AOL's dodgy new Terms of Service for AIM
Chris Rush Cohen: "Think your conversations are private? Think again. According to their new TOS, AOL can use the info in your AIM conversations in any way they please."
Chris beat me to the punch and according to my new TOS I can use content I collect via my aggregators in any way I please.
Also, a good reason to switch to trillian.
more: AOL said this evening that it will revise its terms of service [via Dave Farber's IP list]
Chris beat me to the punch and according to my new TOS I can use content I collect via my aggregators in any way I please.
more: AOL said this evening that it will revise its terms of service [via Dave Farber's IP list]
4 Comments:
I don't see how using Trillian solves the problem, if AOL is insisting that it can intercept the traffic.
I also don't see how this type of behavior by AOL is in any way kosher under the Wiretap Act. While as far as I know there's no precedent on point with regard to instant messaging, IMing is more closely analogous to telephone communications than other types of Internet traffic (eg email) in their contemporaneous, party-to-party structure. Normally a telephony provider cannot intercept these kinds of communications, so I think it would constitute a gigantic leap of law and policy to construe that an IM provider could. The policy values behind the Wiretap Act of protecting the privacy of communications are still in play here.
True, the TOS say, "You waive any right to privacy." But it doesn't seem clear to me that this language is either adequate in establishing consent to interception, or that such privacy protection should be so easy to contract away.
You're right no advantage to trillian:
Q: How does Trillian connect to each of the services it supports?
A: The exact same way the original clients do - via a direct connection to whatever servers actually power the network. None of your instant messaging traffic ever passes through a Cerulean server, and we don't require you to register a new account with us to utilize existing services.
Well, presumably the difference is that a Trillian user doesn't consent to the TOS, and so there's no license to or waiver of privacy of the Content. I am assuming that AOL cares :)
The fact of AOL being able to intercept the Content is another issue, I think. Obbviously they can - they own the servers. Whether they have a right to, apart from any consent, is something a Canuck like me has to leave to you US lawyers.
Off now to see if there are different terms for use in Canada.
:)
There is a new company that has a solution for adding encryption to AIM, Yahoo, and Microsoft. It does not replace the IM client, but runs in the background and encrypts the messages. The company is AgentWays and the product is called wayPrivate. They are releasing a version for AOL next week. Check it out.
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