Again, AOL Says 'Goodbye' to Trillian Users

AOL has fired the latest salvo at Trillian users who continue to connect to its AIM service by forcibly kicking them offline, a move mirroring the company's action against MSN Messenger in the past. AOL had previously only made efforts to block users of the independent client from connecting, but Cerulean Studios has been quick to release patches that bypass the blocks.

Trillian users report receiving a message from "AOL Instant Messenger" before being cut off, stating: "You have been disconnected from the AOL Instant Messaging Service (SM) for accessing the AOL network using unauthorized software. You can download a FREE fully featured, and authorized client, here http://www.aol.com/aim/download2.html"

It is not yet clear whether the disconnection has any impact on the other messaging services that may also be accessed via Trillian. Upon receipt of the same message in 1999, MSN Messenger users were forced to reconnect to Microsoft's service as well.