On May 11, 2011, at 8:05 AM, Florin Iucha wrote: > On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 07:06:14AM -0500, Ryan Coleman wrote: >>> http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2009/02/24/skype-steals-bandwidth-%E2%80%94-even-when-you-are-not-using-it/ >> >> I read the blog. What makes it any different than AIM, Yahoo, etc., >> that calls home regularly to tell you if your friends are online or not >> or that you are online. Do you get a disclaimer on Adium or Pidgin or >> Trillian? No. > > Well, duh! "Calling home" to see who else is connected is an obvious > design for a person-server-person communication system. Just like > IRC. But with IRC or Pidgin, the only thing going through your wire > are bytes that you are originating or that you are receiving. For > your benefit. With Skype you might be receiving, sending or computing > checksums on behalf of other people whom you have never met. > > Now, this is not necessary a bad thing - this is how Skype makes money > and can keep its services discounted to clients and profitable to the > shareholders. As long as you know and you agree, all is fine. The > trouble is when Skype consumes more resources that one expects. Except that they have yet to turn a true profit :)