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September 22, 2006, 11:19 AM ET
Skeptical About Skype
Administrators at San Jose State University would rather students and faculty members didn’t use Skype, the popular program that lets users make free telephone calls over the Internet. The software, officials say, could be a threat to the security of the campus network.
But banning the popular service has proven tougher than expected, reports The Mercury News. After campus officials announced plans to ban Skype, they were met with stiff criticism from professors (who say the software is an invaluable conferencing tool) and from students (who say the service is their only way of keeping in touch with friends and family overseas). To assuage the angry masses, administrators have decided to meet with representatives of eBay—the company that now owns Skype—and discuss the university’s security concerns.
Several other institutions have outlawed Skype, but they haven’t always done so for security reasons. Until earlier this year, the University of Oxford prohibited the software (The Chronicle, February 3) because of worries that it would clog campus bandwidth. —Brock Read
Categories: Security, Leadership
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