World

Skype to be Blocked in India? Government Wants to Intercept VOIP

by Scott Wu | October 2, 2009 at 03:13 pm

1292 views | 11 Recommendations | 3 comments

The intelligence agencies of India asked the government to block Skype because the VOIP company refuses to share the encryption code that will allow investigators to intercept conversations of suspected terrorists.

The Cabinet Committee on Security accepted the recommendation, but has not yet defined a date for the action. They hope to send a signal to Skype, hoping them to share the code as it did with the US, China, and other governments.

Terrorists in Munbai bombing used VOIP services to coordinate, but intelligence agencies have problems tracking them because of data encryption.

The urgency to track Skype calls stems from the fact that terrorists -- as the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai showed -- are increasingly using VoIP services.

The block may not be very effective, however. Skype can route traffic through other service providers.

Indian agencies are also keeping their fingers crossed, not sure whether the department of telecom -- with a stake in sectoral growth -- would like to lean on VoIP service providers on the issue of sharing encryption code. Besides, there's also a feeling that the government would be wary of people's response to the snapping of Skype. The free service is used by a vast majority of urban middle class Indians for communicating with families and friends spread across the world.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

NitinPsr (not verified)

at 23:38 on October 2nd, 2009

Hello. SKYPE SHOULD NOT BE BLOCKED..........ITS MY LIFE .... m a Skype paid user with caller ID facility................I dont want to change my number any more. regards, Nitin

Nitin Arora (not verified)

at 06:57 on October 3rd, 2009

I think it should be blocked. It will be inconvenient for people like me who use skype to call back home but i think Security is more important for us. Our families stay safe back home is more important than cheap calls. Also I don't know why skype people are not sharing the encryption code with Indian Authorities as they have shared it with US and Chinese Authorities.Indian Govt has a long way to go to arm twist these IT Companies. China arm twisted Google, Yahoo,Skype etc companies and in the end everybody has fallen in line with Chinese protocols. So why not India. I think it is the way to go for the Indian Govt. BLOCK SKYPE till they provide ENCRYPTION CODE to them to safeguard our families back home.