Steve W Ballmer -- the W stands for Wiretapping!

[Darren Dirt]

Microsoft Seeks Patent for Wiretapping

Weeks after Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion, Microsoft is seeking a patent for technology that lets it eavesdrop on VoIP calls.

Microsoft applied for the patent back in 2009, so it's unlikely it was already preparing for a Skype acquisition two years later, but perhaps it had in mind similar voice messaging software such as Microsoft Voice and Unified Communications.

The patent, titled "Legal Intercept," is for an interception software that lets someone surreptitiously record a call on a VoIP network. Microsoft rationalized the patent as a way to answer to government requests for surveillance and wiretapping.

"Sometimes, a government or one of its agencies may need to monitor communications between telephone users," the patent reads.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387815,00.asp

So... what is a good free alternative to Skype? Just soze I noze...

Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami, told Computerworld that the patent could be a step back for anti-government efforts, "First, making a communication technology FBI-friendly means also making it dictator-friendly, and in the long run this is not good for movements like the Arab Spring," he said. "Second, experience shows that building in back doors invites exploits."

...hush, don't confuse people with logic! We've got freedom and privacy to quash!

[Mr. Analog]

To be fair, if you're concerned about security Skype should not be on your list of options

The best solution I've heard so far is encryption on the headset itself

[Lazybones]

You do know that Skype is a peer to peer network right? your call gets routed through randomly elected super nodes etc.

Nearly all VoIP solutions have some form of security concern with them.

[Mr. Analog]

I am aware of that, I'm also aware it has a pretty good rap sheet of potential vulnerabilities, as you say, many of which shared between all VoiP technology.

It's why I send all my critical information encrypted in a language of my own devising via IPoAC (RFC 1149)

Sure, latency is a bitch but you can deliver a fairly large packet and you can't beat the price (practically birdseed!)