The worldwide adoption of Skype has, even though the effect was not intended, showed that new media raises questions of democratic order whether it is by underlining issues about surveillance or freedom within the public and the private sphere, consequently shifting personal and public approaches to communications. In this paper, I will go over the creation of this software, its uses and its extensions in the political and social realms.
According to “The Inquisitr” website, in 2010, Skype became the largest worldwide voice carrier, accounting for 13% of the international call market, thus relegating the telephone to the status of an old medium. Also, research conducted by TeleGeography, showed that out of the 406 billion international calls made in 2009, 54 billion were made using Skype. New media have the capacity to breakthrough our perceptions of space and identity thus changing our communication practices in the workplace as well as in our homes. They give us a sense that the world is reachable anywhere and at any given time. Moreover as stated by Lev Manovich « both media machines and computing machines were absolutely necessary for the functioning of modern mass societies » (p2), so Skype is a logical product of our society’s need for improved technology.
Swedish entrepreneur Niklas Zennström and the Danish Janus Friis founded the Skype concept in 2003 . The software was developed by Estonian engineers. One of the initial names for the project was "Sky peer-to-peer", which was then abbreviated to "Skype”. Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls to friends and family but also conference calls and chats over the Internet. This video is a demonstration of how the software works explained in a simple way:
Its use is contingent on ownership of a computer and access to the World Wide Web. This denies access to agents situated in isolated regions which are out of internet range, or to lower income classes unable to afford a computer and the price of a connection necessary for the software to function. Elaine Graham discusses this point stating that “It is a matter of debate, however, whether the digital and biotechnological revolutions have afforded opportunities to usher in egalitarian and inclusive forms of political agency or whether the digital age will simply enrich the privileged few at the expense of impoverish nations” ( p71) .The headquarters of the company are situated in Luxembourg and a part of the company (customer and software research) is based in Estonia as well. Two years after its founding, Skype was purchased by eBay, the number one website of private sales online. The software company is run by CEO Tony Bates who previously worked for a networking company.
Skype’s strength has been to gather different functionalities all in one and keeping those features user friendly. Almost 700 million accounts have been created since Skype’s creation which bypasses Facebook’s number of users by about 200 million: impressive if we consider how many people we know have a Facebook account. The most appealing attribute the medium has is its cost: it is basically free and charges very cheap fees for calls on telephone lines. Skype is the only new communication technology having attained such a multidimensional task capacity. It is a new medium according to Manovich, because it makes periodic updates for us :“modern software applications can periodically check for updates on the internet and then download and install these updates, sometimes without any actions from the user” (p14).
Indeed, while taking over the telephone industry, Skype has managed to diminish competition in other fields as well, offering additional features such as instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing. Those features represent serious competition for classical means of communications such as MSN Messenger for instance. The company’s objective has been to make itself indispensable, updating itself and including more services over time. They have contracted deals with other companies such as Paypal and the Apple company for instance, allowing Skype users to transfer money via the service on Skype or by making the Skype application useable on a 3G network. Video telephony appeared in 2005, meaning the ability to see and hear your interlocutor at the same time. None of the older media, whether it was MSN or the phone, were able to combine so many different features. It differs from old media by Manovich’s principle of variability, stating that “ A new media object is not something fixed once and for all but can exist in different, potentially infinite versions”( p12). As we have seen previously, Skype can be used both within the public and the private sphere which brings us to a new point: how well does this medium integrate and fit into social practices?
As Elaine Graham puts it: “To privileged First-World citizens, the digital and biotechnological developments bring with them an expansion of selfhood beyond the limits imposed by finite bodies and minds” ( p72). So, Skype transcends geographical and social barriers at the same time. Its simplicity permits a great array of possible uses of the software: whether it is to stay in touch with friends or family, or to conduct business meetings (conferences, job interviews…you name it!). Skype provides an uncontrolled registration system for users with no proof of identity. Instead, a free choice of nicknames permits users to choose if they want to reveal their identity to other users. It is a personal choice to put your full name or to go with a pseudonym instead. So, there is a choice whether to remain anonymous or not. It would be fair to say that despite this measure, Skype has been confronted with security issues such as traceability of calls and government surveillance.
Moreover, it is seen by some countries as a threat to the regime as it promotes the free circulation of files, ideas… a democratic concept. An infamous case is China. In 2007, the software version of Skype there was associated with a specific wireless network, TOM, which monitors control of the content shared over the internet. Later, reports highlighted that this TOM network had been saving the full message contents of some Skype text conversations on its servers, apparently focusing on conversations containing references to hot political issues in China such as Tibet or the Communist Party. More problematic for the users, was that they could be found because those messages revealed IP addresses, usernames and land line phone numbers . The report was published by the Information Warfare Monitor.
This was presented as a scandal, violating the right to freedom of speech. After that, some Internet companies worked around censorship regulations by hosting their servers outside of the country. This revelation caused embarrassment on Skype’s part. The company claimed its ignorance of the fact the filtering had been going on in China. This monitoring of users' communications added an impetus to an industry wide effort to establish an international human-rights code of conduct for Internet companies. Indeed as McLuhan argues “ all media as extensions of ourselves serve to provide new transforming vision awareness”( p25).
On a smaller scale, in the work place, Skype has been banned by some employers for apparent inappropriate usage of resources, excessive bandwidth usage and security concerns. Other issues such as the clogging of the system due to overcrowding of the system with too many users connected at the same time have occurred, underscoring some cracks in the system.
Overall, Skype is now the largest provider of cross border communications in the world, providing a great alternative to telephone calls challenging international voice carriers such as a VoIP. It has, by extension, highlighted new issues and debates over privacy and correct use of the system, underscoring technology’s importance in our everyday lives. It has become a test for democratic values and has extended possibilities of societal participation. Graham argues that “In Marshall McLuhan’s vision of the global village, the information revolution would enable a kind of digital democracy” (p68). The Skype project has been part of the digital democratic process even though it is not immune to drawbacks and censorship as China’s case as shown.
Bibliography
Jason Dean (2008). " Skype's China practices draw IRE ", The Wall Street Journal
Elaine L.Graham (2002). “ Nietzche gets a modem: transhumanism and the technological sublime” Representations of the Post/HumanJason Dean (2008). " Skype's China practices draw IRE ", The Wall Street Journal
Lev Manovich (2002). “How Media Became New” & “Principles of New Media”. The Language of New Media. MIT Press
McLuhan Marshall (1964). “Media as Translators” & “Number: Profile of the Crowd” from Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man
" Life at Skype". www.jobs.skype.com
“Skype commands 13% of international calls” : www.inquistr.com
