Interesting People mailing list archives
more on French government bans Skype at Universities
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:20:07 -0400
Begin forwarded message: From: Tony Finch <dot () dotat at> Date: October 25, 2005 9:04:59 AM EDT To: dave () farber net, "Steven M. Bellovin" <smb () cs columbia edu> Cc: Tony Finch <dot () dotat at> Subject: Re: [IP] French government bans Skype at Universities
According to http://www.01net.com/editorial/289360/telephonie/skype- banni-des-facs-par-la-securite-nationale/ the French government has banned use of Skype at universities. The purported reason: it's insecure.
There has been a lot of discussion of Skype in UK academia too. Theparticular problem is its NAT-traversing feature, where two random people
communicate via someone else's computer which acts as a proxy for thir phone call. This proxying is (according to some interpretations) against the academic computing rules, since it is providing networking services to third parties neither of whom is associated with the University, and (here's where the security aspect comes in) without any options for control by the user running Skype or the network administrators. Obviously Skype is too useful to ban, particularly if you consider foreign students, so the rules are often being interpreted in a more favourable manner. [PS. I was entertained by SMB's talk about nuclear weapon security mechanisms last week at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory.] Tony. -- f.a.n.finch <dot () dotat at> http://dotat.at/ LYME REGIS TO LANDS END INCLUDING THE ISLES OF SCILLY: SOUTHWEST 6 OR 7,OCCASIONALLY GALE 8 AROUND EXPOSED HEADLANDS, BACKING SOUTH 4 OR 5, INCREASING
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