> I think you're right in that there is a risk, but I also think it is 
> at
> about the same level as with any application that is connected to 
> the
> internet and is not open source, especially most of the other IM 
> clients.

Not according to the articles I cited. It sounds like Sype is an order 
of magnitude or maybe 2 better at bypassing firewalls than any normal 
well behaved software, P2P or other.

>> Any node with a public IP address having sufficient CPU, memory and
>> network bandwidth is a candidate to become a super node
>
> This is what I read several times. To me, this almost means that it 
> is
> wrong to say that your PC may become a supernode without your 
> consent -- it
> kind of expresses your consent if you put a PC directly on the 
> internet
> with Skype installed on it and not properly firewalled :)


If you skimmed through those references you'll have seen that:

    - In using Skype you give them permission to do it if they can.

    - They are extremely good at burrowing through firewalls AND not 
showing that it is being done using any of the standard tools.

And may be tempted to conclude that

        - If  they can they do.

        - They often can.

When you read an article whose major gist is "ONE vendor CLAIMS that 
they have found a method to stop Skype getting out/in when you use it 
..." then one has to wonder.



            Russell


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