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MSN Cuts Unmonitored Chatrooms Around the Globe
letxa2000 writes "According to MSNBC, Microsoft will be shutting down its unmonitored chat services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and much of Latin America on October 14th--the day before MSN Messenger will lock out many 3rd party clients. Interestingly, the European manager of MSN is quoted as saying 'This is a decision based upon consumer experiences, child protection and our strategic investment to build up MSN Messenger.' It's starting to become clear that Microsoft is starting up the IM wars again and that the 3rd-party lockout indeed isn't so much about security as it is about marketshare."
Note that this only affects public chatrooms and not the MSN Messenger service - I say this now not because it's not obvious to those who read the article, but that because this is slashdot and people won't :)
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Yeah, there was an article in the Metro (free UK newspaper distributed on trains and buses) -- the slant was that it would curb paedophiles preying on young children. They cited a recent example of this trainee teacher guy trying to 'buy' a nine year old girl for sex using chatrooms.
Fair enough for MSN to ditch it though, there's plenty of other services out there. I wasn't even aware they hosted chatrooms until today.
You really ought to read the article in more detail. They're not talking about shutting down Messenger -- just the chatrooms on MSN.
Indeed, they suggested Messenger was a viable alternative to communication once the chatrooms are gone as you can block strangers from contacting you on Messenger. Whereas the chatroom medium inherently allows strangers to communicate.
"In the United States, Canada and Japan, Microsoft will introduce an unsupervised chat service solely for subscribers,"
"Users in the affected regions will still be able to chat online but must do so through Microsoft Messenger,"
Of course it's about protecting children. Honest. The British press I've seen is latching onto the protecting the children angle to the exclusion of everything else. Bring back Chris Morris.
It seems these days people are afraid of everything, and Microsoft have used that fear to seems like they are doing us a favour by taking away a service!
This would be a good opportunity to turn people on to cross-platform IM clients like GAIM. I doubt anyone in the tech communities is naive enough to take the children argument as more than a red herring to keep IM from joinging the OS/Broswer/Mediaformat/Office format anti-trust action. It does, however, provide a very good cover for pushing people into MS-Passport, despite its reputation, and for locking out non-Microsoft IM clients.
Alternately, this can be seen as just another product or service being dropped or postponed as the company sheds weight to try to stay afloat.
Lastly, regarding the link. This is being covered by everyone and his dog, even Reuters, so no need to plug poor sources..
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
"I think I've had to read enough stories in the news recently about teenage girls being raped by people they've met on the Internet to want something changed."
Stop putting 'internet chat rapes' into Google and the problem goes away.
Seriously, a lot of this is bluster because of the relatively simplistic way the whole thing is presented by media and interest groups. 'peadophiles' are the social terrorists for a time when people are trying to shift that uncomfortable problem of telling their kids about 'jiggy' and the relative dangers _of talking to strangers_.
In terms of the last couple of cases of 'chatroom' abuse, all parties have been consenting. In fact the most recent has been a case of a couple of youngsters running away with each other.
The peadophile argument is Godwinesque to the extreme because you can't argue against these things rationally when people start emoting about it. 'Think of the children' is usually trumpeted by people who're on extremely shaky ground.
"If one person is saved by this, then surely it's a good thing?"
Going to extremes to save a single person is never good, especially if you unknowingly place more in danger.
This isn't altruism, this is about cutting a lossmaker. Where chatrooms are controlled, moderated and *logged*, you have some fairly specific information to find people with...driving the whole thing underground doesn't cure the problem, it just makes it harder to control. The vast majority won't give up because a chatroom isn't there, they'll just find someplace else. MS' thing is about dodging possible liability.
Oddly Draconis
Too cynical to live, too stubborn to die.
You could avoid this on IRC? That's the kind of attitudes I came across there and forced me to end a serious 5 year IRC habit.
I've not touched IRC in 3 years now and I don't miss its stupidity one bit. aMSN and yahoo IM's now provide my lameness filter to the chat world - I much prefer it that way.
I don't read your sig, why do you read mine?
Exactly.
I was very disappointed with Radio 4 this morning covering this but not thinking to discuss that this means MS are stopping a free service, getting good publicity for themselves for free and instantly bashing all their competitors by implication. Oh, and getting referred to as a 'leading internet provider' in the UK where MSN don't operate.
This is very nasty marketing from MS, definitely increases the risk to children and should have got them shouted at loudly.
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
Stop putting 'internet chat rapes' into Google and the problem goes away.
Not in the UK, my friend. Here it would be more a case of 'stop reading newspapers, do not watch television, do not listen to radio and avoid having watercooler conversations with colleagues'.
Rightly or wrongly, at present in this country this is seen as a huge and pressing issue, or at least as an issue which is pretty much guaranteed to support newsmedia sales and probably a nice cheap votewinner for demagogues into the bargain.
This is, certainly, simplistic, but it's also real.
tomV
An alternative look at this from VUNet; "But because MSN will continue to operate moderated chatrooms in the US, Canada and Japan as a subscription-based service, industry experts are suggesting that the real motive is financial. Ian Brown, director of the Foundation for Information Policy Research, which promotes public debate about the policy implications of new developments in technology, called the announcement an 'hysterical' overreaction if the motive is to protect children online."
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I'm Pete Carr, owner of Chatmag.com, the leading chat directory and safety site (google "chat safety", we're the second result). For the most part, the comments of other /.ers that MSN is closing their chat rooms due to financial concerns are right on target. It has been long known that chat is not generally a medium to "make a sale". I believe that the decision to close is the result of falling ad revenues in their chat section and potential liability suits.
Operating a good safe kids chat network is a full time job, not something to just put up and forget. MSN and several other major chat networks have been lax in assisting users with help and safety issues. Operating a help desk for chat means hiring trained personnel, taking a proactive stance to addressing help requests, and educating users to the potential hazards of chat.
There are numerous good, safe chat networks that cater to children and teens. Talk City went to a subscription only chat service, which on the one hand goes against the principle of free chat, but helps eliminate trollers and spammers. In addition, several law enforcement agencies, such as Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, regularly cruise chat rooms to search out pedophiles, and child porn filesharers.
This decision by MSN will certainly not be the "death knell" for chat. There are several dozen major IRC networks, and the estimated chat rooms now available via IRC and The Web are over 1.3M, including discussion boards and interactive sites such as Slashdot. Internet chat goes to the heart of what the Internet was designed for, communications. There will be new chat networks starting up, and the networks with a bad business model such as MSN closing.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com