[cjoh]

As a result of the AOL Time Warner merger in 2001, the FCC ordered AOL to open up its instant messagning protocol to stop blocking applications like Trillian and Adium at the time from creating an interoperable method.

In 2001, AOL represented something like 90% of the instant messaging market with its combined networks of both ICQ and AIM. Building AOL compatibility then meant a whole heck of a lot and it's taken more than a decade to get to some kind of interoperability.

I wish Skype had some sort of market share large enough to justify the FCC pushing Microsoft to do the same thing. Interoperable video calls are really important.