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34-591: Tencent QQ was first released in China in February 1999 under the name of OICQ ("Open ICQ", a reference to the early IM service ICQ ). After the threat of a trademark infringement lawsuit by the AOL -owned ICQ, the product's name was changed to QQ (with "Q" and "QQ" used to imply "cute"). The software inherited existing functions from ICQ, and additional features such as software skins, people's images, and emoticons. QQ

68-468: A UIN. As such UINs that are stolen can sometimes be reclaimed. This applies only if (since 1999 onwards) a valid primary email address was entered into the user profile. The founding company of ICQ, Mirabilis, was established in June 1996 by five Israeli developers: Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser, Amnon Amir, Arik Vardi, and Arik's father Yossi Vardi . ICQ was one of the first text-based messengers to reach

102-427: A copyright lawsuit against Chen Shoufu (aka Soft), the author of Coral QQ, after his distribution of a modified Tencent QQ was ruled illegal. Chen then published his modification as a separate add-on. On 16 August 2007, Chen was detained again for allegedly making profits off of his ad-blocking add-on. The case resulted in a three-year prison sentence for Shoufu. In 2010, Chinese anti-virus company, Qihoo 360 , analyzed

136-706: A deal with VinaGame to bring the QQ Casual Gaming portal as well as the QQ Messenger as an addition to the already thriving Vietnamese gaming communities. In the United States, Tencent has partnered with AOL to bring QQ Games as a contender in the US social gaming market. Launched in 2007, QQ Games came bundled with the AIM installer, and competed with AOL's own games.com to provide a gaming experience for

170-415: A dedicated English-language portal. QQ International offers non-Mandarin speakers the opportunity to use most of the features of its Chinese counterpart to get in touch with other QQ users via chat, VoIP, and video calls, and it provides a non-Mandarin interface to access Qzone , Tencent's social network. The client supports English, French, Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese and Traditional Chinese. One of

204-473: A desktop client to a mobile messaging system. As of 2013, around half of ICQ's users were using its mobile apps, and in 2014, the number of users began growing for the first time since the purchase. In March 2016, the source code of the client was released under the Apache license on GitHub . In 2020, Mail.Ru Group decided to launch a new version, "ICQ New", based on the original ICQ. The updated software

238-659: A more widespread network, to which extant QQ users could be easily redirected, hence giving Pengyou a major advantage over its competitors. Tencent's social network Qzone is linked to in the International and native versions of QQ. Using reverse engineering , open source communities have come to understand the QQ protocol better and have attempted to implement client core libraries compatible with more user-friendly clients, free of advertisements. Most of these clients are cross-platform, so they are usable on operating systems which

272-437: A premium membership scheme, where premium members enjoy features such as QQ mobile, ringtone downloads, and SMS sending/receiving. In addition, Tencent offers "Diamond" level memberships. Currently, there are seven diamond schemes available: The QQ Coin is a virtual currency used by QQ users to "purchase" QQ related items for their avatar and blog . QQ Coins are obtained either by purchase (one coin for one RMB ) or by using

306-421: A recent independent security audit. It lost points because communications are not end-to-end encrypted , users can not verify contacts' identities, past messages are not secure if the encryption keys are stolen (i.e. the service does not provide forward secrecy ), the code is not open to independent review (i.e. the code is not open-source ), and the security design is not properly documented. ICQ ICQ

340-466: A wide range of users. The technology Mirabilis developed for ICQ was distributed free of charge. The technology's success encouraged AOL to acquire Mirabilis on June 8, 1998, for $ 287 million up front and $ 120 million in additional payments over three years based on performance levels. In 2002 AOL successfully patented the technology. After the purchase, the product was initially managed by Ariel Yarnitsky and Avi Shechter. ICQ's management changed at

374-472: The AIM user base. Tencent launched its web-based QQ formally on 15 September 2009, the latest version of which being 3.0. Rather than solely a web-based IM, WebQQ 3.0 functions more like its own operating system, with a desktop in which web applications can be added. In 2009, Tencent launched Xiaoyou (校友, 'schoolmate'), its first social network website. In mid-2010, Tencent changed direction and replaced Xiaoyou with Pengyou (朋友, 'friends'), trying to establish

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408-551: The Chinese and International versions of QQ had been tested in 2013. Currently it is identified as malware by DrWeb, Zillya, NANO-Antivirus, and VBA32 give positive results, most of which identify it as a trojan. On March 6, 2015, QQ scored 2 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation 's secure messaging scorecard. It received points for having communications encrypted in transit and for having

442-446: The Chinese government's Internet surveillance and censorship . A 2013 report by Reporters Without Borders specifically mentioned QQ as allowing authorities to monitor online conversations for keywords or phrases and track participants by their user number. The Chinese version of QQ makes use of embedded advertisements. Older versions of the client have been branded as malicious adware by some antivirus and anti-spyware vendors. Both

476-473: The QQ protocol and accused QQ of automatically scanning users' computers and uploading their personal information to QQ's servers without the users' consent. In response, Tencent called 360 a malware and denied users of installing 360 access to some of the QQ's services. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information reprimanded both companies for "improper competition" and ordered them to come to an agreement. Some observers have criticized QQ's compliance in

510-546: The Windows version and it is not capable of voice chat . In response to competition with other instant messengers, such as Windows Live Messenger , Tencent released Tencent Messenger, which is aimed at businesses. In 2002, Tencent stopped its free membership registration, requiring all new members to pay a fee. In 2003, however, this decision was reversed due to pressure from other instant messaging services such as Windows Live Messenger and Sina UC . Tencent currently offers

544-426: The client's Qzone interface. The live translation feature is available for all incoming messages and supports up to 18 languages. QQ International for iPhone and iOS devices was released at the end of 2013, fully equivalent to its Android counterpart. In India, Tencent has partnered with ibibo to bring services such as chat, mail and game to the developing Indian internet sphere. In Vietnam, Tencent has struck

578-457: The developers of third-party clients have publicized any plans to restore QQ support. Tencent has taken advantage of the popularity of the QQ brand and has set up many Q-Gen stores selling QQ branded merchandise such as bags, watches, clothing as well as toy penguins. Coral QQ, a modification of Tencent QQ, is another add-on for the software, providing free access to some of the services and blocking Tencent's advertisements. In 2006, Tencent filed

612-456: The end of 2003. Under the leadership of the new CEO, Orey Gilliam, who also assumed the responsibility for all of AOL's messaging business in 2007, ICQ resumed its growth; it was not only a highly profitable company, but one of AOL's most successful businesses. Eliav Moshe replaced Gilliam in 2009 and became ICQ's managing director. In April 2010, AOL sold ICQ to Digital Sky Technologies, headed by Alisher Usmanov , for $ 187.5 million. While ICQ

646-527: The first widely adopted IM platform. At its peak around 2001, ICQ had more than 100 million accounts registered. At the time of the Mail.Ru acquisition in 2010, there were around 42 million daily users. In 2022, ICQ had about 11 million monthly users. The service was shut down on June 26, 2024, following an announcement on the website of ICQ in May 2024 that the service would be discontinued. The last version of

680-630: The investigation of which the evidence of the defendants' guilt was obtained by reading correspondence on a PC or mobile devices. In six of the fourteen cases in which ICQ was involved, the capturing of information occurred before the seizure of the device. Because the rival service Telegram blocks all access for the agencies, the Advisor of the Russian President, Herman Klimenko, recommended to use ICQ instead. In 2023, an investigation by Brazilian news outlet Núcleo Jornalismo found that ICQ

714-563: The main features of QQ International is the optional and automatic machine translation in all chats. An Android version of QQ International was released in September 2013. The client's interface is in English, French, Spanish, German, Korean, Japanese and Traditional Chinese. In addition to text messaging, users can send each other images, videos, and audio media messages. Moreover, users can share multimedia content with all contacts through

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748-451: The mobile phone service. Due to the popularity of QQ among young people in China, QQ Coins are accepted by online vendors in exchange for "real" merchandise such as small gifts. This has raised concerns of replacing (and thus "inflating") real currency in these transactions. The People's Bank of China , China's central bank, tried to crack down on QQ Coins due to people using QQ Coins in exchange for real world goods. However, this only caused

782-457: The official client does not support. However, these implementations had only a subset of functions of the official client and therefore were limited in features. Furthermore, QQ's parent company, Tencent, has over successive versions modified the QQ protocol to the extent that it can no longer be supported by most, and perhaps any, of the third-party implementations that were successful in the past (some of which are listed below). As of 2009, none of

816-477: The service, launched in 2020 as "ICQ New" featured a number of different messaging functions: ICQ users are identified and distinguished from one another by UIN, or User Identification Numbers, distributed in sequential order. The UIN was invented by Mirabilis , as the user name assigned to each user upon registration. Issued UINs started at '10,000' (5 digits) and every user receives a UIN when first registering with ICQ. As of ICQ6 users are also able to log in using

850-453: The specific e-mail address they associated with their UIN during the initial registration process. Unlike other instant messaging software or web applications , on ICQ the only permanent user info is the UIN, although it is possible to search for other users using their associated e-mail address or any other detail they have made public by updating it in their account's public profile. In addition

884-424: The user can change all of his or her personal information, including screen name and e-mail address, without having to re-register. Since 2000 ICQ and AIM users were able to add each other to their contact list without the need for any external clients. (The AIM service has since been discontinued.) As a response to UIN theft or sale of attractive UINs, ICQ started to store email addresses previously associated with

918-597: The value of QQ coins to rise as more and more third-party vendors started to accept them. Tencent claims the QQ Coin is a mere regular commodity, and is, therefore, not a currency. Qzone is a social networking website based in China which was created by Tencent in 2005. Q Zone is a personal blog for QQ users. It can be set as a public page or a private friend-only page. Users can upload diaries and share photos. In 2009, QQ began to expand its services internationally with its QQ International client for Windows distributed through

952-811: Was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) and VoIP client founded in June 1996 by Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser, Amnon Amir, Arik Vardi, and Arik's father, Yossi Vardi. The name ICQ derives from the English phrase "I Seek You". Originally developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis in 1996, the client was bought by AOL in 1998, and then by Mail.Ru Group (now VK) in 2010. The ICQ client application and service were initially released in November 1996, freely available to download. The business did not have traditional marketing and relied mostly on word-of-mouth advertising instead, with customers telling their friends about it, who then informed their friends, and so on. ICQ

986-437: Was among the first stand-alone instant messenger (IM) applications—while real-time chat was not in itself new ( Internet Relay Chat [IRC] being the most common platform at the time), the concept of a fully centralized service with individual user accounts focused on one-on-one conversations set the blueprint for later instant messaging services like AIM , and its influence is seen in modern social media applications. ICQ became

1020-468: Was an "important message" for Russian-speaking ICQ users: "ICQ осуществляет поддержку только авторизированных версий программ: ICQ Lite и ICQ 6.5." ("ICQ supports only authorized versions of programs: ICQ Lite and ICQ 6.5.") According to a Novaya Gazeta article published in May 2018, Russian intelligence agencies had access to online reading of ICQ users' correspondence during crime investigations. The article examined 34 sentences of Russian courts, during

1054-522: Was displaced by AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, and other competitors in the US and many other countries over the 2000s, it remained the most popular instant messaging network in Russian-speaking countries, and an important part of online culture. Popular UINs demanded over 11,000₽ in 2010. In September of that year, Digital Sky Technologies changed its name to Mail.Ru Group. Since the acquisition, Mail.ru has invested in turning ICQ from

Tencent QQ - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-734: Was first released as a " network paging " real-time communications service. Other features were later added, such as chatrooms , games, personal avatars (similar to "Meego" in MSN), online storage , and Internet dating services. The official client runs on Microsoft Windows and a beta public version was launched for Mac OS X version 10.4.9 or newer. Formerly, two web versions, WebQQ (full version) and WebQQ Mini (Lite version), which made use of Ajax , were available. Development, support, and availability of WebQQ Mini, however, has since been discontinued. On 31 July 2008, Tencent released an official client for Linux, but this has not been made compatible with

1122-720: Was presented to the general public on April 6, 2020. During the second week of January 2021, ICQ saw a renewed increase in popularity in Hong Kong , spurred on by the controversy over WhatsApp's privacy policy update. The number of downloads for the application increased 35-fold in the region. On May 24, 2024, the main page of ICQ's website announced that the service would be shutting down on June 26, 2024. ICQ recommended that users migrate to VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace . AOL (and later Mail.ru) pursued an aggressive policy regarding alternative ("unauthorized") ICQ clients. "Системное сообщение System Message On icq.com there

1156-454: Was used to freely share child pornography due to lax moderation policies. AOL 's OSCAR network protocol used by ICQ is proprietary and using a third party client is a violation of ICQ Terms of Service. Nevertheless, a number of third-party clients have been created by using reverse-engineering and protocol descriptions. These clients include: AOL supported clients include: Ibibo Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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