|
AOL may open IM access
|
 |
June 15, 2000: 11:48 p.m. ET
Instant messaging leader submits plan in response to U.S. inquiry
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Following a federal antitrust inquiry into the prevalence of its instant messaging technology, America Online Thursday submitted a proposal to allow open access to its popular Instant Messenger system.
AOL submitted an 18-page proposal to the Internet Engineering Task Force, a group that develops Internet standards, outlining ways in which to achieve interoperability between competing messaging systems.
AOL was one of several messaging systems providers that submitted interoperability proposals Thursday to meet an IETF deadline.
 Rivals have been clamoring for AOL to allow its users to communicate with IM users. Dulles, Va.-based AOL (AOL: Research, Estimates) controls 90 percent of the IM market and only allows registered users to communicate over its network.
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it is examining the inability of competitors such as Microsoft to connect to AOL's Instant Messenger network as one of handful of antitrust concerns related to the Internet company's proposed merger with media firm Time Warner.
While the merger would not increase the combined company's share of the IM market, government officials are concerned that such leadership combined with the potential broadband Internet reach of New York-based Time Warner (TWX: Research, Estimates), parent of CNNfn, could raise antitrust concerns, the report said.
In a memo posted on its Instant Messenger Web site Thursday, AOL outlined plans for an open IM architecture design that would allow full interoperability of messaging networks that follow the same Internet protocols. The new design would feature heightened privacy and security measures and provide scalability for the design of additional messaging systems. IM users would be able to keep their screen name even if users on other systems had identical names.
AOL said it has offered the use of IM to competitors through more than a dozen royalty-free licensing agreements with rival ISPs Earthlink, Lycos and companies such as Novell.
The company warned Thursday that rushing to link disparate messaging systems could sacrifice user's privacy and security.
"In the standardization of e-mail, one of the unforeseen offshoots was spam (junk e-mail)," AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose told Reuters. "Let's make sure we don't rush to put in place a standard that doesn't protect consumers."
Repeated efforts by CNNfn to contact AOL were unsuccessful. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
