PC Week: Rivals take AOL Instant Messenger beef to Senate

"Executives from eight prominent online companies have sent a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee asking the committee to review America Online Inc.'s refusal to allow users of other instant-messaging products to communicate with its AOL Instant Messenger subscribers."

"The letter, sent Wednesday, is the latest salvo in an ongoing war between AOL and a host of high-profile rivals over instant-messaging interoperability."

"In the letter, signed by executives from Microsoft Corp., AT&T Corp., Tribal Voice Inc. and others, AOL is accused of not holding up its end of an agreement made last year to work toward a standard for instant messaging that would allow all users, regardless of provider, to communicate with each other."

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