Skype VoIP program and Russia’s national security

According to an article on theINQUIRER, it seems that Russian telephone companies have asked their Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to shut-down Skype in the country. Whilst many believe this is because Skype is affecting companies revenues the companies in question claim that Skype is a threat to national security.

It seems the main argument against Skype, ICQ and a few other VoIP programs is that they are foreign, therefore there is a potential national security risk, the group who are maiking the complaint released a statement saying “Without government restrictions, IP telephony causes certain concerns about security.” and also said “Most of the service operators working in Russia, such as Skype and Icq, are foreign. It is therefore necessary to protect the native companies in this sector and so forth.”

I understand the point that the companies are making but to be honest I think they are over exaggerating the potential risk, probably because their companies have suffered recently due to the services. To see the full article head over to theINQUIRER.

Do you think the reasons are financial or in the interest of National Security?