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ICQ Universe

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the crossing-beyond-over-hyped dept.

scubacuda writes "PC World: ICQ Universe (now owned by AOL) will soon be the first to offer social networking services on an IM platform. One has to wonder what types of legal issues might surface as social networks (particularly those unsecured) become more popular. For example, could being an IM buddy with someone later come back and haunt you?"

3 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. The Internet becomes more like the real world... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I guess all these "social networks" make the internet more and more like the real world. Have to be careful of who you talk to, etc.

    Except of course in the real work scamming someone is a lot more work - on the internet they can't see you, so you could be scamming lots of people at once. The "social networks" might even build up a higher layer of false trust.

    Damn you internet!

  2. Simply chatting with someone can be a problem. by JanusFury · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A few years back, during the eFront Fiasco, someone got a hold of ICQ Chat Logs off of the machine of Sam Jain, the CEO of eFront. I was an administrator of one of the sites that got hit hard by the scandal, and if my memory serves the chat logs (which included a lot of very embarassing things being said by Sam and other higher-ups at eFront) were one of the big things that resulted in eFront's eventual destruction.

    I can only imagine how much worse it will get when ICQ expands its services.

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  3. Chatting can indeed be dangerous!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work on AOL as a Guide. One time there was a Guide they suspected was into kiddie porn. So, Not only did they (Law Enforcement) read all of his email for awhile, they also read email of all the people he talked to. Basically they were on a Fishing Expedition. They thought this guy was doing kiddie porn so of course they figured everyone else he talked to must be doing kiddie porn too!

    I still remember, the day I opened my mail box (real one) and there was an envelope, from the Virgina Dept of Justice, telling me, hey guess what, we've been spying on your email for a few months while we investigated someone else. Hope you don't mind!!

    And this was 6 or 8 years ago! God knows what they can do now, with carnivore and more powerful computers.