This is regarding the recent attempts of AOL to block Fire users from connecting to their network. I speak only for myself and to pass on the information I have, I do not represent Epicware or Eric Peyton in any way.
Although Epicware released Fire .24 AOL has again instituted a new block against the software, AIM support has now been removed from Fire according to the software's writer in this email exchange I had with him:
Fire has removed AOL support. I apologize, but there is nothing
that I can reasonably do.
Eric
On Thursday, March 29, 2001, at 07:09 PM
> I have OS X Final but have not installed Fire yet as I have been
> reading
> reports on the web that even the newest version is blocked by AOL,
> any info
> you can give me, I would really like to continue supporting Fire.
This is more than frustrating, I currently run AIM on my PowerBook 1400 and Fire on my Beige G3, however, I will gladly switch to an AOL competitor to help them lose the IM war that is going on since they persist in this childish behavior. If I still used AOL as an ISP this would be enough for me to switch. Perhaps I am not using their software or watching their ads flow by when I use Fire, but I am still a registered AIM user they can count when they try to fight the MS lawsuits over IM software in court. That was until today when I seek out a new IM client for my PowerBook and continue to use Fire for OS X on my G3. It amazes me that a company would go to such lengths to squash the independent efforts of a single programmer working to provide the Macintosh community with a better IM client. This is something that we would expect from Microsoft and yet MS has put in place no such blocks even though their IM service is also used by Fire. I find it maddening that AOL would have its programmers spending time daily to compile new blocks for each Fire update for the past week, perhaps if Bill Gates owned Epicware I would understand. If AOL hopes to make enemies with former customers and the future Mac market of OS X then it is on the right track, the foolishness that would lead them to do this is not only in poor taste but will be the sort of thing brought up when AOL Time Warner is put in front of US Courts for Anti-Trust allegations, this is the type of policy that put Microsoft there in the first place. Apparently the AOL that helped Apple create E-World is long dead. Anything you can do to further spread this information in the Apple Macintosh community and to AOL is greatly appreciated, I plan to post this information and sentiment on Mac sites throughout the web, perhaps we can rally some support for the grassroots efforts that started Macintosh so many years ago and are now being tread upon when they attempt a comeback.
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