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It's Time To Take Back Instant Messaging

Posted by Hemos on from the like-any-monopoly dept.

Enigma5O writes "The TechZone says the world of instant messaging is a disjointed mess, and it's time for a citizen's revolt. From the article: "The obstacles in this case are three big companies: AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Each wants to keep their networks closed, thereby forcing consumers to use their brand of software and effectively using their size to eliminate competition. Five years ago, Yahoo! and Microsoft were calling for then-leader AOL/ICQ to open their network to allow others to compete. They even successfully petitioned the FCC to restrict AOL's future developments before approving the AOL/Time Warner merger. When it was convenient for their business goals, Microsoft and Yahoo! waved the interoperability flag, but now that both companies have built substantial IM communities with their own closed networks, they have lost their passion for open networks.""

3 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. OOh! Shiny. by aussie_a · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I'm sorry, but I tried to read this article but was unsuccessful. The ads are obnoxious. Google ads, while annoying, are livable. Banners are bad enough, but flashing banners are extremely annoying. But when you have all of the above along with obnoxious inline linkvertisements, it's too bad to read.

    Is anyone that was willing to wade through the shit, willing to put up a summary of the article (not a copy-paste job)? The slashdot article just has anti-Yahoo/Microsoft content along with a "take back instant messaging" heading. It doesn't really say how this "citizens revolt" is suppose to occur.

  2. Re:"Its time to support my job security" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Yeah, and since we are at it we should also stop supporting TCP/IP, HTML and HTTP. Terrorists all over the world abuse these open standards for intercommunication. The internet was a bad idea, we should spilt it back to compuserve, ARPNET, AOL and so on....

  3. Re:Trillian by aussie_a · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    It's very sad that the monopolistic behavior is not being stopped.

    For that you have the Republicans to thank:
    It was not until April 3, 2000, however, that a ruling was reached. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft had to be split into two companies. However, in June 2001 part of the ruling was overturned by a federal appeals court, and in September the Justice Department decided to seek a settlement with Microsoft instead of trying to split it up.
    Source
    In 2001, Bush became the fourth president in U.S. history to take office after losing the popular vote. In the 2004 election
    Source