ICQ sucks. AIM does, too. MSN probably will.

The Bedminster Incident · Sat 28/01/2006 13:19:13

Greetings.

I'm not sure how many people here have read the Terms of Service that ICQ Inc. have changed. There's a new paragraph there that says:

"You agree that by posting any material or information anywhere on the ICQ Services and Information you surrender your copyright and any other proprietary right in the posted material or information. You further agree that ICQ Inc. is entitled to use at its own discretion any of the posted material or information in any manner it deems fit, including, but not limited to, publishing the material or distributing it."

As AOL bought ICQ Inc., this is also valid for AIM. As Microsoft is moving into the same direction, it won't be a big surprise to me if the MSN Messenger changes their TOS in a similar way sometime. I consider this inacceptable and have changed to Jabber ( http://www.jabber.org ), a free alternative which seems to be much better anyways, thus the deleted ICQ# in my profile.
My Jabber identification is blodvarg@jabber.ccc.de--I post it here for there is no place for it in the profile information of the AGS forums.

Sorry if anybody considers this spam, but I found it neccesary to inform you of all this, even if it is not the most recent topic. I'm sure you as game creators have a major interest in your copyright, thus this thread.

ICQ Inc. shall burn.
- Blodvarg

Haddas · Sat 28/01/2006 13:22:54

The internet is the new soviet union. Goddamnit. If i had th money i'd buy an island and make it my own country with my own laws.

auhsor · Sat 28/01/2006 13:46:32

I was under the impression that ICQ was dead quite a few years back. Obviously I was wrong, but I don't know anyone who still uses it.

All my friends use MSN, although as you say it is getting worse. I'm not ready to jump ship quite yet, but I used Google Talk the other day to talk to a friend and I really liked its clean interface and usability dispite its lack of pretty much any feature stanard on most clients. I hope it gets developed alot more so it is worthwhile using (and compatable with MSN). I've thought about Trillian/Gaim/Jabber, but I kinda like alot of the features in MSN.

vict0r · Sat 28/01/2006 13:50:12

Am I the only one who don't care if people have my personal information?

Gord10 · Sat 28/01/2006 13:56:30

Quote from: vict0r on Sat 28/01/2006 13:50:12
Am I the only one who don't care if people have my personal information?

I don't care this, too. They must had been getting the personal infos of lots of people, anyway. I can't imagine any Google or ICQ admin will break into my house and kill me.

Nikolas · Sat 28/01/2006 13:57:26

VictOr, as I understand it it's not about personal information only. Althought this IS a big deal.

It is about PUBLSIHING Stuff and Copyrigths. Which is ridiculous! I'm not even sure that this is lawfull! I mean for gods shake if I post my music and let you have it through ICQ I immediately loose the copyrights? If I understand it correctly this is insane!

EDIT: Guys did you see the word material in the TOS? Or am I overeacting...

Kinoko · Sat 28/01/2006 14:11:53

I despise MSN, and I've always used ICQ. Always.

I use a very old version of ICQ. I always keep the install file handy so I can keep using this old version, before ICQwent shit.

So do these new TOS apply to me?

Gord10 · Sat 28/01/2006 14:22:32

Quote from: Kinoko on Sat 28/01/2006 14:11:53
I despise MSN, and I've always used ICQ. Always.

I use a very old version of ICQ. I always keep the install file handy so I can keep using this old version, before ICQwent shit.

So do these new TOS apply to me?

I think yes. Because the old versions still use the ICQ server; and it is enough them to learn/steal what files you are sending (though I may be wrong).

vict0r · Sat 28/01/2006 14:45:01

Quote from: Nikolas on Sat 28/01/2006 13:57:26
It is about PUBLSIHING Stuff and Copyrigths. Which is ridiculous! I'm not even sure that this is lawfull! I mean for gods shake if I post my music and let you have it through ICQ I immediately loose the copyrights? If I understand it correctly this is insane!

Oh.. I must have misread it then. I suck at lawyerlanguage! Anyhoo.... That is insane!!!

Vince Twelve · Sat 28/01/2006 15:02:42

Luckily for you, End User License Agreements are not legally binding documents. There has been U.S. court precedence on this, and I would find it for you, if it weren't midnight.

Basically, if you ever made something and the AOL bigwigs claimed ownership over the intellectual property because you sent some files or discussed it via their instant messenger, a judge would just laugh at them.

vict0r · Sat 28/01/2006 15:09:50

Luckily for me, i use msn

skyfire2 · Sat 28/01/2006 16:06:17

everyone knows that google talk is the best.

CheapAlert · Sat 28/01/2006 16:16:20

That little clause has been in the TOS since 2000 iirc.

Also AIM banned me

IM NOT TEH SPAM · Sat 28/01/2006 16:19:09

Quote from: skyfire1 on Sat 28/01/2006 16:06:17
everyone knows that google talk is the best.

You are great.

LGM · Sat 28/01/2006 16:30:35

I'd use google talk.. But no-one else will. I don't enjoy sedning my 1's and 0's to nobody.

Gregjazz · Sat 28/01/2006 18:19:51

Google Talk is cool... but nobody uses it, or at least nobody I know.

The Bedminster Incident · Sat 28/01/2006 19:03:51

Like I said--I use Jabber. It's much better anyways, as it encrypts anything you'll post/send there with GnuPG, 128bit. That's, like, impressive. Yeah.

And personal information is a big deal, Vict0r. I'd like my life with a little privacy, s'il vous plaÃ®t. Ever read "1984" or "Brave New World"? We're moving into this direction. Take the RIAA. Take Kasperspy Labs. Take, like, everything that's proprietary. Oh, yeah, and take Microsoft.

Stay secure.
- Blodvarg

vict0r · Sat 28/01/2006 19:28:40

I dont have any intentions of reading those books

But what could anyone possibly do with my personal information? I say, go ahead and take it! I dont need it for much...

MrColossal · Sat 28/01/2006 19:35:40

Oh no!

Now the internet knows I live in Troy and I'm 24 years old!

What other personal information are you telling the internet? And if you're willing to put it in your profile then you're willing to let other people read it so... What's the big privacy issue?

vict0r · Sat 28/01/2006 19:37:05

And please no preachings about conspiracy theories and principles!