The coalition members want their services to work with those of competitors until a universal standard is developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force , an industry standards body. Representatives from IMUnified would not elaborate today on the technical specifications, adding that the proposals are under review by other collaborators. AOL dominates the instant messaging market. AOL's flagship online service and its CompuServe division offer instant messaging in their packages of features. We remain committed to protecting privacy and security of our instant messaging environment.
Instant messaging allows people to send text messages to each other in real time.
However, those people can only communicate if they use the same service, meaning Yahoo Messenger users cannot chat with AIM members. Industry technologists are trying to create a universal standard for instant messaging interoperability, but these efforts have stalled during the past year. Rival instant messaging services have attempted to force AOL's hand by tapping into the company's roster of instant messenger customers, but the online giant has responded by blocking those moves. Competitors argue that AOL must open its network to rivals for instant messaging to be useful. For the participants of IMUnified, the move to join forces underscores frustration with AOL's hesitation to open its instant messaging network.