[Infowarrior] - AOL Opens Up the AIM Instant Messaging Network

[Richard Forno]

AOL Opens Up the AIM Instant Messaging Network
By Scott Gilbertson EmailMarch 05, 2008 | 10:37:37 AMCategories: Instant
Messaging  

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/03/aol-opens-up-th.html

aim.jpgAOL has done an about-face regarding third-party access to the
company's AIM chat network. AOL's recently launched OpenAIM 2.0 provides
open, uninhibited access to services like Meebo, or all-in-one IM clients
like Pidgin, allowing them to freely and easily use the AIM instant
messaging network.

That's quite a change from AOL's previous stance toward such competitors,
which seemed to be somewhere between sticking its head in the sand and
unleashing a pack of angry lawyers.

At the moment, multi-platform IM desktop clients like Pidgin or Adium (the
popular Mac client) generally rely on hacking and reverse engineering access
to chat networks run by AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft and others. Not only is that
bad for developers since it means more work, it also means that such clients
often can't use all the features of a particular network.

The new OpenAIM 2.0 changes that and joins GTalk (Google's chat network) in
offering unfettered access to all of the network's features to third-party
applications and services.

AOL is going even further, offering such services the option to run
AOL-served advertisements as part of a revenue sharing plan. So far, AOL
hasn't given too many details on the advertising tie-in, but more details
will be released next month.

Kudos to AOL for recognizing that the value is in the network, not the
client. Hopefully Yahoo IM and Windows Live Messaging (formerly known as
MSN) will take note and perhaps do the same.