ICQ officially allowed competing services to use its protocol

Mail.Ru Group will cease to “repress” instant messages competing with ICQ from time to time. In the past, we recall, many messages who informally use ICQ servers and protocol have encountered long technical malfunctions that occurred several times a year when the ICQ updated the protocol. It was possible to get the inconvenience by loading a new version of the ICQ service. However, this practice gradually and so has come to naught, since users began to more and more often choose not ICQ, but Facebook, Skype or Google Talk.

Now, the official basis for cooperation with competing messengers will be a new license agreement on the use of ICQ protocol published by Mail.ru Group.

The company's statement on this occasion says that the main goals of licensing are the creation of safe and comfortable communication conditions for users, the legalization of alternative ICQ clients, as well as building effective communications with developers of the Open-Source programs.

For non-profit products, working with the ICQ protocol is not related to any restrictions, but everything that is required of their authors is to comply with the rules for using the protocol, namely not to engage in the mass mailing of unwanted messages, not to extract information from the ICQ catalogs and databases and do not introduce users by any methods.

Meanwhile, ICQ is owned by the Mediamir Mediamir, which is owned by RBC holding, refers to the number of “commercial” messages.

The QIP management has not yet received offers from ICQ, writes Gazeta.Ru . According to unofficial information, earlier companies discussed the cost of licensing of the ICQ protocol, and the amount of more than $ 1 million per year appeared.

"The legalization of all existing unofficial ICQ clients is one of the most important tasks for Mail.ru Group at the current stage of product development. Announcing a new license agreement, we want to once again officially confirm the readiness for negotiations and the search for acceptable options for cooperation with other market players.

After all, our common goal is to create safe and convenient communication conditions for users. Most recently, the decision to support the ICQ protocol in Nimbuzz was officially announced. The products with which we hope to declare in the near future - the Open -Source program Adium, Pidgin, R&K program, ”said Alexander Gorny, ICQ head in Russia.

According to the calculations of Mail.ru Group, the monthly ICQ worldwide for 2010 decreased by 17.6 million users, at the end of 2010 33.5 million people used the service. The monthly ICQ audience in Russia over the past year also decreased by 1.6 million people - to 16.4 million users.