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MSN Messenger Access To Be Restricted
linuxwrangler writes "According to Infoworld, Microsoft has announced that as of October 15 some third-party software and older versions of MSN Messenger will no longer be able to log in to their Instant Messaging service. Microsoft cited 'security issues', but declined to offer specifics. The company sent an email alert to Messenger users, but users reported thinking the message was a hoax or virus after receiving over a dozen copies of the email."
Gaim falls under the category of third party software, so I'll have to assume so.
No more Messenger for me while playing around with X, but then again, I prefer AIM anyways.
didn't AOL try to blobk trillian as well.... look how well that worked :) I use trillian to talk on ICQ, AOL, Yahoo, and MSN - I feel no need to run ALL those proggys - in fact I wish I only used 1, but some friends absolutely refuse to switch to anything other than - whatever happened to the days when everyone I knew was using ICQ and occassionally meeting up with eachother in an IRC room or web forum?
Ave Molech Setting
Just a couple of years ago? Now they decide that they don't want to play with others now.
Here's one of the many stories on it:
http://net4tv.com/voice/Story.cfm?storyID=1693
from the article:
:)
"It is our expectation that those who use our service with unlicensed or unauthorized third-party clients will likely not be able to log on after Oct. 15," Sundwall said. "We would encourage those third parties to contact us to work out agreements by which they can continue to have their customers access our network."
So....then I guess third parties will likely not be able to use the service but apparently MS is fine with them contacting them to work things out. Doesn't seem so bad. Unless of course MS starts charging exorbatant fees for third-party users of the protocol. Which would be pretty insane. For now, benefit of the doubt is what I'll give. Partly b/c I'm crazy
The current Jabber transport uses the old protocol, and thus will require updating before OC=ctober 15th. There is already a thread about this on the JDEV mailing list.
-dr
Jabber's gateways are all server-side. Thus, it depends on the particular Jabber server(s) you use, probably.
iChat isn't a true third party AOL client - its sanctioned by AOL (while being developed by Apple).
Unfortunately MSN Messenger has no such third parties (to bring this back on topic) that I know of.
According to this discussion on the Cerulean Studios website, their new version of Trillian Pro already supports the MSN 6 protocol, and thus should not be affected by this change.
It's already in beta testing, and should be out before the deadline.
-- This sig for rent.
I am hopeful that the developers of Gaim will be able to implement the latest MSN protocol by the Oct. 15th deadline. If not, well, my Gaim is also running Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, and AOL... any of which are fine with me. I'll have to get my parents to switch to ICQ but that shouldn't be a problem.
For you trillian users:
Here is a Link that seems to think trillian and other 3rd parties using the "newer" protocol will be ok.
1. It is decentralized, like email.
2. Anyone with a domain can use it, even on a lan that isn't connected to the internet. I am sheenmaster@frob.us
3. It has "transports" to access the other IM services.
4. It has clients for literally everything, and is easy to program for.
get it
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
It appears this may be just affecting MSN's older protocols (MSNP7 and below). See this post and this link, which is referenced in the post.
BTW, I use Miranda and think it's a great Open Source alternative to Trillian. Check it out.
Microsoft's IM letter means you agree to pay and upgrade
END USERS OF Microsoft's Instant Messenger software that got multiple copies of a mail advising them to upgrade yesterday need to read the fine print of the firm's terms and conditions most carefully.
The end user licence agreement (EULA) for the new version of Instant Messenger has some clauses that suggest changes are afoot in the way Microsoft deals with this popular little software item.
By clicking on the new agreement, users promise to pay for future upgrades and to acquire future chargeable upgrades whether they're wanted or unwanted.
Read on...
What does this mean? It could mean that Microsoft may charge fees whenever it wants, and that you also have to stop using the software if the firm decides.
Always read the fine print. If Microsoft addes this particular clause to operating systems, everyone might be forced to utter "Hail Palladium" when the push came to shove.
Remember back in 1999? It was MSN who was complaining that AOL wouldn't play nicely with them. Now MS throws their IM-bot in with windows, and makes it frustrating to remove if installing Outlook, and then closes the door.
But don't think AOL is now held irresponsible in this battle. A few months ago, AOL asked the FCC if it could break the rules. It seems yesterday, AOL announced it would go ahead and break the rules.
It sounds like there needs to be a group "time-out". Everybody goes to their corner and sits for 5 minutes.
Trillian 2.0 pro beta already uses the msn 6.0 protocol. The free version still uses the old version, and will have to be updated.
Microsoft will be shutting down this security and spam risk as well, right? Seeing as how they are security concious all of a sudden. Or maybe they'd care to fix this problem, labelled a major security issue by the FBI. Or perhapse this URL exploit in SP1?
Come on, MS. You can do better this blatant attempt to isolate your market under the guise of a security issue, especially when there are so many more important ones that have been left lying around for so long now...
You need a FREE iPod Nano
The Trillian Pro 2.0 beta already supports MSN6. Shouldn't be an issue for those of us who pair for Pro. Hopefully they'll implement it into the free version for the rest of you.
-palp
I just put up a page that describes the situation slightly and mentions what we can and can't do about it. Please read it before asking us on IRC. We're getting flooded with questions.
Please learn the difference between MSN Messenger 6.0's protcol, and MSN Messenger Protocol 6.0. The newest client, that everyone is require to upgrade to, uses protocol 9. Trillian uses version 6 in it's beta, and 5 in the other. Trillian does not speak the newest protocol that it needs to.
Let's go trollerize!
According to The Inquirer (yeah I know but bear with me), it looks like it could possibly be a security measure for their bottom line.
... Microsoft may terminate this EULA by offering you a superseding EULA for the SOFTWARE or any replacement or modified version of or upgrade to the SOFTWARE and conditioning your continued use of the SOFTWARE or such replacement, modified or upgraded version on your acceptance of such superseding EULA.
EULA snippet:
Replacement, Modification or Upgrade of the Software
Microsoft reserves the right to replace, modify or upgrade the SOFTWARE at any time by offering you a replacement or modified version of the SOFTWARE or such upgrade and to charge for such replacement, modification or upgrade.
In the event that Microsoft offers a replacement or modified version of or any upgrade to the SOFTWARE, (a) your continued use of the SOFTWARE is conditioned on your acceptance of such replacement or modified version of or upgrade to the SOFTWARE and any accompanying superseding EULA, and (b) in the case of replacement or modified SOFTWARE, your use of all prior versions of the SOFTWARE is terminated.
TERMINATION:
Dissolve... Resolve... Evolve...
Thanks for the link to the jdev archive. I found this url in one of the posts discussing the new msn 8/9 protocol. Looks interesting.
From the site's main page: "This website is intended to be an unofficial guide to the MSN Messenger protocol. It is written primarily for programmers that want to utilize the MSN Messenger protocol in software."
Did anyone ever verify whether or not the AOL IM client updated itself through a buffer overrun?
i m/index.html
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~geoffch/security/a
Check out the news archive at Trillian's website.
A long while back, Trillian got an impromptu upgrage because MS was changing the network and was letting Cerulean Studios in on it. They say unauthorized third-party clients, meaning there exist some that ARE authorized, or at least less of a security threat.
Heck, Trillian has blowfish encryption on SecurIM!
A more extensive range of features? Can gAIM even do file transfers over MSN? If so, it is a recent development...MSN is bloated with features, from remote help stuff to little games to weird little chalkboards. Gaim is *very* stripped down in terms of features, does the job (except file transfers) nicely though, I suppose.
A lot of people have been asking about whether MS's latest decisions regarding MSN will affect us. Here's the general information on what they're doing.
;) Then they can continue to talk to their MSN friends, but move to Jabber or another protocol.
MS has decided that everyone should upgrade to MSN version 5.0 or higher. MSN v5 is the first to use their MSN Protocol v8, which is the first to use SSL for login. Now, we know how to login over this. This is not hard, and we will be supporting MSNP9, the latest version of the protocol, soon.
However, upgrading to this does not guarantee us anything. Whereas previously, Microsoft has let third party clients connect, they now require a license for doing so. They still encourage clients to connect to their network, so with any luck, we can work something out. If not, people may find a way to connect anyway, but the legalities of this are pretty obvious. Key words: "Intellectual Property" and "DMCA."
We cannot give a yes or a no to the question, "Will Gaim continue to work after October 15th?" (Which, btw, is the day that third party clients not using MSNP8 or higher will be unable to connect). We will do our best, but if it comes down to it, we will drop MSN support. If you have a lot of friends on MSN, perhaps it's the time to migrate them. Get them to install Gaim
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
Take ATM, for example: Adobe Type Manager, Automatic Teller Machine, and I'm sure there's a few hundred more.
Really? Acronym Finder can find only seventy. If you can think of more, they accept submissions.
For comparison, it has 130 meanings for MS, and Microsoft is number 5.
The MSN Messenger protocol tried to get opened a long, long, time ago, when Microsoft was trying to make it the big standardised open standard (i.e. around the time AOL was being reamed in court for being proprietary about this sort of thing)
r -protocol-00.txt
m l
http://www.abraxis.co.uk/draft-movva-msn-messenge
This was because of involvement with these guys:
http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/impp-charter.ht
But they took a slightly different direction.
Of course it lapsed and the spec for the current protocol additions is hidden, but then it's a fairly plaintext protocol, uses XML & HTTP for auxiliary functions, so it's nothing you can't find out with Ethereal.
One thing I am wondering, though, is MSNP9 SSL for logins only, or is it SSL for the entire protocol? It will definitely be nice not to have some bastard snooping on my Messenger traffic if the latter is true, and it certainly doesn't stop people from snooping the traffic on a legitimate connection (i.e. Gaim connects, logs in, dumps all protocol traffic to a file so people can look at it..)
Ah well.