Legality of .NET Messenger (MSN Messenger) with Pidgin/GAIM

[Brian Morrison]

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:26:38 +0100
David Woolley <forums at david-woolley.me.uk> wrote:

> Is there any news on this restriction?

Yes. MS wants you to use their software only, both to kill off the
competition and to allow you to be advertised at until you expire.

Pidgin has been created by reverse-engineering the protocols used,
which is perfectly legal and is functionally equivalent to the various
MSN and Windows Live Messenger versions provided by MS.

Just continue to use Pidgin and ignore the probably legally
unenforceable MS licence conditions.

-- 

Brian Morrison

   "Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling with a pig in the mud;
    after a while you realize you are muddy and the pig is enjoying it."