove whether or not Skype's encrypting strategy is actually any good. So far, all we knew was that Skype said everything is encrypted, but they hadn't made public their encrypting algorithms (very bad in terms or cryptography issues, if you believe your methods to be secure!)

Another Chris

[RacetrackOwner @ Jul 17th 2006 7:14AM]

Hmm, Loi is engaging in a lot of generalization as regards Chris. Though it's nice to know that unlike Chris, both Loi and iMike apparently "fully understand" China. Somebody should contact the State Department and offer them a job identifying dangerous cocks and dicks so we can all be free of TEH RACISIM!!1!

Bryan, a more interesting question might be, if Skype were Apple, how would the Engadget hippie fanboys react?

[Loi @ Jul 17th 2006 10:36AM]

Racetrackowner, I make no such generalisations. I didn't even say Chris was racist, I just said that from what he was saying, he came across as one. I don't pretend to know him as I don't pretend to know
China. I'm not like "you're always being racist", nor did I say I fully understood China.

In fact, I was saying that it's
arrogant of one to make such accusations/generalisations as if they
do.

Sorry for being all paranoid with "teh racism" or
whatever, but it's neither constructive nor well-founded to start making such derogatory comments.

But I should probably cut it out, as I may fall victim to your "teh witty" sarcastic remarks. They're never funny, and all too easy to do.

[Nigel @ Jul 17th 2006 11:06AM]

"And you do come across as a racist cock.

You may not be shouting racist abuse, but your small-minded view on things you don't fully understand about a country you talk about like you can generalise the entire population, you just sound like a dick."

Stop lurking around Moveon.org. Try and formulate your own opinion.

And when you do, shout it out for the world to hear in the heart of Tiananmen Square...and see how long the Chinese will tolerate you before sending in the tanks.

Cheers!

[Chris @ Jul 17th 2006 12:42PM]

Let's all take a step back. There's no reason to call people names, label them and act like children. Mike and Loi are correct in that I made an un-productive generalization regarding the Chinese. On this I was off base. A racist, I am NOT.

I understand and can tell the difference between the Chinese people and their often oppressive government. I do not agree with the blatant plagiarism and theft that are permitted to run rampant in China, as I don't agree with it running rampant here in the States either. The difference is there is often recourse here in the US. The Chinese government on the other hand doesn't do much until it affects institutional changes they are trying to bring about.

In general no one works for free and the company in question here had to pay someone to do the reverse engineering. From a business perspective this was probably a waste of time, money and talent. I'm coming down on their lack of ingenuity and originality. With a little more effort this company could have produced a competing product and stood to make tons of money and be a symbol of success for China. Now it's just another Chinese knock-off company.

Let's try to keep the name calling and labeling off these boards so that Engadget doesn't shut them down again. Mike and Loi would have been better off responding with anecdotal evidence countering my points. Let this be a lesson not to be baited into an argument.

[Ferret @ Jul 17th 2006 5:53PM]

Half a dozen of you, You've been. . huh? ENGADGETed?

RIP OFF! (Of Slashdotting) lol

What does a cracked API mean?

Well. . . Linux could eventually get the Windows-Onyl video feed.

The ARM Linux platform (OpenEmbedded, Sharp Zaurus, Archos Mobile Manager, Motorola E680 and others, Nokia 770, PocketPenguin) Could ALL get Skype clients, when none will be officially made for these devices, owing to them being lower-key than Windows, Mac, and x86 Linux.

The reason the AIM and MSN protocols were cracked in the first place, is because the morons only released binaries for Windows. (Obvious reasons for MS, but why AOL? - Don't tell me about M$ market share.)

Basically, the only reason I care about having an Open Source client, is that it means I might be able to USE skype one day. My systems are not capable of running standard x86 applications, because my systems are not x86.

[TL @ Jul 18th 2006 10:25AM]

I'll be heading to a new job at the US Embassy in Beijing soon, the land of counterfeit. Tell me there isn't something wrong with buying MS Windows for $2, North Face parkas for $5, Levi's for $5, Nike's for $5!!!!! Their blatant disregard for our intelectual property and copyrights disgusts me! They might as well be printing US $100 bills and undermining our economy even more than their artificially inflated currency already is! Oh wait,,,isn't that where the "supernote" counterfeit US$ was coming from anyway???

[tropicaljantie | jan geirnaert @ Oct 8th 2006 10:53PM]

From Russia with love... Did Russian Hackers overtake in effect Chinese Hackers in the race to reverse engineer the Skype.exe ? This time it's not a hoax or an unfulfilled promise. Here is the QtSkype4.exe. see www.skype-watch.com or http://webtown.typepad.com/webtown/2006/10/from_russia_wit.html