Anon-7’s Comments

• Dec 15th, 2009 @ 3:42pm

  Re: They may be collecting names of Israel-supporters

  on German Authorities Raiding Homes To Find Skype Tapping Whistleblower
  Although the Skype™ data streams are encrypted with a proprietary algorithm, preventing anyone from listening in on Skype-to-Skype or Skype-to-land line conversations (except for the last leg from the telephone central office to a caller's telephone), it is reported that the police in The Netherlands and in Austria have the ability to listen in on Skype calls at will. If they can do it, presumably police and government snoops around the world can do it, too. Whether you talk on a land line, a cell phone or a Skype connection, you should assume that someone can listen in and that someone is listening in.
  
  J. Edgar Hoover, the late former director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is credited with saying, "If you don't want it known, don't use the phone."
• Dec 15th, 2009 @ 3:15pm

  Rather heavy-handed (as Phil Cooper)

  on German Authorities Raiding Homes To Find Skype Tapping Whistleblower
  Raiding people's homes seems a rather heavy-handed way to handle this situation. Once information has flown the coop and has been spread on the Internet, it's a lost cause, anyway. The recent "Climategate scandal" perfectly serves to illustrate this point.
  
  So, what's the big deal with monitoring Skype traffic? We keep hearing rumours about ECHELON being able to sift through millions of phone calls and emails, both domestic and international, and the system has been doing so for over a decade. Big Brother is watching. If George Orwell only knew ...