Richard Stallman's personal site.

https://stallman.org

For current political commentary, see the daily political notes. RMS's Bio | The GNU Project

Reasons not to use Skype

Skype requires the use of a client program that is not free software; in other words, the users don't control it — it controls them. A nonfree program denies users freedom, which is unjust in itself. Making the ethical issue sharper, for you to use Skype is to encourage someone else to use Skype, which means you're pressuring someone else to surrender freedom as well. This is plenty of reason to refuse to use Skype, but there are more reasons. Skype audio graded by workers in China with 'no security measures'. On this occasion, Skype endangered national security in the US and other countries. Skype's surveillance usually cause that much risk, but it is always an injustice. ● Skype refuses to say whether it can eavesdrop on calls. That almost certainly means it can do so. ● Microsoft has changed Skype to make it easier for states to snoop on users. ● Skype gave personal data about a Wikileaks supporter to another company without any legal obligation to do so. ● Skype churns the meaning of preference settings, and gives its users a run-around when someone cheats them. ● Microsoft says that messages and file transfers are encrypted end-to-end, but since the software is nonfree, you cannot rely on that to be true. ● Microsoft Contractors Are Listening to Some Skype Calls. What to use instead? The most obvious alternative is a long-distance phone card. They are quite cheap nowadays, and they work with any phone. There are also free programs you can use, such as Jami, Linphone, Mumble, Jitsi and more.