Skype - free Voice-over-IP

[Prelude76]

to all those who thought there is no real benefit to P2P - well, time to check this new program out. a P2P software that gives free Voice-over-IP telephoning technology to anyone in the world. you can save a bundle in long distance charges if you have relatives in europe or australia. http://www.skype.com/

Internet-based telephony – Voice-over-IP – (VoIP) has been around for years but has not reached the mainstream market. The reasons for this are quite clear to those of us who have tried VoIP software:    * Products which have a true cost-saving advantage over standard telephones do not have comparable quality.    * Call-completion rates are very low due to firewalls and the use of Network Address Translation (which renders over 50% of residential computers unable to communicate with traditional VoIP software).    * The User Interface is typically bloated and requires substantial configuration and technical skills.Centralization can overcome some of these difficulties by routing calls through firewalls or NAT's. However, this brings the cost of running the network to levels approaching that of the existing telecom networks. In addition, these costs scale proportionally with the number of users. The result is that companies operating such services typically allocate very little resources on their servers per user which seriously degrades the call quality.Utilizing our experience in creating the most popular decentralized P2P network in history (KaZaA) and the largest P2P-based content distribution network (Joltid PeerEnabler), the Skype team has succeeded in leveraging all of the available resources in a network. This has allowed us to raise the call completion rate and quality to levels approaching, and often exceeding, that of POTS (“Plain Old Telephony System). This is all achieved without the need for costly centralized resources. In addition, we also like to think that we have created the most user friendly interface around!The following are some of the techniques that Skype employs to deliver state-of-the-art IP-based telephony:Firewall and NAT (Network Address Translation) traversal:Non-firewalled clients and clients on publicly routable IP addresses are able to help NAT’ed nodes to communicate by routing calls. This allows two clients who otherwise would not be able to communicate to speak with each other. Because the calls are encrypted end-to-end, proxies present no security or privacy risk.Likewise, only proxies with available spare resources are chosen so that the performance for these users is not affected.Several new techniques were also developed in order to avoid end-user configuration of gateways and firewalls, whose non-intuitive configuration settings typically prohibit the majority of users from communicating successfully. In short, Skype works behind the majority of firewalls and gateways with no special configuration.Global decentralized user directory:Most instant message or communication software requires some form of centralized directory for the purposes of establishing a connection between end users in order to associate a static username and identity with an IP number that is likely to change. This change can occur when a user relocates or reconnects to a network with a dynamic IP address. Most Internet-based communication tools track users with a central directory which logs each username and IP number and keeps track of whether users are online or not. Central directories are extremely costly when the user base scales into the millions. By decentralizing this resource-hungry infrastructure, Skype is able to focus all of our resources on developing cutting-edge functionality.P2P network technologies such as FastTrack (used by KaZaA) would be suitable for decentralizing this, if not for the fact that these networks are fragmented in nature – a search does not reach all nodes in the network. Clearly, in order to deliver high quality telephony with the lowest possible costs, a third generation of P2P technology (“3G P2Pâ€), or Global Index (GI) was a necessary development and represents yet another paradigm shift in the notion of scaleable networks. The Global Index technology is a multi-tiered network where supernodes communicate in such a way that every node in the network has full knowledge of all available users and resources with minimal latency.Intelligent routing:By using every possible resource, Skype is able to intelligently route encrypted calls through the most effective path possible. Skype even keeps multiple connection paths open and dynamically chooses the one that is best suited at the time. This has the noticeable effect of reducing latency and increasing call quality throughout the network.Security:Skype encrypts all calls and instant messages end-to-end for unrivaled privacy. Encryption was necessary since all calls are routed through the public Internet.Super-simple UI:We believe that software should work for you and not against you and so we have designed Skype to be dead-simple to use – people who can use Windows and telephones will feel at home with Skype immediately.

p.s. - i give the so-called 'for-the-people' government of the world about 6 months before they make this illegal, at the request of telecommunication giants.

[epp_b]

And now, it comes with a new bank robbery feature!!! (...from the creators of KaZaA)

[Prelude76]

And now, it comes with a new bank robbery feature!!!  (...from the creators of KaZaA)

so having free p2p voice communications worldwide is equivalent to bank robbery?*scratches head*... ummm, yeah, ok... good one

[epp_b]

For those who didn't "get it", it was supposed to be a joke implying that using KaZaA for sharing copyrighted files is illegal, and that KaZaA darn well knows that it's just about the only thing their P2P app is used for.

[Guest LilBambi]

P2P filesharing has MANY valid uses. VoIP (voice over IP) is just one small example of a positive use for P2P.Also, something to keep in mind:Not all files on P2P filesharing networks are illegally placed on the systems. This is what the RIAA FUD wants everyone to believe.There are many Independent artists that have their music on the P2P systems as well and they do use it as advertising for their music.But the RIAA doesn't want us to think about that because there is a double impact (both good for them and one bad for independent artists) for making everyone think that P2P filesharing has no valid uses.What does all this demonizing of P2P filesharing networks accomplish:1. to try to stop sharing of unauthorized recordings2. give no outlet to independent artists in a simple and easy to get format like P2P networks. This would give their pay systems the edge.Just a few things to think about.

[Prelude76]

and guns are used for many many illegal acts, and the gun makers clearly know this.also, the company that makes Zig Zags clearly know their product isnt used to roll tobacco.we've gone thru this too often, so lets stop this before it becomes another "kazaa is illegal" thread. this thread is about SKYPE, voice-over-IP communications. and to further clarify, this is NOT software from Sherman Networks, the current owners of Kazaa. its a new software and new company from the ORIGINAL creators of kazaa. Here is some info on the new Skype Companyp.s. - i got the 'joke'. its just that it was a bit too much on the 'trolling' side and takes away from discussing Skype. speaking of which, has anyone tried it yet?p.p.s. - i like their mission statement. nicely put.

Our vision is to bring communications into the 21'st century, challenge the outdated business models and rip-off tactics of legacy telecom companies and to bring global unmetered communications to people all over the world.We will achieve our vision by building a user-driven P2P network leveraging emerging disruptive technolgies.

[volunteer]

Sometime in the last month, I read that a state was going to regulate voice over IP providers. States are looking for more revenue. P2P providers have a small percentage of the telephone market but telephone companies can't stop it easily unless the can get it regulated to death. Enjoy while you can. Look at all the add on fees on your phone bill. Most of the basic bill is these legislated fees. Ken

[Prelude76]

i wonder if it will be possible to regulate peer-to-peer voice-over-IP? i know they plan to do so to server-based services, like MSN messenger, or Net2Phone or similar ones like that, but what about peer-to-peer? my understanding is once you have the software and your friend in europe or whatever has it, you can talk to each other with it. how can governments regulate this?