MSN to shutdown chat services in most countries

[Miramonti]

story

Microsoft Corp. is shutting down Internet chat services in most of its markets around the world and limiting the service in the United States to help reduce criminal solicitations of children through online discussions.

The changes, which will take effect Oct. 14, were disclosed Tuesday.

In most of its 34 markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia, Microsoft MSN has chosen to simply shut down the service. However, MSN will continue to offer chat services to users in the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil.

 

[Buttzilla]

they'll just bombard aim now or whichever chat services are available.

 

[isekii]

like it really matters.

most countries have their own chat services setup.

 

[jfall]

Yes, it is official now. I actually work as a sysop on the US market. There are a lot of upset users. It looks like US is going to be a subscription based service that you have to pay $19.95 a year for. On average there is around 90,000 users on MSN chat at any given time, I expect to see a significant drop in the numbers

 

[Tetsuo]

Oh well

 

[filmmaker]

Rats!

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Buttzilla
they'll just bombard aim now or whichever chat services are available.

see how clever this is: AIM the #1 choice of pedophiles

 

[JoLLyRoGer]

Oh well..back to Yahoo Chat.

 

[DurocShark]

Trillian is your friend... When one goes to crap, you're already watching the others.

 

[StageLeft]

MSN = dead. I'll stop using it if this is the case. Perhaps go with Yahoo. In fact I was looking for an out from my hotmail address anyway, which is bombarded by spam daily. I guess I can'ttalk to my brother in singapore now!

 

[Adul]

are they referrering to msn messenger or just aol style chatrooms?

nevermind just read the article

 

[ragazzo]

Remember, this is just the chatroom service and not MSN Messenger. I have always preferred IRC over AOL, MSN, Yahoo! etc type of chatrooms.

 

[conjur]

Microsoft being criticized for the move now

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: conjur
Microsoft being criticized for the move now

I'm not really a MS fanboy, but this sounds like 'damned if you do and damned if you don't'!

 

[yobarman]

I've never used these chats ... ever. What happened to real life?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Cliff notes?

From what I can tell, the remaining MSN chat will require paid subscription to an MSN service ($19.95?) and then they can log/track you unless you're in a "private" chat.

- M4H

 

[FuZoR]

msn had chat rooms? since when lol

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Well, MSN has to find a way to get back into the black.

So far they've been losing money.

 

[Anubis]

ive only used AIM and ICQ and IRC.

i used IRC back in teh stone age and then graduated to ICQ and in about 98 everyone stopped useing it and went to AIM now i use Trillian for AIM. noone i know uses IRC or ICQ anymore. MSN never intrested me because none i knew had it so it was pointless

 

[dawks]

Originally posted by: MillionaireNextDoor
Well, MSN has to find a way to get back into the black.

So far they've been losing money.

Almost all of Microsofts branches are loosing money. They only profit on two of their divisions, Windows and Office. MSN, Xbox, Hardware, Mobile Devices, are all loosing money.

I for one didnt even know MSN had a chat service.. Link?

 

[EXman]

People who spen allot of time in Chat rooms are Uber Losers IMO. Kids need to go out and play as well as adults for that matter.

 

[MaxFusion16]

so what does this mean, it sounds so vague. Are they refering to the chat room or the regular chat? Will people still be able to use the regular private chat?

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: DaZ

Originally posted by: MillionaireNextDoor
Well, MSN has to find a way to get back into the black.

So far they've been losing money.

Almost all of Microsofts branches are loosing money. They only profit on two of their divisions, Windows and Office. MSN, Xbox, Hardware, Mobile Devices, are all loosing money.

I for one didnt even know MSN had a chat service.. Link?

Loosing money? Says who?

Sales of the company's Windows Server operating system increased 24 percent. Microsoft's MSN division, including its MSN online network, saw its revenue increase 25 percent, thanks largely to a 48 percent increase in advertising sales.

Only Xbox is loosing money.