MSN ditches chat - Gillian Kent urges everybody to adopt Instant Messenger

 by Martin Belam, 24 September 2003

MSN is ditching unmoderated chat - various interest groups are either overjoyed, or like the Freeserve spokesperson quoted in this Register article, think MSN is just ducking out of the market to save money.

Closing down unmoderated chat is certainly an interesting move - Director of MSN UK, Gillian Kent, appeared on BBC News 24 around 9:40 this morning, and did an excellent job of talking up the risks of chat whilst pushing customers towards Instant Messenger.

"Most of the abuse has been happening in what are called free and unmoderated chat rooms, so those are the ones where there hasn't been a moderator checking what has been happening or what's being said. The abuse has been happening there."

Luckily Gillian was able to play the "I am mother, I'm an aunt" card, and then direct all ex-chat users towards MSN Messenger.

"And the important thing as well is there are alternatives, so people shouldn't panic and give out their email addresses and stuff to stay in touch with their friends. There are alternatives, much safer, such as Instant Messaging. And around the world we have 100 million people using Instant Messenger. That's a great safe way of communicating. We encourage everybody to take up this new form rather than the older form of chats."

Surely that can't be the same Instant Messenger that is an open, unmoderated communication forum...and of course, you don't need to give out your email address to get onto people's buddy lists do you?

see also MSN will protect your children

97 Comments

i am a regular user of msn messenger, and i can say that if you close msn messenger down that ALL of my friends will be disapointed as we use it to communicate with each other.I do not ever use the chatrooms so i dont see wyh we are bein punished for what some silly people do and meet up witch people of chatrooms.There are many other chatrooms and ways to meet people of the internet.Phedaphiles will jus revert to other options such as email..etc. PLZ DONT SHUT DOWN MSN MESSENGER!

i swear you cant shut down msn messenger it it how i speak to all my friends i have my hole school year on it and if its shut down i will b very dissapointedas will all my friends i tlak to my family who live in canada on it also you realyl cant do this! jsut show down the msn chat rooms and leave msn messenger alone

The above posters should perhaps spend less time on MSN Messenger and more time learning how to spell, not to mention learning some basic grammar.

Similarly, they might want to refrain from posting their *real* email addresses on sites such as this. If I was a PDF I could now commence my stalking of two (probably naive) children via the medium of email.

(I'm not)

"Surely that can't be the same Instant Messenger that is an open, unmoderated communication forum"

MSN chatrooms are apparently unsafe because they're "free and unmoderated". If MSN Msgr is going to remain unmoderated, and it's "safe", then it must be the "free" part they're getting rid of....

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!

I have to agree with Sam above with regard to spelling and grammar going right out the window. Is it just me, or has the intelligence of the average "onliner" decreased to the point where all they can do is say "y! me 2 lololol! ur g3y."?

Also, a few other points:

1. Quit crying. MS don't have a monopoly on IM. Hell, they only got into that market a few years ago. There's a great open protocol called Jabber with free clients. There's Trillian. There's the venerable ICQ. There are millions of IM clients. It's people like those above that just blindly use what MS tell them to that cause them to have the power that they are able to exercise. Stop being sheep.

2. Learn how to use irc. It's not hard, it's been around a lot longer than IM, and there are clients for all platforms, not just MS ones.

3. Start questioning reason and motive instead of whining about the end result. Ask yourself why MS are doing this, realise that in all likelihood, it has nothing to do with paedophilia, and then when you have a guess at the possible motives, understand that MS is every bit as bad as people paint them. In my opinion anyway.

G.

woops forgot to say anything in the other one...
why shut down msn messenger just because some stupid idiot decides to give their email out and then decides to meet someone who is more than likely a peadophile....we're being cut off because of a minority of stupid people in the world.....why do we have to suffer for your stupidity.....thanx alot a**hole

there not shuttn instant messeging u eggs

hey w8 i got a real complaint hey hey hey(8)

plz keep instant messenger

hi i agree wif keepn it

i dont know who " conall's m8" is but thanx man and again,why do we suffer for others?
any one who can answer me that is a genious

footskating is not a crime

go n grap urself a bunch of it

I DNT NO WEVA U REALISE BUT THIS IS A CHAT ROOM :@

hi charli

this is not a chat site this is a forum...the difference...i can tell u that:
a forum is a place where people post their views and articles about a perticular subject ( in this case about msn shutting down ) and a chat room is where people talk to others about stupid things and everyday life.

charli how low will your stupidity go and listen to connal and the other people in this forum

Wow, if this is the quality of debates in MSN chat rooms I am really missing out on something...

;-)

It is bad enough we have to buy and use microsoft window's to get the full range of pc benefit's.I think this is a slap in the face to the public.So there are some freaky pervert's out there it is nothing new there always have been and always will be.Also there will always be people and groups griping save the kid's poor little kid's give me a break be a parent keep your kid's of the pc they didn't buy it they can't pay for it keep them off or atleast sit with them and monitor them.If they don't want you to monitor them then there up to know good.I would also like to say these so called innocent kids around 14 plus start the conversation's and bring up sex alot of time's.I personly don't chat knowingly to anyone under 21.Oh and kids lie all the time about there age they may say there 21 but really only 17 hard to tell online.Bill gates is just trying to get more money coming in plain and simple.I would use linux if it was supported by everyone.The days of free thing's on the net will die off sooner or later but it is not free really sense i pay for internet anyway.Well enjoy it while it last's law makers,interst group's,and greedy companies will screw it all up forsure.

fucking assholes closing msn chats ill kill u bitches :@ i h8 u

I am responding to the comment made by Greig as I do not think it is fair to place every teenage msn user into the bracket where appalling grammar and spelling reign supreme. I myself am an avid user of msn, and although I use the shortened words as shown above this does in no way reduce my ability to express myself clearly. The use of these abbreviations has not affected my spelling and has in no way shape or form reduced my intelligence to that of a person half my age. I, at 16, pride myself on being able to speak eloquently and I do not feel that msn has in any way decreased my aptitude to do this.

I am also perfectly aware that I used lower case I's. I was just interested to see if anyone would be on the ball enough to notice my deliberate error.

but what a shame that $ha®l3a didn't give their email address, i would have loved to follow up that conversation...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT CLOSE MSN MESSENER!?!!?!?!? ITS THE ONLY WAY I CAN REALLY COMMUNICATE WITH ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY OTHER THAN SLOW SNAIL MAIL AND JUST REGULAR EMAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS SOOOOOOO MUCH FUN TO TALK TO PEOPLE ON MESSENGER!!!!YOU'VE MADE IT SO THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARENT STUPID ENOUGH TO MEET THOSE PEDIFILES THAT YOU ARE PUNISHING US!!!!DONT CLOSE MESSENGER JUST CLOSE THE CHAT ROOM!!!!I MEAN THATS PROB. WHERE 99% OF WHERE ALL THE KIDS GET ABDUCTED BY?!?!?!!?!?DONT CLOSE IT SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE AGREE TOO!!!!!!

What is WRONG with you people? Can't you READ? MSN is NOT closing MESSENGER. That's the whole POINT of the article! (You know, the thing with the words at the top of this page?) They're closing their open CHAT ROOMS. Not Messenger!

I guess we're gonna hafta flood this with
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
"hey, idiots, they are not closing msn messenger"
they're closing the freakin' chat rooms(good riddance)

I have lost all faith in humanity after reading these comments. Whatever Microsoft's motives are (money or market share, obviously), if it stops you fuckwits from jabbering to each other like monkeys over MSN's half-assed chatrooms then I'm all for it.

You didn't even read the story, did you? Of course they're not closing their IM service. They're building up a nice big database of users so that when they eventually start charging for it (which they will, and you idiots will pay) they can guarantee an initial return of x million.

You people should be ashamed of yourselves for even existing, and your English teachers need shooting in the face. Thanks.

ps: what's with the lower case CSS? crazy.
--
bongfish (who has been chatting for years without the dubious benefits of MSN)

"if it stops you fuckwits from jabbering to each other like monkeys"

...is the best comment I've ever seen on currybetdotnet.

Though I guess at some point I really ought to go through this and clear all the badly spelt messenger angst off the site.

This actually really funny, I have been scrolling down for the last 15 min reading about people who don't have the sense to read the whole article. MSN is not closing thier Messenger Service, they are actually promoting it. The are closing it totally in a few other countries in Asia and Europe. BUT they arn't totally closing the ones in Canada, USA, and Japan. They will just be charged. And for those of you just wanting to chat, go to Yahoo, IRC, SOMTHING ELSE. The thing I am worried about is the closing of the MSN zone.com because I love playing games over the server. I just hope that doesn't follow suit with the chat rooms. I think MSN is just shooting themselves in the foot with thier decision, but I am not at all angry. The only thing I disagree with is thier motiviation behind thier closing. Petophiles(sp?)?? If your child is on the interenet, as a parent you should monitor your child.
well thats it... I don't feel like arguing...
-']['IE[)

With interest, I have been reading the posts listed here. I would like to point out that it isn't MSN Instant Messenger that they are closing down, it is the so called unmodereated "free chatrooms".

The term "Unmoderated" is rather bogus too, since these are what they call user created chats. As someone who was a MSN Chatroom host volunteer for several years. I must note that as a Host we tried to inforce the "code of conduct", that MSN required. BUT!... MSN also stoned walled their hosts request for added hosting options. When MSN choose to abolish a MSN supported chatroom in a catagory it was to supposed to readjust their resources. Interestingly... The MSN moderated rooms were in Religion that the abolished, in favour of.... "Lifestyles".... If any of you know what Lifestyles on MSN is, it is basically a sex based rooms, those being ...Homosexual, BiSexual, Etc. Why was this important to MSN, because sex makes money for them. The so called spambots reason that they gave to protect your kids were in less than 5 secs after they upgraded thier servers to keep them out. While those of us who moderate our rooms with "BOTs", it took us several days to work around it. FUNNY THAT!!!

So what is the bottomline on this move? One word. MONEY... it has NOTHING TO DO WITH PROTECTING YOUR KIDS.... Its MONEY MONEY MONEY.

Sarah: Pleased to hear it. Keep up the good work, and please lead by example! :-)

but you can't shut down msn messenger
if you do then i will be dissapointed becos all my friends are all on msn messenger
don't shut down msn messenger
if you do shut down then me and my school m8s will be dissapointed and upset
katie b

Closing msn messanger would be ridiculous. There are a load of people using messanger. I use messenger all the time. Without it what will we do. Why not close all public profiles, and all the directories then at least you need peoples e-mail address. You can then only talk to your friends and 'paedophiles', because thats the problem, cannot talk to us children using messanger to talk to our friends. Us that have friends that live a long way away from each other then at least you can talk to them.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITHOUT MSN MESSENGER

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITHOUT MSN MESSENGER"

Beats me, maybe make real friends, realise Microsoft don't own the only software on the planet, stop leaving comments on websites without reading the articles or understanding the debate you are entering into...?

I admit to being an msn chat user. Not the msn rooms, but a user room I created. There was no porn or pedyfiles there. I didnt even allow children. What I did allow was friends getting together and playing trivia with each other. MSN took that option from me. Even after paying the blood money, they did not allow the trivia bot in the room. I agree, It's all about money and they are punishing Europe for the law suit. Lying and saying if you pay you can talk in usa chat rooms. It was a lie and they took alot of your money.

i want to download msn messanger but my computer wont let me

1) can americans still get onto msn chat
2) its too late to take away msn messenger the codes been out for time and hackers .> will easily be able to get at it either makeing new ways to open it or there will be 300,000,000 different versians i just dont see what the big deal is anyway theres already other programs u can use ppl just need to stop depending on microsoft so damn much
its time the ppl rebeled against mircosoft DOWN WITH MICROSOFT DOWN WITH MICROSOFT

i think that the msn is a great way to meet new people

hi ya all i cant see how you can download msn messanger or get it email back what web page and how thanks

Hey i agree with Gohan661, Down with microsoft and up with any other company such as linux. Stupid Bill Gates the greedy fucker keeps all his money to himself.And whats up with saying windows 98 will be alot better and faster than 95. Well iv had both fucking versions and i have to say 95 is better.Fuck you Bill Gates and fuck you microsoft. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

hey i think they shouldn't ok.

ms messenger is a great way to connect with people i like it alot

hey its me again and i'm new in this thing and i really want people to welcome me

hey, welcome nemo!

For fucks sake, is everyone here blind...? Or just morons? The lack of grammar and spelling on this page burns my eyes... let me tell you idiots in words you understand...

lololol tehy are noy cloosing MSN mssger. theh fucker bill gates es colesn down teh cgatrooms!!! lolol!!!!111! not msn masstentegegsgaerseaaaaaaaaa.....................

morons...

i thinkit is aload of rubbish

i hate u people now u are so fliping tigt u
are so unberleavable

y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y did you close it msn woz da bomb it woz top sez me

Buwhahahaha!! Mitch, you crack me up. And that's all I have to say on the matter.

that is stupid not every body has instant messager 0;-!

good chat with me

i totly agree! y shd msn chat be fukin shut down i need 2 chat it's d knda fing that can keep us teens off d streets. im sooooo bored now!!

bye!!!

NO FAIR !!!! MSN IS THE BEST AND I CAN'T EVEN GET ON YAHOO.CO.UK CHAT ROOMS I WANT THE CHAT ROOMS BACK IF KIDS GET KILLED-RAPED ITS THERE OWN FAULT FOR AGREEING TO MEET UP WITH PEOPLE WHERE ARE THERE PEARENTS NE WAY I WOULD NEVA MEET UP WITH SOME ONE ON THE INTERNET AND IF I WOULD ID DO IT IN A PUBLIC PLACE AND NOT GO ANY WEAR ALONE WITH THEM BUT I WOULDN'T EVEN DO THAT NE WAYZ PUT THE CHAT ROOMS BACK

omg dont u ppl read they r not closing down msn messenger only the chatrooms duh
coem on ppl smarten up!

plus if ppl wanna b idiots and actually meet up wif ppl on chat that say they r the same age as u . u should have a little more common sence then to actually meet up wif them unless u know them coz they mite b a petophile come on ppl smarten up

hello.what is up i fine soon i have to go.

I THINK ITS SO UNFAIR I USE MSN EVERYDAY TO TALK TO PPL MY AGE AND FAMILY AND I LOVED USING MSN AND I REALLY WANT IT TO CONTINUE AND IF IT DOESNT THEN I SAY THE GOVERMENT OR THE SERVICE IS SHIT I THINK ITS BAD I MEAN I LOVE MSN SO WELL IF IT IS A RUMOR AND IT AINT TRUE THEN IM GONNA CELEBRATE LATER BUT U NEVER KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO SO ILE BE USING FACE PARTY IM SO UPSET HONEST

you cant shut down the place i love it yer its so great

Any fit lads?

Answer me fit lads!!!!!!

if there is email me at <snip> or <snip>!!!!!

<snipped to remove personal email details>

ooh the power. ;-)

oi oi all how are u all

so whats all ya asl any of u come from kent

Are you all fuckin stupid or somethin they are only closing down msn chat rooms not msn messenger wat the fuck is up with you all cant anyone read

hi

I was told that MSN was shuting down all of the chat so that they could keep XBob live up and running

sorry about the my spelling

what do ya do when sum1 is usin pic ov your child on the msn page without my consent ive called the police n my network n theres nothing they can do plz help!!!!!!!

your msn is ball shit i dont suggest it

i think it is ok but it isnt right for ya picz 2 b allowed 2 go on the site atall so ne way peepz im off c ya vespect people bye bye xxx lv ya all
xAMIEx

can i ask sumthing plz HOW CAN I GET BOTS FOR GROUPS.MSN ON MY GROUP

i will like to chat now with msn with my cuzin who is on it.

i will like to chat with msn now.

dont dont dont shut msn down as i use it to talk to all my mates.
i would miss it if it went.
all im saying is your stupid if u shut it down

plz dnt get rid of msn messenger or what will i av 2 do at nite i wnt be able 2 chat 2 my m8z neitha itz the best thing thats cum out chat rooms you can not spk 2 ppl u no not really cuz u av aload of ova weirdoes in the conversation as well and probly alot of perverts hu wnt 2 meet up with u n that so keep msn messenger n get rid of the chatromms that r left

I Think it's all about money...anytime they want to get their way all they have to say is somebody was hurt or we are concerned for safety..
I dont think it has anything to do with safety at all ....it's all about the mighty dollar!!!
I am a paid customer anyway but i do have a big user created community on msn and i would hate to see these user created rooms close because they do really give alot of good people a place to come and post,For every wierdo out there in those rooms their are thousands that are not.
Also the reason i dont think it has alot to do with safety is because the user created rooms have alot more control over who comes in their chatrooms than even msn does..the person applying if the owner of the room has it set up this way ,,has to approve the person before they can enter,plus the person entering has a descrption of the room and even its rating,,,the msn paid rooms are the danger because anyone can still go in there ,,i was just in there this moring in the lobby and there was a guy who had a pic of his lala up in his profile so its not about safety at all....its just they realize that alot of people have taken advantage of the user created rooms and they want to get those people out of those rooms so that they will become paying customers.
I think the bad thing about that is,,its not fair too all because there are alot of people that cant afford a credit card to pay so it eliminates them from communication at all if they someday do down the road a bit start charging for msn messenger which im sure they will.
But there is nothing we can do about it right now!
Thanks for letting me post my opinion while i still have the right to do that.
Cherokeeshe,

Hi I am looking for a pen pal and a pen pal to chat with on msn. I am 11 years old. I like to recieve and send e-mails.

hi people

oh my god ur gay

and it took you two posts to realise?

hiya every1

....How many times does it have to be stated that MESSENGER IS NOT BEING REMOVED before you "14m3Rz will liek, reelize dat u r not n danjurr of l05ing yr preshus msngr" Good freaking heavens, it's like the ability to think has been replaced with the ability to annoy the living hell out of normal people. Come on, "oobr 1337 B17CH35" If you want to be better represented, try doing it on your own. As for the smartass chick that was responding to the comment about teens being incapable of forming correct sentences, HE WAS RIGHT! You used big words and made the entire paragraph look like a thesaurus gone wrong. When you use certain words you change the rules of literature that will alter the choices of following words. If you want to try to falsify your talent, at least do it with SOME effort. Now I'm off to find a way into chat that doesn't involve paying. MSN, tighten up the security...

im a funny person if you get to know me im realy cute i have blonde hair brown eyes weigh 75 pounds it just me living a cool life and im single lucky me

fcuk u this site is shit

this site is crap any 1 who comes on r a bunch of bitches(ex me) all ways criing about some thing u all need to get a life r have sex or something (thats wots rong with all of u, u downt have sex)
but u all r sad ever last 1 of u if your not email me and tall me why your not lol unless you r to bizy on this site to give me a goby littul shit some stik back i will just keep putting things like this on untill some 1 dus i'm righting this because i have red all of the comments that people have dun and thay r all sooooo sad so come give some shit bk @ <snip>@<snip>.com if i get no replize i will gust think that evry r sad loozers and u all need to get i life(i'm 17 and i'm not as sad as u lot) lots of love heather @ <snip>@<snip>.com

why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
because u need to get a life lol
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
because u need to have sex lol
all of you get a life and stop being geek freeks lol give me some bk if you think you have the gutts haha lol sad people

why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
because u need to get a life lol
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
why r all of u so sad?
because u need to have sex lol
all of you get a life and stop being geek freeks lol give me some bk if you think you have the gutts haha lol sad people

if you relly want to get guttce ring me on <snip> but if you do that then you relly r guttce but your mum wuldend let you use the phown haha lol sad GET A LIFE U SAD PEOPLE I HATE U ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!JUST GET A LIFE

SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD! SAD!
ALL OF U R YES SAD!

In the end Heather went on to leave something like 40-odd identical comments to the one above with her phone number and email address until I had to block her IP address

This isn't the equivalent of a toilet wall is it? Post someone else's phone number up?

It is pretty toilet wall around here. My new favourite post of all time on currybetdotnet is lisa herrod's succint:

'oh my god ur gay'

dat is just total bolocks wat is the point in doin it r they just tryin to b cocks or summat

That was the funniest thread that I've read for a long time. People are so spectacularly stupid, it's brilliant.

*wiping the tears from my eyes

Thanks for reviving your archives. I would have missed out on this wonderful example of our education systems if you hadn't. :-D

Well I agree shut it down..why u ask?
Just ask the the ones who's children have been victimized or killed because of chat..
dont tell me when i just logged into my messenger and has friggin $ex bot with nasty t|ts staring at me...geesh shut the whole crap down

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