Editor's Note:  Here are a couple thoughts I have about this.   First, you should always assume that every  major application out there mostly likely have some sort of remote access for governmental agencies to monitor criminals.  This is not paranoia, but if the application has encryption then you know the NSA has keys if it is distributed in the U.S.  Second, you really should not be doing anything illegal but you happen to find yourself astray of the law then you should not be using any of the high technology to conduct yourself in these ways.  I am in no way supporting any illegal acts, I am just giving helpful advice to my audience.  Lastly, this does not surprise me being the amount of users they have, it would be quite odd of our defense agencies could not  monitor this type of communication.

According to reports, there may be a back door built into Skype, which allows connections to be bugged. The company has declined to expressly deny the allegations. At a meeting with representatives of ISPs and the Austrian regulator on lawful interception of IP based services held on 25th June, high-ranking officials at the Austrian interior ministry revealed that it is not a problem for them to listen in on Skype conversations.