AIM, ICQ to Interoperate

CNET

October 29, 2002

America Online said it would allow its next version of AOL Instant Messenger to communicate with ICQ, a surprise move that will topple the long-standing barrier between the company’s two popular IM services.

The ability to communicate with ICQ is a feature in AIM 5.1, a test version of the software currently available on AOL.com. People who download AIM 5.1 will be able to add ICQ users to their buddy lists and send them instant text messages. AIM users will also be able to convert ICQ identities, which are typically a sequence of numbers, to nicknames.

Users of the current version of ICQ cannot add AIM members to their buddy lists, but future versions of ICQ may let them do so, AOL said.

The decision to let AIM users add ICQ buddies is significant because it represents the first step in allowing the two largest instant messaging services, both owned by AOL, to communicate. AOL has been subject to industry criticism and federal regulatory scrutiny for its resistance to opening its IM network to outsiders.

The company has long claimed that AIM and ICQ users had no interest in communicating with one another. But ICQ has a large international audience, especially in Europe, and AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley said the test was a response to growth in AOL Europe and consumer feedback regarding the two messaging setups.

"We’ve removed the virtual glass wall that separates them," Bentley said.

Technically, allowing AIM and ICQ to communicate does not mean AOL is opening its instant messaging network. AIM and ICQ have been running on the same server network since 1999. AIM currently has 180 million registered usernames, with 30 million users accessing the software per month, taking multiple registrations into account. ICQ has 135 million registered usernames; AOL does not release the number of users who access that software per month.

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