Microsoft puts the spy into Skype

Microsoft has been granted a patent for a research to intercept and record conversations without detection that exactly refers to voice over internet protocol services. Given the company recently paid a staggering $8.5 billion for Skype, it’s not hard to imagine where they’ll use the innovation.

The patent, filed in December 2009 nevertheless granted this month, is for a innovation known as “Legal Intercept.” It explains that traditionally third parties acting with legal authority are able to intercept and record phone calls without the knowledge of the phone users, yet that the existing tech doesn’t work with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls.

The new research is designed to put this right

The new research is designed to put this right. It’s described in intricate technical detail, nevertheless the basis of the idea is very simple: the data from VOIP users pursuant to this agreement surveillance is routed after a fashion that allows the communication to be recorded without either party in the call being aware that anything is amiss.

Microsoft isn’t speaking openly on the research, even though early speculation is that the company is aiming to make Skype compatible with existing rules for telephone services that mean federal authorities must be able to monitor calls where both required and authorized.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft is inherently in favor of government snooping. It may simply be that it has big plans for Skype and wants to pre-empt demands that, for legal purposes, it be treated the same as traditional phone services.

The implications of the patent

There are already concerns about the implications of the patent. During phone tapping by unauthorized parties is hardly unknown, particularly with cellphones, it can be a relatively painstaking job. However if and when somebody finds a security flaw in Skype and reverse-engineers the new innovation, “Legal Intercept” could quickly become illegal intercept.

There’s as well the problem of countries which give officials greater powers to monitor calls or have less safeguards against abuse. Were such governments to demand monitoring that seemed excessive or unjustified by US standards, Microsoft might no longer be able to simply say assisting with such monitoring for VOIP calls was a technical impossibility.