they DID get a patent on IM services, but that doesnt mean theyre gonna close down the rest.....rememeber, netscape has a patent on socksomething socketx or sock I dunno I cant remember but anyway, it doesnt keep anyone from using it.......its just "in case"......plus, AOL bought the icq people, so if they did force people out youd still have AIM and ICQ (but they wont)

it was on fark a couple weeks ago,