ChiComs Tap Skype Instant Messages

Instant messaging via the VoIP provider Skype, an eBay subsidiary, has been under surveillance by the communist Chinese and befuddled Skype officials said the eavesdropping was the fault of a local partner.

Reportedly, a word filter installed two years ago to block sensitive keywords, such as democracy, baby milk, and earthquake, was modified to log and store IM conversations. Skype officials claim they didn’t know but they have apologized for being bend-over buddies with the ChiComs.

The eavesdropping scheme was exposed by the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab, which found a million censored messages on publicly-accessible servers.

Consequently, don’t be surprised if a Chinese friend is jailed for texting his/her thoughts via Skype.