Off Forum: Trillian

[Will]

I don't know how many here are familiar with the "Instant Messenger Wars", and I felt like griping somewhere, so I'm posting something here

Trillian is a freeware IM service developed by Cerulean Studios, allowing Users to connect to ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC networks, and until recently, AIM; all in one client window. Trillian is attractive to many Users not only for the ability to connect to all those networks, but also for its extreme customizablitiy. It uses XML-based skins to make the interface do whatever the user likes, with even the most amateur skin far surpassing the blandness of AIM's design. It is also free of ads and other annoyances.

However, when I connected to Trillian this evening, I got a message from user "AOL Instant Messanger" stating: "You have been disconnected from the AOL Instant Message Service (SM) for accessing the AOL network using unauthorized software. You can download a FREE, fully featured, and authorized client, here http://www.aol.com/aim/download2.html ."

After looking into this more, I've discovered that this isn't the first time it's happened. The same thing was done to Microsoft in 1999, and a startup called Odigo in 2000. AOL claims that other programs connecting to it's network compromises security. Odigo can still connect to the AIM network, just without file transfers.

http://www.trillian.cc

[Gimboid]

Will,

I've also read about this, and i get disconnected from AIM using trillian every now and then and cannot reconnect until i update my Version of trillian as it gets patched to work around any blocks that AIM uses.

See this ZDNet news story for more info

ZDNet trillian news story

[dumbluck]

Heh. I'd never even heard of Trillian until just now. Sounds kind of cool!

[Urendi Maleldil]

The Trillian people keep making updates for AIM connectivity.

[Will]

Until now, they've been able to release patches to get around AOL blocks. This time, they periodically check every connection, and make sure that it's the AOL-sponsored client. If it isn't, then it's booted from the network. So Cerulean basically has to clone AIM, and figure out how to mesh it with Trillian. Once that happens, I have no doubt that AOL/Time Warner will tell all their drones to get a new Version of AIM, as part of a "network upgrade". Then begins a cycle of Cerulean creating AIM-clones, and AOL/Time Warner changing the network, until: A. Trillian gets squashed; B. AOL/Time Warner voluntarilly gives in to an integrated IM network not controlled by them; or C. the FCC steps in and forces either A or B.

Any way that it happens, it ain't gonna be pretty.

[mac5732]

sounds similiar to the Browser wars against Microsoft..

just some ideas mac