'Spim' is Latest Online Annoyance

Pcol writes “The Washington Post reports that ‘Spim,’
as people are beginning to call unsolicited instant messages, is
the latest sign that online marketers will seek to take advantage of other
communication tools, not limiting themselves to spam or pop-up ads. The good
news is that it’s not easy for spimmers to send unsolicited instant messages.
Instant message providers like AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo have a lot of control
over their instant message networks, and since they look at their IM offerings
as gateway services that help draw customers in to their paid Internet
offerings, these firms are already committing resources to making sure the spim
problem never reaches the same scale as spam.”
—‘Spim’ is Latest Online Annoyance (Slashdot)