SKYPE

As we discussed in COM 435 class, more and more technologies make the whole word becoming smaller. By utilizing Internet or other emerging technologies, there is no big problem for people who are in different countries to communicate synchronously.

I have been studying abroad in America for 2 years. Skype, a software application that allows users to make voice calls on Internet, is the major tool I choose to keep contacts with my parents in China. I think college students, especially international students are already familiar with Skype. When you and your parents or friends are not in the same country, Skype is really a convenient and cheap way to communicate with them. Skype has many additional features other than calling such as instant messaging, video conferencing and file transfer. Skype is very easy to use. According to Wikipedia, Skype allows one to take webcam photos, IM with use of emoticons and it also features file transfer. Certain settings allow the user to log into Skype as soon as they turn their computer on, making it much easier to use, than having to remember a password and username constantly.

There is a paragraph about Skype service in China on Wikipedia and I think it is worth of attention. “Since September 2007, users in China trying to download the Skype software have been redirected to the site of TOM, a joint venture between a Chinese wireless operator and Skype, from which a modified Chinese version can be downloaded. The TOM client participates in China's system of Internet censorship, monitoring text messages between Skype users in China as well as messages exchanged with users outside the country. Niklas Zennström, then chief executive of Skype, told reporters that TOM "had implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing. Those are the regulations." He also stated: "One thing that’s certain is that those things are in no way jeopardising the privacy or the security of any of the users.” In October 2008, it was reported that TOM had been saving the full message contents of some Skype text conversations on its servers, apparently focusing on conversations containing political issues such as Tibet, Cult, Falun Gong, Taiwan independence and Chinese Communist Party. The saved messages contain personally identifiable information about the messages senders and recipients, including IP addresses, usernames, land line phone numbers, and the entire content of the text messages, including the time and date of each message. This information was also saved for Skype users outside China who were communicating with a TOM-Skype user. Because of a server misconfiguration, these log files were for a time accessible to the public.”