Spam, Child Safety Prompt Microsoft to Close Chat Rooms
by Jason Collum
November 20, 2003
(AgapePress) - Computer software giant Microsoft has shut down free, unmoderated chat rooms in nearly 30 countries and begun forcing users in the remaining countries to give a credit card number in order to gain access to chat rooms. The move comes as the company said spammers, pedophiles, and pornographers had been abusing the system.Geoff Sutton, Microsoft Network general manager for Europe, said it had become clear that unmoderated chat was not safe.
"The two big issues we have been dealing with have been adults 'grooming' children in chat rooms and spam getting in that is pornographic in some way," he said. "So we have come to consider that this is not a good experience for our users, and we have tried to do the right thing by showing our responsible leadership position."
The company will keep open chat room sites in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The chat room closing does not affect MSN's instant-messaging service, which allows for private conversations between computer users.
This article appeared originally in the November/December 2003 issue of AFA Journal, a publication of the American Family Association.
