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March 14, 2005
AOL Wants Your Business (Literally)

I have never been a big fan of America On Line, but part of that comes from the ability to understand and navigate the Internet without having the clunky AOL interface to deliver content for me. From time to time, I use their Instant Messenger product to communicate in real time with friends and family, and I like it better than most of the alternatives.

Now, however, that may have to change. AOL has started heavily promoting AIM as a business tool for improving office communications as well as a replacement for professional e-mail communications. Users can upgrade to a client that supports voice conferencing and web meetings. Kevin McCullough points out a new clause in AIM's user agreement that will make its users think twice before implementing AIM for either purpose:

"You waive any right to privacy. You waive the right to inspect or approve uses of content or to be compensated for any such uses."

"In addition, 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."

In other words, if you discuss any aspect of your business that you need to keep to yourself -- say, human-resources issues or product development details -- AOL reserves the right to post it to the Internet. Let's use a different example. If a radio show uses AIM to discuss its guest list or content with its studio staff, any remarks made by the staff about the guests or the callers could very well end up in the hands of competing radio hosts or political opponents. Voice conferences between journalists in the field and their editors back home could wind up as MP3 files on AOL's site.

Talk about Big Brother! And you all worried about Bill Gates!

AOL will probably argue that they need this flexibility to undermine the ability of terrorists and child pornographers to utilize this technology for their own ends. If so, then AOL should limit itself and its language to illegal actions committed with their servers and technologies, and not the confiscation of all communication as fair game for their promotions department. These new terms of service should encourage everyone to dump AIM and AOL until AOL comes to its senses.

UPDATE: AOL claims it won't hijack user-to-user messaging in AIM, but it hasn't changed its rather broad TOS language to reflect that.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at March 14, 2005 7:57 AM

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» See if I get this straight... from Kevin McCullough
WOW - type something on your AOL IM that afternoon see it run as a CNN news story that night on TV...heck maybe even Headline News - every hour - on the hour... [Read More]

Tracked on March 14, 2005 9:18 AM

» EULAMonster from Blog.Outside.The.Box
Without reading it, you clicked "I Agree". This was called an End User License Agreement or EULA. [Read More]

Tracked on March 14, 2005 9:44 AM

» AOL's Terms of Service for AIM Update Crosses Line from Vista On Current Events

Reported in eWEEK March 12 via DRUDGE
AIM users beware. Under AOL's new tersm of service update, you waiv... [Read More]

Tracked on March 14, 2005 2:22 PM

» AOHELL from Caliber50
I thought I could handle all the crap AOL brings with it. Boy was I wrong! I don't know what evil powers these guys received when they sold their soul to Satan for internet-provider success, but they are formidable and terrible. My computer at home, ... [Read More]

Tracked on March 15, 2005 10:49 AM



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