A Must Read for AIM Users, AOL Alters AIM Terms of Service

[Tsunami]

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.

What this means is that AOL/Time Warner can take any/all your conversations and reproduce it (in all forms of media), claim it as theirs, and promote it. Thusly, you waive all right to private conversations. :/

http://www.aim.com/tos/tos.adp

 

[Phatslugga]

Wow... that's pretty lame... Trillian it is.

 

[Eon]

You've read it wrong, slashdot posted the same thing, then later corrected themselves, AIM isn't going to do that. Read Here

 

[Xenogias]

I thought that would be pretty lame... Thanks for quickly stepping in Magus... besides why would they want conversations of me saying HI or something like that... I have no interesting conversations on aim...

(will probably delete aim when I get home...)

 

[Eon]

No sense in deleting it, you aren't at any risk of them monitoring any conversations

 

[Deman]

Wow... that's pretty lame... Trillian it is.

If you're using an AIM screenname with Trillian, it's still going through their servers, you're just using a different client.

 

[Phatslugga]

Well it doesn't matter now anyways.

 

[Arthos]

Oh thank god! Thanks Maggeh! You're a Lifesaver!

Just repaired some damage I did by making the correction.

 

[Deman]

Although it is still kinda foolish to believe that any conversation on the internet is 100% private. The other person could be logging, somebody could be running packet sniffers, so yeah, still be a little careful.