Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more people using personal computers A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. This is in contrast to the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed large expensive mainframe or other devices, along with shared software clients. The user's text A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages.[citation needed] is conveyed over a network A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general, such as the Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and. More advanced instant messaging software clients also allow enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time. It was the first form of videotelephony, later to be followed by videoconferencing, webcams, and finally telepresence.

Definition

IM falls under the umbrella term online chat Online chat can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat , using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat, talkers and possibly MUDs. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means "informal conversation", as it is a real-time text-based networked communication system, but is distinct in that it is based on clients that facilitate connections between specified known users (often using "Buddy List A contact list is a collection of screen names in an instant messaging or e-mail program or online game or mobile phone. It has various trademarked and proprietary names in different contexts", "Friend List" or "Contact List"), whereas online 'chat' also includes web-based applications that allow communication between (often anonymous) users in a multi-user environment.^[1]

Overview

Instant messaging (IM) is a collection of technologies used for real-time text-based communication between two or more participants over the Internet, or other types of networks A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices connected by communications channels that facilitates communications among users and allows users to share resources with other users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general. Of importance is that online chat Online chat can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat , using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat, talkers and possibly MUDs. The expression online chat comes from the word chat which means "informal conversation" and instant messaging differs from other technologies such as e-mail Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks. Email systems are based on a store-and-forward model in which email server computer systems accept, forward, deliver and store messages on behalf of users, who only need to connect to the email infrastructure, due to the perceived synchronicity of the communications by the users –chat happens in real-time. Some systems permit messages to be sent to people not currently 'logged on' (offline messages), thus removing some of the differences between IM and e-mail (often done by sending the message to the associated e-mail account).

IM allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply. In many cases instant messaging includes additional features which can make it even more popular. For example, users can see each other by using webcams A webcam is a video capture device connected to a computer or computer network, often using a USB port or, if connected to a network, ethernet or Wi-Fi, or talk directly for free over the Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and using a microphone A microphone (colloquially called a mic or mike is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1876, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, tape recorders, karaoke systems, hearing aids, and headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, with a way of holding them close to a user's ears and a means of connecting them to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio or CD player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially cans. The in-ear versions are known as earphones or or loudspeakers. Many client programs allow file transfers as well, although they are typically limited in the permissible file-size.

It is typically possible to save a text conversation for later reference. Instant messages are often logged in a local message history, making it similar to the persistent nature of e-mails.

History

Instant messaging predates the Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and, first appearing on multi-user Multi-user is a term that defines an operating system or application software that allows concurrent access by multiple users of a computer. Time-sharing systems are multi-user systems. Most batch processing systems for mainframe computers may also be considered "multi-user", to avoid leaving the CPU idle while it waits for I/O operating systems like CTSS The Compatible Time-Sharing System, or the CTSS, was one of the first time-sharing operating systems; it was developed at MIT's Computation Center. CTSS was first demonstrated in 1961, and was operated at MIT until 1973. During part of this time, MIT's Project MAC had a second copy of CTSS, but the system did not spread beyond two sites . CTSS was and Multics Multics was an extremely influential early time-sharing operating system. The project was started in 1964. The last known running Multics installation was shut down on October 30, 2000 at the Canadian Department of National Defense in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada^[2] in the mid-1960s. Initially, some of these systems were used as notification systems for services like printing, but quickly were used to facilitate communication with other users logged in to the same machine.^{[citation needed]} As networks developed, the protocols spread with the networks. Some of these used a peer-to-peer A peer-to-peer, commonly abbreviated to P2P, is any distributed network architecture composed of participants that make a portion of their resources directly available to other network participants, without the need for central coordination instances (such as servers or stable hosts). Peers are both suppliers and consumers of resources, in protocol (e.g. talk talk was a program originally used for live text communication between different users of a single multi-user computer running the Unix operating system. In 1983, a new version of talk was introduced as a Unix command with BSD v4.2, and would also accommodate electronic conversations between users on different machines. Follow-ons to talk included, ntalk and ytalk), while others required peers to connect to a server (see talker A talker is a chat system that people use to talk to each other over the Internet. Dating back to the 1980s, they were a predecessor of instant messaging and IRC Internet Relay Chat is a form of real-time Internet text messaging (chat) or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfers via Direct Client-to-Client). During the Bulletin board system (BBS) A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users, either through electronic mail phenomenon that peaked during the 1980s, some systems incorporated chat features which were similar to instant messaging; Freelancin' Roundtable Roundtable was a modem-based text chat system located in the Clear Lake City, Texas area near Houston for 3 years in the mid-1980’s frequented by local Bulletin Board System (BBS) users. The first 8 phone lines were installed in October, 1984, and the system was shut down by November, 1987. Roundtable was created, owned, and operated by Jim was one prime example.

In the last half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s The 1990s, also known as "the Nineteen Nineties" or abbreviated as "the Nineties" or "90s", was the decade that started on January 1, 1990 and ended on December 31, 1999. It was the last full decade of both the 20th century and the 2nd millennium, the Quantum Link Quantum Link was a U.S. and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which in October 1991 changed its name to America Online, and continues to operate its AOL service for the IBM PC and Apple online service for Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982. Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US $595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of memory with sound and graphics computers offered user-to-user messages between currently connected customers which they called "On-Line Messages" (or OLM for short). (Quantum Link later became America Online AOL Inc. , formerly known as America Online and logo typeset as 'Aol.', is an American global Internet services and media company. The company was based in Northern Virginia from its founding until 2007. It is currently headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Quantum Computer Services, it has franchised its services to and made AOL Instant Messenger AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997. Stand-alone official AIM client software includes advertisements and is available for Microsoft (AIM), discussed later). While the Quantum Link service ran on a Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982. Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US $595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of memory with sound and graphics, using only the Commodore's PETSCII PETSCII , also known as CBM ASCII, is the variation of the ASCII character set used in Commodore Business Machines (CBM)'s 8-bit home computers, starting with the PET from 1977 and including the VIC-20, C64, CBM-II, Plus/4, C16, C116 and C128 text-graphics, the screen was visually divided up into sections and OLMs would appear as a yellow bar saying "Message From:" and the name of the sender along with the message across the top of whatever the user was already doing, and presented a list of options for responding.^[3] As such, it could be considered a sort of GUI A graphical user interface (sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI, albeit much more primitive than the later Unix, Windows and Macintosh based GUI A graphical user interface (sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI IM programs. OLMs were what Q-Link called "Plus Services" meaning they charged an extra per-minute fee on top of the monthly Q-Link access costs.

Modern, Internet-wide, GUI A graphical user interface (sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid 1990s with PowWow, ICQ ICQ was a popular instant messaging computer program, which was first developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, then bought by America Online, and since April 2010 owned by Digital Sky Technologies . The name ICQ is a homophone for the phrase "I seek you", and AOL Instant Messenger. Similar functionality was offered by CU-SeeMe CU-SeeMe is an Internet videoconferencing client. CU-SeeMe can make point to point video calls without a server or make multi-point calls through server software first called a "reflector" and later called a "conference server" or Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). Later commercial versions of CU-SeeMe could also make point-to- in 1992; though primarily an audio/video chat link, users could also type messages to each other. AOL AOL Inc. , formerly known as America Online and logo typeset as "Aol.", is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Quantum Computer Services, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions later acquired Mirabilis Mirabilis was the name of the Israeli company that produced ICQ, a popular instant messenger. Mirabilis was founded in 1996 by the four Israelis Arik Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir, and was purchased by AOL less than two years later, the creators of ICQ; a few years later ICQ (now owned by AOL) was awarded two patents for instant messaging by the U.S. patent office. Meanwhile, other companies developed their own applications (Excite Excite is an Internet portal, and as one of the major "dotcom" "portals" of the 1990s , it was once one of the most recognized brands on the Internet. Today it offers a variety of services, including search, web-based email, instant messaging, stock quotes, and a customizable user homepage. The content is collated from over 100, MSN MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system, Ubique, and Yahoo Yahoo! Inc. is an American public corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, (in Silicon Valley), that provides Internet services worldwide. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine (Yahoo! Search), Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, advertising, online mapping (Yahoo! Maps), video sharing (Yahoo! Video)), each with its own proprietary protocol In computing and telecommunications, a protocol or communications protocol is a formal description of message formats and the rules for exchanging those messages. Protocols may include signaling, authentication and error detection and correction capabilities. In its simplest form, a protocol can be defined as the rules governing the syntax, and client; users therefore had to run multiple client applications if they wished to use more than one of these networks. In 1998 IBM released IBM Lotus Sametime IBM Lotus Sametime is a client-server application and middleware platform that provides real-time, unified communications and collaboration for enterprises. Those capabilities include presence information, enterprise instant messaging, web conferencing, community collaboration, and telephony capabilities and integration. It is sold by the Lotus, a product based on technology acquired when IBM bought Haifa-based Ubique and Lexington-based Databeam.

In 2000 2000 was a leap year that started on a Saturday, in accordance with the Gregorian Calendar. It was the 2000th year of the Common Era or the Anno Domini designation, and the last year of the 20th century and of the 2nd millennium. It was also the first century leap year since 1600, an open source Open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology. Before the term open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; open source application and open standards The terms "open" and "standard" have a wide range of meanings associated with their usage. The term "open" is usually restricted to royalty-free technologies while the term "standard" is sometimes restricted to technologies approved by formalized committees that are open to participation by all interested-based protocol called Jabber was launched. The protocol was standardized under the name Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (formerly named Jabber) is an open, XML-based protocol originally aimed at near-real-time, extensible instant messaging (IM) and presence information (e.g., buddy lists), but now expanded into the broader realm of message-oriented middleware. It was developed by the Jabber open-source community in 1999" (XMPP). XMPP servers could act as gateways to other IM protocols, reducing the need to run multiple clients. Multi-protocol clients can use any of the popular IM protocols by using additional local libraries for each protocol. IBM Lotus Sametime's November 2007 release added IBM Lotus Sametime Gateway IBM Lotus Sametime Gateway is an enterprise instant messaging and Presence information interoperability application sold by the Lotus Software division of IBM. Lotus Sametime Gateway provides server-to-server interoperability between disparate communities with conversion services for different protocols, presence information awareness, and instant support for XMPP.

In the current era, social networking A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user , his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web based and providers often offer IM capabilities.

Many instant messaging services offer video calling features, Voice Over IP (VoIP) and web conferencing services. Web conferencing services can integrate both video calling and instant messaging capabilities. Some instant messaging companies are also offering desktop sharing, IP radio, and IPTV to the voice and video features.

The term "Instant Messenger" is a service mark of Time Warner^[4] and may not be used in software not affiliated with AOL in the United States. For this reason, the instant messaging client formerly known as Gaim or gaim announced in April 2007 that they would be renamed "Pidgin".^[5]

Clients

Each modern IM service generally provides its own client, either a separately installed piece of software, or a browser-based client. These typically only work with that company's service, although some allow limited function with other services. There are also third party client software applications that will connect with most of the major IM services. Pidgin, Trillian, Meebo, Adium, Qnext, Miranda IM and Digsby are a few of the common ones.

Interoperability

Standard free instant messaging applications offer functions like file transfer, contact lists, the ability to have simultaneous conversations etc. These may be all the functions that a small business needs but larger organizations will require more sophisticated applications that can work together. The solution to finding applications capable of this is to use enterprise versions of instant messaging applications. These include titles like XMPP, Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Office Communicator, etc., which are often integrated with other enterprise applications such as workflow systems. These enterprise applications, or Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), are built to certain constraints, namely storing data in a common format.

There have been several attempts to create a unified standard for instant messaging: IETF's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and SIMPLE (SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions), APEX (Application Exchange), Prim (Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol), the open XML-based XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), and OMA's (Open Mobile Alliance) IMPS (Instant Messaging and Presence Service) created specifically for mobile devices.

Most attempts at creating a unified standard for the major IM providers (AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft) have failed, and each continues to use its own proprietary protocol.

However, while discussions at IETF were stalled, Reuters signed the first inter-service provider connectivity agreement on September 2003. This agreement enabled AIM, ICQ and MSN Messenger users to talk with Reuters Messaging counterparts and vice-versa. Following this, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL came to a deal where Microsoft's Live Communication Server 2005 users would also have the possibility to talk to public instant messaging users. This deal established SIP/SIMPLE as a standard for protocol interoperability and established a connectivity fee for accessing public instant messaging clouds. Separately, on October 13, 2005 Microsoft and Yahoo! announced that by the 3rd quarter of 2006 they would interoperate using SIP/SIMPLE which was followed on December 2005 by the AOL and Google strategic partnership deal where Google Talk users would be able to talk with AIM and ICQ users provided they have an AIM account.

There are two ways to combine the many disparate protocols:

1. One way is to combine the many disparate protocols inside the IM client application.
2. The other way is to combine the many disparate protocols inside the IM server application. This approach moves the task of communicating to the other services to the server. Clients need not know or care about other IM protocols. For example, LCS 2005 Public IM Connectivity. This approach is popular in XMPP servers; however, the so-called transport projects suffer the same reverse engineering difficulties as any other project involved with closed protocols or formats.

Some approaches allow organizations to create their own private instant messaging network by enabling them to limit access to the server (often with the IM network entirely behind their firewall) and administer user permissions. Other corporate messaging systems allow registered users to also connect from outside the corporation LAN, by using a secure firewall-friendly HTTPS-based protocol. Typically, a dedicated corporate IM server has several advantages such as pre-populated contact lists, integrated authentication, and better security and privacy.

Some networks have made changes to prevent them from being utilized by such multi-network IM clients. For example, Trillian had to release several revisions and patches to allow its users to access the MSN, AOL, and Yahoo! networks, after changes were made to these networks. The major IM providers typically cite the need for formal agreements as well as security concerns as reasons for making these changes.

The use of proprietary protocols has meant that many instant messaging networks have been incompatible and people have been unable to reach friends on other networks. This has cost the instant messaging format dearly.^[6]

Mobile instant messaging

Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) is the technology that allows Instant Messaging services to be accessed from a mobile/cellular device, ranging from a standard cell phone to an iPhone, to a Blackberry, to an Android or Windows Mobile-based device. It is done two ways:

• Embedded Clients - tailored IM client for every specific device.
• Clientless Platform – a browser-based application that does not require downloading any software to the handset, and which enables all users and all devices from any network to connect to their Internet IM service– ideally. In practice, browser capabilities can pose problems.

In web browser

Gmail has instant messaging capacity in webpage itself, which can be used in a web browser without need of IM client download and install. Later Yahoo and Hotmail also implemented it. Meebo website offers instant messaging of different IM services. Generally such services are limited to text chat, voice and video are not available.

Friend-to-friend networks

Instant Messaging may be done in a Friend-to-friend network, in which each node connects to the friends on the friends list. This allows for communication with friends of friends and for the building of chatrooms for instant messages with all friends on that network.

IM language

Users sometimes make use of internet slang or text speak to abbreviate common words or expressions in order to quicken conversations or to reduce keystrokes. The language has become universal, with well-known expressions such as 'lol' translated over to face to face language.

Emotions are often expressed in shorthand, such as the abbreviation LOL, BRB and TTYL (respectively Laugh(ing) Out Loud, Be Right Back and Talk To You Later).

Some, however, attempt to be more accurate with emotional expression over IM. Real time reactions such as (chortle) (snort) (guffaw) or (eye-roll) are becoming more popular. Also there are certain standards that are being introduced into mainstream conversations including, '#' indicates the use of sarcasm in a statement (alternatively (!) after the statement) and '*' which indicates a spelling mistake and/or grammatical error in the previous message, followed by a correction.^[7]

Business application

Instant messaging has proven to be similar to personal computers, e-mail, and the World Wide Web, in that its adoption for use as a business communications medium was driven primarily by individual employees using consumer software at work, rather than by formal mandate or provisioning by corporate information technology departments. Tens of millions of the consumer IM accounts in use are being used for business purposes by employees of companies and other organizations.

In response to the demand for business-grade IM and the need to ensure security and legal compliance, a new type of instant messaging, called "Enterprise Instant Messaging" ("EIM") was created when Lotus Software launched IBM Lotus Sametime in 1998. Microsoft followed suit shortly thereafter with Microsoft Exchange Instant Messaging, later created a new platform called Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, and released Office Communications Server 2007 in October 2007. Oracle Corporation has also jumped into the market recently with its Oracle Beehive unified collaboration software.^[8] Both IBM Lotus and Microsoft have introduced federation between their EIM systems and some of the public IM networks so that employees may use a single interface to both their internal EIM system and their contacts on AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!. Current leading EIM platforms include IBM Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Office Communications Server, and Jabber XCP. In addition, industry-focused EIM platforms as Reuters Messaging and Bloomberg Messaging provide enhanced IM capabilities to financial services companies.

The adoption of IM across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use. Companies implement specialized IM archiving and security products and services to mitigate these risks and provide safe, secure, productive instant messaging capabilities to their employees.

Review of products

IM products can typically be categorised into two types: Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM)^[9] and Consumer Instant Messaging (CIM).^[10] Enterprise solutions use an internal IM server, however this isn't always feasible, particularly for smaller businesses with limited budgets. The second option, using a CIM provides the advantage of being inexpensive to implement and has little need for investing in new hardware or server software.

For corporate use encryption and conversation archiving are usually regarded as important features due to security concerns. Sometimes the use of different operating systems in organizations calls for the use of software that supports more than one platform. For example many software companies use Windows XP in administration departments but have software developers who use Linux.

Risks and liabilities

Although instant messaging delivers many benefits, it also carries with it certain risks and liabilities, particularly when used in workplaces. Among these risks and liabilities are:

• Security risks (e.g. IM used to infect computers with spyware, viruses, trojans, worms)
• Compliance risks
• Inappropriate use
• Trade secret leakage

Security risks

Crackers (malicious "hacker" or black hat hacker) have consistently used IM networks as vectors for delivering phishing attempts, "poison URLs", and virus-laden file attachments from 2004 to the present, with over 1100 discrete attacks listed by the IM Security Center^[11] in 2004-2007. Hackers use two methods of delivering malicious code through IM: delivery of viruses, trojan horses, or spyware within an infected file, and the use of "socially engineered" text with a web address that entices the recipient to click on a URL connecting him or her to a website that then downloads malicious code. Viruses, computer worms, and trojans typically propagate by sending themselves rapidly through the infected user's buddy list. An effective attack using a poisoned URL may reach tens of thousands of people in a short period when each person's buddy list receives messages appearing to be from a trusted friend. The recipients click on the web address, and the entire cycle starts again. Infections may range from nuisance to criminal, and are becoming more sophisticated each year.

IM connections usually take place in plain text, making them susceptible to eavesdropping. In addition, IM client software often requires the user to expose open UDP ports to the world, increasing the threat posed by potential security vulnerabilities.^[12]

Compliance risks

In addition to the malicious code threat, the use of instant messaging at work also creates a risk of non-compliance to laws and regulations governing the use of electronic communications in businesses. In the United States alone there are over 10,000 laws and regulations related to electronic messaging and records retention.^[13] The better-known of these include the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, HIPAA, and SEC 17a-3. Clarification from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") was issued to member firms in the financial services industry in December, 2007, noting that "electronic communications", "email", and "electronic correspondence" may be used interchangeably and can include such forms of electronic messaging as instant messaging and text messaging.^[14] Changes to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective December 1, 2006, created a new category for electronic records which may be requested during discovery in legal proceedings. Most countries around the world also regulate the use of electronic messaging and electronic records retention in similar fashion to the United States. The most common regulations related to IM at work involve the need to produce archived business communications to satisfy government or judicial requests under law. Many instant messaging communications fall into the category of business communications that must be archived and retrievable.

Inappropriate use

Organizations of all types must protect themselves from the liability of their employees' inappropriate use of IM. The informal, immediate, and ostensibly anonymous nature of instant messaging makes it a candidate for abuse in the workplace. The topic of inappropriate IM use became front page news in October 2006 when U.S. Congressman Mark Foley resigned his seat after admitting sending offensive instant messages of a sexual nature to underage former House pages from his Congressional office PC. The Mark Foley Scandal led to media coverage and mainstream newspaper articles warning of the risks of inappropriate IM use in workplaces. In most countries, corporations have a legal responsibility to ensure harassment-free work environment for employees. The use of corporate-owned computers, networks, and software to harass an individual or spread inappropriate jokes or language creates a liability for not only the offender but also the employer. A survey by IM archiving and security provider Akonix Systems, Inc. in March 2007 showed that 31% of respondents had been harassed over IM at work.^[15] Companies now include instant messaging as an integral component of their policies on appropriate use of the World Wide Web, e-mail, and other corporate assets.

Security and archiving

In the early 2000s, a new class of IT security provider emerged to provide remedies for the risks and liabilities faced by corporations who chose to use IM for business communications. The IM security providers created new products to be installed in corporate networks for the purpose of archiving, content-scanning, and security-scanning IM traffic moving in and out of the corporation. Similar to the e-mail filtering vendors, the IM security providers focus on the risks and liabilities described above.

With rapid adoption of IM in the workplace, demand for IM security products began to grow in the mid-2000s. By 2007, the preferred platform for the purchase of security software had become the "computer appliance", according to IDC, who estimate that by 2008, 80% of network security products will be delivered via an appliance.^[16]

User base

Note that many of the numbers listed in this section are not directly comparable, and some are speculative. While some numbers are given by the owners of a complete instant messaging system, others are provided by commercial vendors of a part of a distributed system. Some companies may be motivated to inflate their numbers in order to increase advertisement earnings or to attract partners, clients, or customers. Importantly, some numbers are reported as the number of "active" users (without a shared standard of that activity), others indicate total user accounts, while others indicate only the users logged in during an instance of peak usage.

See also

• Operator messaging
• Microblogging
• Chat room
• Comparison of instant messaging clients
• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Instant messaging manager
• LAN messenger
• Text messaging
• Unified communications
• Usage share of instant messaging clients

References

1. ^ http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/blogchatinstantmessaging/f/email_vs_im.htm
2. ^ Instant Messaging on CTSS and Multics
3. ^ Screenshot of a Quantum Link OLM
4. ^ Summary of final decisions issued by the trademark trial and appeal board, January 16-20, 2006
5. ^ "Important and Long Delayed News", Announcement of Gaim renaming (to Pidgin), April 6, 2007
6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8698174.stm
7. ^ Instant Messaging, NetworkDictionary.com.
8. ^ "Oracle Buzzes with Updates for its Beehive Collaboration Platform". CMSWire. 2009-05-06. http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/oracle-buzzes-with-updates-for-its-beehive-collaboration-platform-004538.php. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
9. ^ http://im.about.com/od/imforbusiness/a/topbizims.htm
10. ^ http://im.about.com/b/2008/03/15/reader-questions-im-privacy-at-work.htm
11. ^ "IM Security Center". http://www.imsecuritycenter.com. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
12. ^ "Why just say no to IM at work". blog.anta.net. 2009-10-29. ISSN 1797-1993. http://blog.anta.net/2009/10/28/why-just-say-no-to-im-at-work/. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
13. ^ "ESG compliance report excerpt, Part 1: Introduction". http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid5_gci906152,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
14. ^ FINRA, Regulatory Notice 07-59, Supervision of Electronic Communications, December 2007
15. ^ "Akonix Warns Corporations of Risqué Employee IM Behavior". http://www.akonix.com/press/releases-details.asp?id=130. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
16. ^ Chris Christiansen and Rose Ryan, International Data Corp., "IDC Telebriefing: Threat Management Security Appliance Review and Forecast"
17. ^ ^{a b c} http://tencent.com/en-us/content/ir/news/2009/attachments/20090812.pdf

External links

• Instant messaging at the Open Directory Project
• "Global Instant Messaging Market Share" - CC-Licensed market share data.
• IM and LAN messengers List of IM and LAN messaging software

Categories: Internet culture | Internet Relay Chat | Online social networking | Instant messaging | On-line chat | Videotelephony

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