By now you have no doubt heard that Skype has been HACKED… but here are some of the specifics for those that are interested:
On July 13th 2006 a small group of engineers from Asia successfully reverse engineered the Skype protocol. Their software is not stable enough to release to the public, but they are working night and day on a demo which they hope to launch before the end of August. According to their CEO, their software will not support Skype’s Super Node technology. Right now every computer with Skype installed on it can be used as a relay to carry data between two other computers when both of those computers are only allowed to make outgoing TCP calls. This could eventually have a very negative effect on the Skype network if too many people choose not to act as Skype Super Nodes and the network starts to deteriorate.
Being that Skype is considered an illegal method of communication in China there is nothing at all illegal or even morally wrong with what this group of engineers has accomplished, especially from the Chinese perspective. They reverse engineered a protocol that was not protected by patent. They will be seen as heroes in China and it is unlikely the government will ever take action against them.
Only time will tell the future of Skype and the Skype business model but I believe that it’s going to have to change drastically in the near future in order to stay competitive in the VOIP market.
Image of the hacked software next to Skype’s VOIP client:
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Another popular Skype hack is the “hi-res” hack:
You need to upgrade to the latest Skype release (2.5.0.85 or later for mac and 3.0.0.216 for PC), quit Skype, and then edit the config.xml file in your settings directory (“~/Library/Application Support/Skype/[skypeusername]/” in OS X).
You should see an entry that looks similar to:
<Video>
<Device>Built-in iSight</Device>
</Video>
Modify that to read:
<Video>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<Device>Built-in iSight</Device>
</Video>
When you’ve finished, your contacts will be seeing you in glorious 640×480 instead of the standard 320×240. There are some tweaks and hardware requirements that might be required for the PC version, so check up on the links below for the nitty-gritty details.
Enjoy!
