Instant Messaging Groups Assail AOL's FCC Testimony

A coalition of companies offering "instant messaging" (IM)
chat services today blasted America Online Inc. for misleading federal
regulators about plans for allowing its 22 million customers to chat with
users of competing IM software.

At last month's Federal Communications Commission hearing on the
proposed merger between AOL and Time Warner Inc., FCC commissioners
quizzed AOL chief Steve Case as to why the company was taking so
long to develop compatibility protocols for its IM system.

Case cited security and privacy concerns for the delay, and said the
company had just submitted a proposed framework to the
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) - an unofficial standards-setting
body for Internet protocols. He added that AOL hoped to establish some
sort of interoperability protocol within the next 12 months.

But in a letter sent today to FCC Chairman William Kennard, the IM
coalition alleged that AOL's security and privacy concerns
were a smokescreen for company attempts to block competing IM
users from communicating with users of the world's largest ISP.

The coalition of 22 IM providers, led by Tribal Voice Inc., note that
AOL's promises have proven empty in the past, as AOL had pledged
a year ago to "fast track" efforts to create an interoperability standard,
and then backtracked on that commitment.

"The idea that it would take a minimum of 24 months from the time
AOL committed to fast-tracking a solution is a troubling indictment
of its real commitment to interoperability," said Tribal Voice CEO
Ross Bagully in the letter. "A minimum of 24 months is neither
quick nor acceptable."

Bagully also said AOL's concern over preventing unsolicited
commercial e-mail - also known as "spam" - were unfounded
because the company's proposed interoperability protocol gives
IM competitors little recourse to fight spam.

Bagully noted that while AOL offers a 'Warn' button that helps users
send warning messages to unwanted communicators and gradually
decrease their level of access, the company offers users no specific
contact point for abuse issues.

"The only AIM users who are clearly given the opportunity to contact
AOL about IM abuse are those who also pay for AOL's ISP service,
which offers customer support options, including a 'Notify AOL' button,"
Bagully argues. "However, AIM users who do not pay for AOL's ISP's
are apparently not offered this level of support."

Prior to the FCC hearing, AOL instant messaging competitors issued an
industry white paper accusing AOL of hiding behind unsubstantiated
security and privacy concerns to block chat communications with
competing IM users and maintain its 90 percent market share for IM
products and services.

AOL officials were not immediately available for comment.

Instant messaging is a tool that allows users to exchange messages
in "real-time," meaning two users can read each others' messages
almost as soon as they are typed.

Reported by Newsbytes, http://www.newsbytes.com.