A new backer has emerged for the open source instant messaging service on which the Netscape division of America Online Inc pulled the plug in April. NeoPlanet Inc has announced it will take a leading role in developing Mozilla.org’s Open Instant- Messaging and Chat (OIMC) initiative by providing engineering resources and specs. The project is intended to produce extensible software that lets existing messaging protocols – like AOL’s own chat features or the ICQ technology it acquired with Mirabilis last year – interact.
Like web page rendering, instant messaging, ‘buddy lists’ and chat need to be open, interoperable features so that the entire community benefits, explained NeoPlanet’s Drew Cohen. Eventually, the company hopes to build the open instant messaging software into its desktop portal product. á
