Ex-Skype Crew Sued Developers Of WhatsApp Encryption Over '$2m Extortion'

As the fight between Apple and the FBI attested, we’re in the midst of Cryptowars 2.0. But it would be reductive to claim it’s technologists facing off against the government over how to best protect the public from criminal hackers and terrorists. On both sides there are internecine battles being fought, as shown in a quickly-dismissed case between two developers of secure messaging and call services, Wire Swiss and Open Whisper Systems, the organization behind WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption rollout.
In a document filed on April 6th, Wire, a company created by Skype alumni, complained about alleged extortion by Moxie Marlinspike, who heads up Open Whisper Systems (parent company Quiet Riddle Ventures LLC) that also developed the Signal crypto communications app. The complaint first claimed Marlinspike’s firm had accused Wire of copyright infringement for using parts of the encryption protocol created by the Open Whisper System’s team, known as Axolotl.
It then claimed Marlinspike had threatened “publicly exposing” the infringement to the wider developer community, unless an “exorbitant” license fee was paid, which Wire believed would surpass $2 million. The document also claimed Marlinspike recorded conversations, saying he would make them public.

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Wire said it had asked Marlinspike’s team what code it had infringed, but received no response, only further threats. The company then suggested the motivation behind Marlinspike’s action was clear: his team wanted to squash the competitive “threat” to Signal and Facebook FB +1.03%-owned WhatsApp that Wire represented.
The document also claimed Marlinspike said he and others had found a vulnerability in the Wire App, which they did not disclose, though company CTO Alan Duric spoke with Marlinspike directly.
Wire sought a judgment declaring it had not infringed on any copyright owned by Open Whisper Systems. It also wanted compensation for damages caused by the purported allegations. But almost a month after the claim was filed, the case was dropped, with Wire voluntarily dismissing it with prejudice, meaning it won’t be following up its claims.

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Court filings reviewed by FORBES do not indicate a reason behind the sudden disappearance of the case, nor was there any published response from Marlinspike’s team. No additional cases against Marlinspike or his organizations could be found. Wire had not launched legal action against any other firm.
FORBES has contacted both parties for comment. Neither had replied at the time of publication.
Both provide end-to-end encrypted communications, though thanks to the WhatsApp rollout Open Whisper Systems has hundreds of millions more users. Wire does have one significant benefit over its rivals, however: encrypted video chat. That feature has been widely sought after and it’s little surprise Wire provided it, given its executive chairman is Skype co-founder Janus Friis (he also co-founded file-sharing application Kazaa) and its first CEO was long-time Skype manager Jonathan Christensen.
Whilst inter-market battles might cause some stress for those involved, users can at least be satisfied a competitive industry should bring about more secure crypto apps.

Source: Forbes Tech