No privacy on AIM

[iago]

A friend of mine who goes by Ergot brought this to my attention:

"AOL has posted new terms of service for AIM, that 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.'"

Although you or the owner of the Content retain ownership of all right, title and interest in Content that you post to any AIM Product, AOL owns all right, title and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by AOL using or incorporating this Content. 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. You waive any right to privacy. You waive any right to inspect or approve uses of the Content or to be compensated for any such uses.

I STRONGLY encourage anybody who doesn't to begin using Gaim with the Gaim-Encryption plugin!  It works great on all platforms, and will stop AOL, its parent, affiliates, friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. from selling your conversations as a book.


<edit> for more information: http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/03/11/2359226.shtml?tid=120&tid=158&tid=17

[Maddox]

I don't remember you using gaim encryption.

[dxoigmn]

The encryption only works if the other side has it as well. Unfortunately, many of my friends could care less about this new clause in the TOS and won't bother to use encryption. But that doesn't stop me from using my security certificate issued from my school.

[Blaze]

Last time I downloaded that plugin, it said I had too low of a version of gaim. I updated my gaim, and now it is too high. Something doesn't want me to use that plugin..

[iago]

I don't remember you using gaim encryption.

I've had it for a long time.  Since shortly after you told me about it, in fact.

[EpicOfTimeWasted]

It'd be even better if people would use Jabber, since it was actually designed from the start to be relatively (I say relatively since I don't care to know the inner workings) secure.  Sadly enough, people seem to only care about security once theirs has been compromised.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

It'd be even better if people would use Jabber, since it was actually designed from the start to be relatively (I say relatively since I don't care to know the inner workings) secure. Sadly enough, people seem to only care about security once theirs has been compromised.

I'll use Jabber when there are major hotties on it...

[QwertyMonster]

Was my post just deleted?

Im sure i posted on here 

I had

Privacy on AIM is very lame. What about if u had ub3r private things?

If i remember correctly. Or maybe i forgot to press Post.

Well if it was deleted; Why?

[iago]

Content You May Use
AOL, its vendors and AIM users who lawfully post content such as information, software, games, communications, photos, video, graphics, music, sound and other materials ("Content") on AIM Products own the property rights to that Content.

So if you send somebody a song that you wrote, AOL can sell it as theirs?

edit: Thanks to Mr. Lenny for pointing that out to me.

[Lenny]

Perfect example right there of what AIM wouldn't do, but iago did.  Which was give credit 

Another interesting part:

You agree that you will not take any action to interfere with AOL's or its vendors' ownership of or rights in the Content and you will not attempt to circumvent any mechanisms for preventing the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the Content.

As iago pointed out in our conv, would this include encryption?

[iago]

It sounds to me like AOL is going to start doing some major (stealthy) data mining.  I doubt they'll outright steal stuff, but they'll probably start monitoring for keywords and such.  I'd be very paranoid to use AIM unencrypted in the future.

[Blaze]

Hmm Are DC conversations monitored by AIM?

[Lenny]

Well they never go thru aim.  So I would think not.

[Joe[x86]]

Content You May Use
AOL, its vendors and AIM users who lawfully post content such as information, software, games, communications, photos, video, graphics, music, sound and other materials ("Content") on AIM Products own the property rights to that Content.

So if you send somebody a song that you wrote, AOL can sell it as theirs?

edit: Thanks to Mr. Lenny for pointing that out to me.

If you found a way to do it without a direct connection, sure.

[shout]

Here is AOL's condensed tos:

W3 PWN J00