A Chinese company claims to have reverse-engineered the Skype protocol, allowing it to place calls over Skype's VoIP network. 

According to a post on the VoIPWiki blog, a user by the name of Charlie Paglee received a Skype call from a contact at an unnamed Chinese company.

The calling party used the company's own software to initiate the call, rather than the official Skype client. 

The software currently only supports peer-to-peer phone calls, but the company plans to create a completely compatible Skype client including instant messaging and user status information.

Commenting on the call quality, Paglee wrote: "The first time we talked there was a noticeable echo on my end. The second time the voice quality was crystal clear."

Paglee also noted that the software does not support Skype's Supernode feature, which can route calls through PCs running the Skype client.

"Right now every computer with Skype installed can be used as a relay to carry data between two other computers when both of those computers are only allowed to make outgoing Transmission Control Protocol calls," Paglee wrote.

"This means that very soon Skype users will have an alternative client which will not hijack their computer.

"This could eventually have a very negative effect on the Skype network if too many people choose not to act as Skype Supernodes and the network starts to deteriorate."