IM shake-up approved

The internet's governing technical body has given its stamp of approval to a group intent on creating an open standard for instant messaging.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the group that sets the technical standards for the internet, gave the go-ahead to the creators of open-source instant-messaging application Jabber to create a working group based on that technology.

Called the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), the group's instant messaging standard gives internet users hope of one day being able to send messages to anyone on the net, no matter what software they are using.

The group is also charged with adding security - including authentication, privacy and access control - to instant messaging, according to the group's charter.

Currently, AOL Time Warner, Microsoft and Yahoo! divide the majority of IM users among them. Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as smaller IM clients, have in the past called on AOL to open its instant messaging system to rivals.

Robert Lemos writes for News.com