Yahoo Changes Protocol, Blocks Third Party Clients

NaDrew writes "ZDNet reports that Yahoo is once again blocking connections from Trillian (the alternative multi-protocol client). Yahoo tried this a few times last year and it looks like they're trying again. Cerulean, maker of Trillian, employs some excellent protocol engineers, who I have no doubt will quickly figure out Yahoo's latest obfuscation and release a patch. A quick fix discovered late this evening: Change your Y!IM host from scs.msg.yahoo.com to scs.yahoo.com, port 5050, and it should work. This is on Trillian 0.74H, not Pro."

Centericq is also broken

[RickL]

Centericq [centericq.de] is also broken. I'd be happy to use an official Yahoo! IM client...if they had one that was console-based.

Quick fix does not work

[bruns]

The quick fix to changing the server to scs.yahoo.com, port 5050 does not work for most people, and does not work with Miranda IM, GAIM, or other third party IM clients besides Trillian.

It appears to be a separate server, and you won't be able to communicate with other people on the 'fixed' yahoo servers.

Kopete also

[onree]

Haven't been able to connect to Yahoo via Kopete since the block.

PLEASE NOTE

[GillBates0]

Yahoo tried this a few times last year and it looks like they're trying again.

I could dig up the older comments/articles which thoroughly contradict this troll-ish article summary but I don't think it deserves my time.

Yahoo did not, I repeat did *not* try to "block" third party IM clients "several times last year". *All* they did was upgrade their protocol for better reliability/etc (I have personally noticed the increase in reliability/refresh rate etc). It is up to the 3rd party developers to upgrade their protocols if Yahoo decides to do so.

And Yahoo did offer to help them fix their stack to help it work with their servers. I am not affiliated to Yahoo, btw - I just think it receives a lot more undeserved flak then it should.

FYI Miranda forum thread

[Stavr0]

YAHOO Login Problems [miranda-im.org]

In short, scs.yahoo.com:5050 is no good.

They're begging for it

[inkedmn]

So why not switch to an alternate IM system altogether? *cough*jabber [jabber.org]*cough*
If they're going to be such babies about letting *more* people use their system, let 'em. They're pretty much second fiddle to AIM, it seems...

Re:Trillian

[wasabii]

Haha that's stupid. It's widely known Trillian has reverse engineered the other protocols. They have been blocked before, but again reverse engineered. They have NEVER had a good working relationship.

Re:PLEASE NOTE

[savagedome]

Found those links.
Story here [slashdot.org]

Story here [slashdot.org]

Story here [slashdot.org]

Re:So

[stoborrobots]

Wouldn't this be Jabber?

It's already there, open source, many servers, and intercommunication possible between multiple servers.

And some people have made proxies for jabber-commerical messenger systems communication.

And it works with many, many clients, console-based as well as graphical...

Re:Gaim..??

[Xformer]

Depends on what time you connected. I have a couple friends that use that as well, and they couldn't connect after 6pm PDT (that's when the change went into effect, IIRC).

Re:pfft

[ambrosine10]

I think the latest Yahoo Messenger client for Windows has no ads at all.

Yahoo Profit from Ads? What Ads?!

[LordKazan]

Everyone keeps talking about how Yahoo wants to profit from the ads in it's Y! Messenger Software. What Ads? Unless you look at the other screens [you known the non-chat ones] you will not see any other ads

Re:Centericq is also broken

[wellard1981]

First of all i'm a Linux user, so using the official client for me is next to impossible (I know there is a UNIX/Linux client, but who want's more then one IM application at once?)

I use Gaim [sf.net] as my IM of choice, it supports all protocols I use, MSN, ICQ, AIM, and Yahoo! Okay, I don't get all the features I would normally get from the official client, but I use it for simple IM messages and nothing more.

I don't want bells and whistles, I want a client that supports all protocols without the fluff and Gaim does just that.

Now if it does affect the Gaim client, I'm now gonna have to wait for a patch or update to come out *sigh*

Re:The business case sadly makes sense

[Anonymous Coward]

Where are the ads?

I use Y! Messenger. I disable Y! Insider. I see no ads.

Re:Centericq is also broken

[mariusursache]

the cvs version is working.

Re:Centericq is also broken

[Nugget]

Then what you want is bitlbee [bitlbee.org]. Seriously, it's precisely what you're looking for.

bitlbee lets you connect to all the major IM networks using your normal irc client. When your mouth-breating, non-irc-using friends send you an instant message, it shows up just as a normal irc privmsg and you can respond in kind.

Re:So

[RPoet]

You should really enlighten yourself [jabber.org]. Jabber is a unique, distributed, open IM network with an elegant, extensible and easy-to-understand protocol. You can run your own server and have it talk to the rest of the Jabber network almost like email works. Jabber is really lightyears ahead of any of the "popular" networks today (which is not really "networks", but one or a few servers). Jabber is my only IM network, and I use it to keep in touch with my geekier friends. All the non-geek friends are still on MSN, where they are obliviously happy, but why would I want to IM with them? ;)

Re:Quick fix does not work

[s.d.]

the problem with the quick fix is that it logs you on to a different server. if you log onto scs.yahoo.com, you cannot see people logged onto scs.msg.yahoo.com, which is where everyone using the official client logs onto. it will let you on, but you'll not be able to converse with anyone except others using scs.yahoo.com, so it's not exactly a useful solution.

Re:pfft

[Doug Lim]

I think it blocks gaim also.

Win32 gaim 0.74 seems happy enough.

Trillian is all about freedom...

[Shoeler]

I've been a Trillian user since its inception. I donated via paypal to cerulean back in the day when you got a personal reply from their founders, and back before it was obligatory (to get the pro version). I use it for the same reason I use Linix, Open Office, and GIMP - because I'm not locked into a company's adware and (incorrectly or not) feel like I get more choice in how I use these apps. Of course, if everyone gave the finger to all closed IM protocols and used Jabber [jabber.org], we'd never have these problems.

Re:malicious intent? piffle!

[bucky0]

From the article

This time, however, Yahoo said it will continue changing its protocols to prevent clients such as Trillian from finding new ways to incorporate Yahoo. Again, the measure was cited by Yahoo as a way to prevent IM spam.(emphasis mine)

So, yes, spam is cited as a reason, but yahoo _is_ saying that they are going to continue to block third party clients.

Re:pfft

[Captain Splendid]

Ditto here. Thank you very f*cking much, Yahoo. I just got my sister, 3000 miles away, to puzzle her way through Yahoo messenger, and now I have to hunt down and reisntall the frigging official client just to IM her!

Re:pfft

[isoga]

Yahoo IM doesnt have any ads in its interface

Trillian Patches Available

[rsmith-mac]

The Trillian guys have fixed it. You can grab the patches(Trillian Pro 2.013 & Trillian Basic Patch I) from the Trillian download page [trillian.cc].

Reconnect to Yahoo using Trillian

[Anonymous Coward]

Cerulean Studios just released patch I for the free version of Trillian

http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/support/20040624. ph p

Already fixed in GAIM CVS

[AntiTuX]

Directions located at http://gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php [sourceforge.net]

Goddamn, that makes me feel geeky.

Re:Gaim

[lvdrproject]

I don't know if you're on Windows, but i am, and i find that Gaim (for Windows) is a pretty poor client. I mean, it's OK, but compared to other things, it needs a lot of work. It seems to me like the Windows version of Gaim was nothing more than an after-thought. I can't get work done (I'm paid to sit around instant-messaging my friends all day -- true story.) using an after-thought. ;_;

So... i use Miranda [miranda-im.org]. Needs a lot of work also, but it's much better off than Gaim, i find, and it's just as open.

Trillian Patch I Fixes the Problem

[kris247]

Cerulean Studios just released Patch I which fixed Yahoo connectivity. You can download it from here: http://www.trillian.cc/support/20040624.php I just installed it and it seems to work fine.

Re:How long until Yahoo sues Trillian?

[Pendersempai]

Once yahoo makes an encrypted version of the YIM protocol, they can sue the makers of Trillian for DMCA violations.

Nope. The encryption wouldn't be protecting copyrighted content, so the DMCA wouldn't apply. Maybe they could try to pull a Lexmark, but I really doubt that strategy will actually pass muster with a human judge.

Even without the DMCA they may be able to bring a case against them if Yahoo's TOS prohibits 3rd party clients.

Nope again -- it would be the end-user who USES trillian that would be in violation of the TOS. They'd have to do an RIAA-like "sue all the users" strategy, and I doubt it would be effective.

Trillian has release a Patch

[Anonymous Coward]

Trillian has now released a patch, 2.013 for pro. I just installed in and I can connect to Yahoo, but since I don't actually actively use yahoo as any sort of communication medium I don't care...
http://www.trillian.cc/news_press/ [trillian.cc]

There is also a patch for the free version.

Re:Trillian

[FesterDaFelcher]

As a paying Trillian subscriber, I am disappointed in both Yahoo and Trillian.

Dissapointed? There is already a fix available. I am very happy with Trillian. But if you need a company that can put a fix out in under 4 hours, then by all means go find another one.

Re:Gaim

[drinkypoo]

I have the Gimp 2.0.4 on Windows using GTK+ 2.4.1 and it works fantastically. The problem is not with GTK+.

Re:Trillian

[Vaevictis666]

"No really. Trillian offers you an opportunity to support its continued development by subscription"

No, Trillian does charge you money. When they first jumped from 0.7-something to 1.0 and charged for it, they more or less stopped updating the free 0.x branch except for protocol changes and security updates. They're now up to 2.01 and if you don't pay them money you're essentially using the same software they were releasing for free 2 years ago.

Which is why I've switched to Gaim.

it works fine for me!

[zentex]

I got pro v2.0.

I'm still connected to Y!, I looked and it's set to scs.yahoo.com:5050 (default).

so the story is not 100% true? I'm just lucky?

Re:Centericq is also broken

[OneBarG]

I would assume they're counting AIM and ICQ as two.

Just for the record

[destine]

The commercial linux client they have doesn't work either, so they've, as far as I can tell, completely locked out all non-windows/Mac clients. Which may be a small amount, but when my company asked me to look for an IM client I went elsewhere because of their lackluster linux support.

Re:Centericq is also broken

[WormholeFiend]

yahoo, MSN, ICQ and AIM.