Yahoo! Closes User Created Chat Rooms

by sf 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • sf
    sf

    Recently, when trying to log into yahoo USER ROOMS, I received this:

    "The ability to publish user-created chat rooms in the public Yahoo! Chat directory is currently unavailable. We are working on improvements to this service to enhance the user experience and compliance with our Terms of Service".

    At first I thought it was temporary.

    I've received a few pm's asking why they are unable to get to the exjw/jw yahoo chatroom. [ I'm able to get in because the yahoo program I use most often is YAZAK. And it auto-logs you into last room you were in. ]

    I googled:

    http://www.chatmag.com/news/061805_yahoo_closes_user_chat.html

    18 June 2005 Chatmag News.

    Yahoo! User-created chat rooms are no longer available. According to Yahoo's chat log in page:

    "The ability to publish user-created chat rooms in the public Yahoo! Chat directory is currently unavailable. We are working on improvements to this service to enhance the user experience and compliance with our Terms of Service"

    Yahoo! chat users can view this notice by logging in to Yahoo! Chat via your web browser, and navigating to the chat listings. Once in the listings, click on the "user rooms" link. A screen shot of this notice is available, click here.

    In recent years, the Yahoo! chat rooms have been inundated by "ad bots", automated programs that deluge users with private messages containing links to commercial web sites. Online predators have also utilized the Yahoo! chat rooms, seeking children for real or online encounters.

    Petitions to Yahoo! to create moderators, or chat room operators have been submitted to Yahoo!, with no positive results from the Yahoo! staff.

    Several online vigilante groups, most notably Perverted-Justice.com have also used the Yahoo! chat rooms seeking "wannabe" online predators, and in most cases, publishing transcripts of private conversations conducted within Yahoo! chat. The closure of the user created chat rooms will in effect stop Perverted-Justice.com from operating within Yahoo! chat.

    This closure of the user created chat rooms is system wide, in all Yahoo! chat categories. No further information is available at this time.

    --Chatmag News Staff--

    Related Article:
    Yahoo Chatters Irate.

    External Links:

    Chatmag's Discussion Forum.

    Yahoo! Chat.

    Yahoo Messenger Statement.

    Investigation Shows Big Business Funding Sex Chat Rooms.

    Irate Yahoo! Chatters Complain.

    Slashdot Article.

    _______________

    I'm guessing we stay tuned for further developments.

    You can still get in though. If you know someone who goes to any USER ROOM and they are on your list, just 'follow' them or pm them asking for an invite.

    sKally

  • garybuss
    garybuss


    Thanks for the update.

  • sf
    sf
  • sf
    sf

    This was posted recently in many groups discussing this issue:

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/05/27/yahoo.nudes.ap/

    Friday, May 27, 2005 Posted: 9:40 AM EDT (1340 GMT

    Woman sues Yahoo over nude photos

    PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- A woman sued Yahoo Inc. for $3 million, alleging the Internet site failed to fulfill a promise to remove nude pictures of her from the Web.

    Cecilia Barnes, 48, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County, claims an ex-boyfriend began posting unauthorized personal profiles of her containing the photos in December. The profiles included her e-mail address and work phone number.

    The former boyfriend also engaged in online discussions in Yahoo chat rooms while posing as Barnes and directing men to the profiles, the lawsuit claims.

    "Due to these profiles and online chats, unknown men would arrive without warning at plaintiff's work expecting to engage in sexual relations with her," the lawsuit claims.

    Barnes sent Yahoo a letter in January saying she did not create the profiles and wanted them removed. Additional attempts to get Yahoo to remove them in February and March did not get a response, the lawsuit claims.

    A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the company does not comment on pending litigation.

    ____

    For many more search hits, type in 'yahoo user rooms'.

    sKally

  • sf
    sf

    You are welcomed Gary.

    It's not surprising though. It was only a matter of time before someone actually went after Yahoo in a civil suit. Their 'report abuse' link is a joke. Haha, it's a bot in and of itself.

    Here are more hits on the lawsuit news:

    http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=Woman+sues+Yahoo+over+nude+photos

    sKally

  • sf
    sf

    Apparently, there is another suit:

    http://www.webpronews.com/insidesearch/insidesearch/wpn-56-20050601YahooIntheThroesOfKiddieSexLawsuitAdsPulled.html

    Yahoo! In The Throes Of Kiddie Sex Lawsuit; Ads Pulled

    Jason L. Miller | Staff Writer | 2005-06-01

    Houston television station KPRC aired their investigation of Yahoo!'s chat services, showing an unsettling relationship between corporate advertising and various child sex chat rooms.

    The exposé led to two wallet crushing results, a $10 million filed on behalf of child victims, and huge corporate entities pulling their ads from Yahoo!. The lawsuit accuses Yahoo! of profiting from child pornography.

    The TV station reported gut-wrenching chat room titles like "Girls 13 And Up For Much Older Man," "9-17-Year-Olds Wantin' Sex," and "5 To 13-Year-Old Kiddies Who Love Sex." Worse, the station reported, these chat rooms were ad supported.

    Chatters who wanted to enter "5 To 13 For Older Men" were greeted with a Star Wars Diet Pepsi ad prior to entering.

    The perverse chatters were using the rooms as a forum for meeting children for sex, kidnapping, and photo swapping.

    Pepsi maintained that they were completely unaware of the situation and pulled their advertising immediately.

    "We were completely unaware that our advertisements were associated with these chat rooms in any way," Pepsi released in a statement.

    Georgia-Pacific responded likewise, after Yahoo! acknowledged that Brawny paper towels were advertised in a room entitled "6 To 11 Year Old Girls Into Older Men."

    Other companies who pulled advertising include State Farm Insurance and Countrywide Mortgage.

    Currently, there is no legislation in place that provides for prosecution of the chat room organizers. Only civil liability can be assessed under current law.

    "Short of changes in the law in Congress, we may be limited about what we can do in this area," U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, further alluding to an inability, from a legal standpoint to shutdown sex sites presented under Yahoo!'s services.
    __________

    sKally

  • kazar
    kazar

    Thanks everyone for posting information on the chats. I have been confused by the issue. I thought it was only the Ex JW's chat room. Thanks for clarifying the matter.

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