Word: aol
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Fortunately somebody is working on it. A handful of companies, notably twin goliaths Microsoft and Yahoo, have formed a coalition called IMUnified to attack the problem. Unfortunately AOL, which between ICQ and AIM controls 80% of the market, isn't part of the gang. That's what has the FCC's regulatory knickers in a knot...
This is all assuming the person on the other end is using the same IM program you are--and therein lies the rub. AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo all have IM programs, but most don't talk to one another; if I use AOL Instant Messenger, and you use MSN Messenger, for example, we're out of luck. Imagine if two people using different phone companies couldn't call each other. That's the current state of instant messaging...
...come AOL won't play with the other kids? AOL's spokespeople claim that AOL is committed to interoperability (as the IM geeks call it). Its AIM software is available free on the Net to any user who wants it, and AOL has readily licensed the technology to competitors. But the company argues that opening up its system could expose users to hackers and spam and other nastiness. IMUnified says that's bunk, that the technical questions are child's play ("My grandmother could implement interoperability"), and that AOL should get with the program...
...right? It doesn't look as if we will find out any time soon. Under the FCC's terms, AOL Time Warner has to open up its network to competitors before it can offer any "advanced, IM-based high-speed services" that involve streaming video. Big deal. AOL has indicated that it wasn't planning to offer such a service in the foreseeable future anyway...
...AOL gets to keep the walls that separate its instant-messaging system from the rest of the world. But that's going to have to change eventually, not because of the FCC, but because consumers want it. And because it just makes sense...