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-- BEWARE AIM Users: AOLIM's New Terms Of Service
BEWARE AIM Users: AOLIM's New Terms Of Service
AOL has posted new terms of service for AIM:
http://www.aim.com/tos/tos.adp
These new Terms include the right for AOL to use anything and
everything you send through AIM in any way they see fit, without
informing you. A sample passage: '...by posting Content on an AIM
Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns,
agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to
reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote this
Content in any medium. You waive any right to privacy.'
http://www.benstanfield.com/thrash/...avesdrops_.html
So beware when you use AOLIM these days because the fly on the wall is
named AOL Time Warner and it is listening and recording
does this apply to ICQ as well .. ?
That's fucked.
Every now and then I'm going to pick a random AOL executive and write: "I heard that [name of executive] eats wieners!" (Just to see if anybody's listening 
)
| quote: |
| Originally posted by dEsidEL does this apply to ICQ as well .. ? |
thx
ya i am switching any im conversation i can to msn msgr -- not that i have so much to be private about but it is the principle of the matter!
the problem is there is a lot of my friends who only have aim b/c they started using it when they got aol as their internet providers in the mid-90's
thats really sketchy
ok , i have to withdrawl my support for icq
nothing new there...
the same clauses exists on many services offered on the net.
If I remember well geocities had the same clause.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Pettiscool thats really sketchy ok , i have to withdrawl my support for icq |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by malek nothing new there... the same clauses exists on many services offered on the net. If I remember well geocities had the same clause. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by baystreetboi Geocities is different though... if you're putting something on to a public website, presumably you know that other people may view / use your content. When you're sending a private instant message to another user, I don't think you'd expect the content you send could be ripped off by the provider. |
malek you look a lot more gangsta from last time i saw you...
original can be viewed at: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistor...ch/blog/3082956
March 13, 2005, 7:29PM
AOL explains its privacy policy
By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
America Online spokesman Andrew Weinstein responded to a request for more information about AOL Instant Messenger's terms of service, which I wrote about Saturday after spotting it on Slashdot.
The terms would appear to indicate that anything generated using AIM is fair game for AOL to use, which would mean private IM communications are not so private.
But Weinstein said that's not the case.
The clause in question specifically refers to something an AIM user might post in a public forum, Weinstein says. He writes:
The related section of the Terms of Service is called "Content You Post" and, as such, logically and legally it relates only to content a user posts in a public area of the service.
If a user posts content in a public area of the service, like a chat room, message board, or other public forum, that information may be used by AOL for other purposes. One example of this might be a user who posts a "Rate a Buddy" photo and thus allows AIM to post it for other AIM users to vote on it. Another might be AOL taking an excerpt from a message board posting on a current news issue and highlighting it in a different area of the service.
In a subsequent phone conversation, Weinstein said that AOL does not monitor AIM traffic, and does not store it. A record of an AIM communication is not saved in any storage medium at AOL, he said.
"AOL does not read person-to-person communications," he said flatly.
The key word is "post." Weinstein said an AIM exchange is not considered posting, but a person-to-person communication, which is covered by this part of the AIM terms:
AOL does not read your private online communications when you use any of the communication tools offered as AIM Products. If, however, you use these tools to disclose information about yourself publicly (for example, in chat rooms or online message boards made available by AIM), other online users may obtain access to any information you provide.
It is common for online publishers to say in their terms of service that anything posted in a public forum is available to be used by the publisher -- HoustonChronicle.com's terms of service include that provision, for example.
Weinstein also pointed out this is not new -- the current AIM terms were updated a little over a year ago.
Update: Looks like Weinstein spent his Sunday afternoon hittin' the phones & e-mail, trying to put out this fire. His comments have shown up in several other places, including Steve Rubel's MicroPersuasion blog. Note that a Rubel reader responds there, and remains dubious:
Andrew I'm glad you posted here but what you are saying makes no sense. By using AIM it is implied I agree to the TOS. The TOS specifically state:
1) I waive my rights to privacy.
2) AOL can make money off of the content.
Content is defined as: Content - Information, software, games, communications, photos, video, graphics, music, sound and other materials provided by or through the AOL Services.
Communications includes email, does it not?
so i guess i took a cue from slashdot and cried wolf -- sorry
but the sh|tstorm that slashdot post caused for aol is pretty funny haha
looks like andrew weinstein had a fun weekend!
(oh and i still think aolim sucks in comparison to msn messenger so noone should be using aolim anyway)
Get a copy of SimpLite (Found Here) (ICQ, AOL, MSN, Yahoo). 128Bit AES encryption of your messages end to end, both sides need the software obviously, and it's free too.
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