harra wrote:To me the simplest solution would be to do is replace all the instances of "Instant Messenger" with "Instant Messaging Application". I'm sorry, but Yahoo has "Yahoo Instant Messenger", M$ has "MSN Instant Messenger" and "Windows Instant Messenger". So you could make the case that "Instant Messeging Application" was a valid generic term.
Isn't it 'Windows Messenger' and 'Yahoo Messenger' technically?
AOL owns a patent on the phrases 'instant messenger' and 'instant message' and that's what they seem to be so upset about. In a world where AOL is losing billions of dollars annually, they feel the need to point fingers at everyone else before they blame themselves. Microsoft and Yahoo are safe because they wisely took out the word 'instant' from their products' names.
To millions of internet users, including myself, 'IM' is a generic term. Until the courts decide otherwise, AOL will legally be able to throw their weight around about this issue.
harra wrote:To me the simplest solution would be to do is replace all the instances of "Instant Messenger" with "Instant Messaging Application". I'm sorry, but Yahoo has "Yahoo Instant Messenger", M$ has "MSN Instant Messenger" and "Windows Instant Messenger". So you could make the case that "Instant Messeging Application" was a valid generic term.
Isn't it 'Windows Messenger' and 'Yahoo Messenger' technically?
AOL owns a patent on the phrases 'instant messenger' and 'instant message' and that's what they seem to be so upset about. In a world where AOL is losing billions of dollars annually, they feel the need to point fingers at everyone else before they blame themselves. Microsoft and Yahoo are safe because they wisely took out the word 'instant' from their products' names.
To millions of internet users, including myself, 'IM' is a generic term. Until the courts decide otherwise, AOL will legally be able to throw their weight around about this issue.
That I did not know but as you said AOL is kind of worried about loosing more money. Also I think that there product AIM remove there advange at they hard for a long while about AOL useer being the only people who could really IM eacherother. I think it funny when the run adds down here about how you and IM other AOL users with an IM. Personly I hate the IM program they have built into the AOL program. When I was forced to use AOL for that year I always uses AIM as my IM program because of the fact that it has more features and is planely better that the one in the browers in every way shap and form. Plus if I do not want to be bother I could just log off AIM and when you are using AOL to do that you have to go though so many extra steps where you have to block every one.
