Accused of Complying with Chinese Spying Program, Skype Defends Itself

A U.S.-owned company whose name has become synonymous with online video communications reportedly is facing harsh criticism today following startling revelations that it may have complied with Chinese censors in filtering, recording and storing text messages for the government’s perusal.

Skype (News - Alert), once regarded in China as a trusted venue for private communications, is being accused of helping the communist nation essentially spy on its citizens by capturing and storing “offensive” chat messages, according to Reuters reporters John Ruwitch and Emma Graham-Harrison.

According to one university professor at Hong Kong University, Rebecca MacKinnon, an Internet expert whom the two reporters interviewed, the consequences of Skype’s alleged complicity may be extensive.

“We may never know whether some of those people whose conversations were logged have gone to jail or have had their lives ruined in various ways as a result of this,” MacKinnon told the news service. “This is a big blow to Skype’s credibility, despite the fact that Skype executives are downplaying it as not such a big deal.”

A message left with Luxembourg-based Skype, which is owned by eBay (News - Alert), was swiftly returned by a Manhattan-based PR firm that directed TMC to a message from Skype President Josh Silverman.

“Some brief background: In China, TOM is the majority local partner in our joint venture that brings Skype functionality to Chinese citizens,” Silverman writes. “The software is distributed in China by TOM and TOM, just like any other communications company in China, has established procedures to meet local laws and regulations. These regulations include the requirement to monitor and block instant messages containing certain words deemed ‘offensive’ by the Chinese authorities.”

Silverman says in his message that China’s censorship is well-known, and says that Skype disclosed more than two years ago that TOM used a text filter that blocked certain words in chat messages.

“It was our understanding that it was not TOM’s protocol to upload and store chat messages with certain keywords, and we are now inquiring with TOM to find out why the protocol changed,” Silverman said.

Silverman said he learned on Wednesday of a security breach that allowed people to access messages that had been “captured” and disallowed.

“We were very concerned to learn about both issues and after we urgently addressed this situation with TOM, they fixed the security breach,” Silverman said. “In addition, we are currently addressing the wider issue of the uploading and storage of certain messages with TOM.”

The news comes as Skype prepares to unveil a new version of its free online service. The new version of Skype, which is available everywhere outside of China, is different from the software that's used in the communist nation.

The company this week gave those who use its service a peek at what awaits them in a new, feature-rich version.

Officials at Skype held a conference call detailing improvements made to their widely anticipated Skype 4.0 for Windows service, following an initial round of beta-testing over the summer.

Mike Bartlett, Skype’s director of product management for Windows, said the new version includes three major improvements.

The first is the ability to run a smaller version of Skype – allowing users to view a contact list in the background, for example, or to view aMicrosoft ( News - Alert) Word document beside the video window. The change came from users who said they were sometimes missing IM’s or calls because they weren’t getting notified properly.

“So we’re addressing the size and view space of Skype on the desktop,” Bartlett said. “The compact view will allow users to toggle between things, every time they’re in a conversation.”

The second change deals with notifications and alerts. In prior versions of Skype, if a user had a large number of messages coming in, they would be difficult to sort through.

“What we’ve done in 4.0 is put intelligence behind them so there are no duplicate messages on the screen,” Bartlett said.

Finally, the new beta version will allow users to organize their contacts into groups such as “friends,” “families” and “colleagues.” The feature is expected to help those with large contact lists most, Bartlett said.

About 70 percent of users preferred the new version to the previous 3.8 version, he said, though the company is seeking a complete, 100 percent conversion of the faithful.

The company may have to work harder to convince the Chinese.

According to Reuters (News - Alert), many were “outraged” that the company appeared to be bending its principles to do business in China.

“The problem with Skype is that they did more than what people expected. They over-satisfied the government,” Isaac Mao, one of China’s earliest and best known bloggers, reportedly told Ruwitch and Graham-Harrison.

“Yahoo Inc. has been widely criticized for its role in helping the Chinese government identify Shi Tao, a reporter accused of leaking state secrets abroad,” Reuters said. “He was jailed for 10 years in April 2007. Google Inc., which has the corporate motto ‘Don’t be evil,’ upset some by launching a self-censoring Chinese site.”

According to Silverman, Skype-to-Skype communications “are, and always have been, completely secure and private.”

“I passionately believe in Skype’s mission to enable the world’s conversations,” Silverman said. “Allowing the world to communicate for free empowers and links people and communities everywhere. Our challenge is to bring this valuable service to people all over, including China, while being transparent to our users and staying within the boundaries of the local laws. We are committed to meet this challenge.”

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Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Michael Dinan