AOL Locks Out IM Users December 9, 2004 By Matt Hicks and Ryan Naraine http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=140671,00.asp
America Online Inc. has confirmed that it mistakenly deactivated a number of AOL Instant Messenger accounts this week as part of its regular cycle of opening unused screen names to new users. AOL, whose instant messaging service is among the most widely used worldwide, had begun releasing screen names that had gone unused when it snarled the accounts of some active users in the process, an AOL spokeswoman confirmed to eWEEK.com. The Dulles, Va., company is working to restore the mistakenly turned-off accounts by Monday. ADVERTISEMENT "This week, we released a group of AIM screen names which was overwhelmingly comprised of just such abandoned screen names," AOL spokeswoman Krista Thomas said in a statement. "Unfortunately, however, a small number of active screen names was also inadvertently included." AOL typically only reopens screen names from accounts that have been inactive for about 12 months or more. AOL would not say how many active users were affected. The mistake surprised AIM users, many of whom took to Weblogs to try to figure out if they were alone in being cut off from IM. Joi Ito, a well-know venture capitalist with Tokyo-based Neoteny Co. Ltd., wrote in his blog Thursday about receiving a message that his AIM account had been suspended when he tried to launch the service. "Does anyone know what this error means and how I resolve it?" he asked his blog readers. At least two readers responded that they, too, could not log into their AIM accounts. "We sincerely regret the interruption of service which some users may have experienced as a result, and we apologize for the inconvenience this interruption may have caused," Thomas said. You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
