more on Skype protocol cracked?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
Date: July 14, 2006 6:01:55 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Skype protocol cracked?

For IP...

So I looked for the source code or doc that proves this happened.   
(just my core skeptic side).  Not finding any actual evidence, I  
speculated:

I can "crack" Skype in about 1 hour by just encrypting the Linux  
client code inside an opaque wrapper that expands the code into  
memory and runs it (the linux client can be run with a shim on any  
X86 OS).   I can even change the UI by observing the window system  
drawing and input events and generating a different-styled UI (with a  
quite different look and feel).  The user of such a "crack" cannot  
tell, and verifying that a gob of mysterious code actually is a  
"crack" is pretty difficult.  It's hard enough to tell if it is a  
trojan horse that will steal all your data a few months down the  
road....

And who would care?  Skype gives its client away for free... What can  
you do that the Skype client cannot do for you?  The story is fishy,  
and remains fishy.

So claims to have reverse engineered Skype, while fun, can just as  
well be hoaxes.

Cui bono?   Well, the "Chinese" company gets kudos for doing  
something that demonstrates its acumen.   But so did they Chinese guy  
who cloned a TI DSP and passed it off as a homegrown high-performance  
chip demonstrating Chinese technology prowess.  Or maybe it's a scam  
that is intended to make the Chinese sound like they are ripping off  
technology rather than doing their own.

A smart (Chinese) company would do a peer-to-peer SIP client, and  
make it open source.   It would demo prowess, and corporate users  
wouldn't have a problem adopting it, since it is completely open,  
unlike Skype.

David Farber wrote:
> http://www.voipwiki.com/blog/?p=16
>
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