Congress Can Now Skype

Now that security concerns are resolved, members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be using online video-chatting devices, Skype and ooVoo, Politico reports.

An announcement sent this Tuesday morning via snail mail from House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-Calif) to his colleagues said:

“During a time when Congress must do more with less, utilizing low-cost, real-time communication tools is an effective way to inform and solicit feedback from your constituents,” he wrote. The House had negotiated a modified license agreement with Skype and ooVoo that followed House rules and protected security.

For the past year,  House Republicans pushed for this type of technology.

House Democrats, though, disagreed. Considering file-sharing risky, they pointed to a 2006 ban against running peer-to-peer applications.

“Skype's engineers worked closely with the Congressional network security team to ensure that Skype is used safely for official business,” said Staci Pies, director of government and regulatory affairs for Skype in a blog post Tuesday morning.

Skype also said that it was willing to negotiate specific Terms of Service with other government agencies to ensure that Skype could be used securely.