My solution was to just start buying cameras that work with the stock drivers. I think around Etch they got reasonably good.
I know this doesn't help you, but it'll tell you how much I ended up hating the issue. Or may be I just got older and lost interest in tinkering with the OS.

OTOH not being able to register on Skype seems rather odd. Also you shouldn't need to register to check if the camera works, or may be you do, it's too late for me to check it now.