Tuesday, July 18th 2006
Skype protocol cracked
Seems like some chinese engineers have managed to reverse engineer the Skype protocols and create independent and free software that uses that protocol. The software is currently being tested, with a final version planned for August. It currently only supports peer to peer calls, but the goal is a 100% working version with all the usual features.
Source:
VoIPWiki Blog
5 Comments on Skype protocol cracked
YES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i mean, don't skype co. hold the rights to those protocols or something?
Also - if you absolutely CANNOT find documentation for an Application Programming Interface? You sometimes are stuck doing this... if you want to get a job done & there is NO OTHER WAY!
Still, this latter point? It's still thievery, point-blank. Well, look @ Dr. Mark Russinovich of System Internals - now, there's a "talented thief" if there ever was one... he is a pretty good master of Kernel Level Debuggers & debuggers in general & yes, he is skilled in this field in general on the software end... no questions asked.
He used to work for NuMega out of academia... & guess what one of the tools THEY build is (A debugger - in other words, a disassembly tool) & iirc, for a while for IBM as well (who are one of the few organization in the world iirc, under NDA though, that HAS the source to NT-based OS).
He & I worked for/contracted out our wares to same software vendor(s) @ one point professionally over time, & that is how I got wind of him & how he does his work.
One of my ideas was duplicated, by other coders (reverse engineering goes on EVERYWHERE, all the time, not just in computers) & Dr. Russinovich reverse engineered an idea of mine in fact, he told me so point-blank in email no less.
No big deal, my program got duplicated by others & I was made well aware that it would happen eventually anyhow... I was prepped for that eventuality in fact.
I.E.-> Anyhow - back to Dr. R: He broke the undocumented Native Windows NT-based API (beneath Win32, based largely on VMS designwork because David Cutler came from Digital (DEC))...
That is the SAME thing as stealing, imo - hacking away @ things that are not published & gaining by it, by using tools that rip apart executing code (usually from other systems linked into the system being traced & having debug symbols in place, etc.)).
Microsoft (last time I checked @ least?) owns that code, didn't publish it (or rather, all of it, the DDK covers SOME in its documentation, but not all)... did he get busted?
No - he got his company WinTernals bought out by MS in fact, & is now one of their "technical fellows" in fact... ironic, isn't it?
APK
P.S.=> He & I have had our differences over time, & he is quite knowledgeable... I won't say he isn't... but I question his ethics & methods - disassemblers are debuggers are disassemblers (point-blank)... but, still, proving an OLD ADAGE:
"Good artists copy, GREAT ARTISTS STEAL"... apk