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Instant Messaging Rivals Blast AOL

Microsoft, Tribal Voice, others complain to feds that AOL "inappropriately" blocks interaction.

By George A. Chidi Jr., IDG News   

The white paper is signed by several companies developing or marketing instant messaging services--including Microsoft and CMGI subsidiary Tribal Voice--and it charges AOL with "inappropriately [using] security and privacy concerns as justification for blocking open communication."

AOL has come under fire in recent months for blocking users from other providers of instant messaging services from exchanging messages with users of its AOL Instant Messenger service. AOL has cited a fear of compromising its users' security and privacy to justify its actions. (See "AOL And Microsoft Have a Spat Over Chat.")

Rivals Are Skeptical

But critics don't buy AOL's claims.

AOL "has failed to demonstrate how interoperability impedes either of these issues," says Matt Fleury, a spokesperson for Tribal Voice. He adds that AOL hasn't worked effectively with the Internet Engineering Task Force, a working group created to help build an open standard for instant message traffic. "AOL is not an active participant; it's participation has been nil," he says. "It has been starkly devoid of a timetable."

The vendors recently organized as FreeIM.org and urge the government to force AOL to open its instant messaging system to interact with others, especially in light of its pending merger with Time Warner. (See "Vendors Push for Unified Messaging.")

The white paper released on Friday responds to filings AOL made recently to the IETF and to the Federal Communications Commission about the company's policy on instant messaging. In June, the FCC asked AOL for information about its instant messaging operation. The Federal Trade Commission has also been looking at AOL's instant messaging practices. (See "FTC Probes AOL About Instant Messaging.")