Among the most frequent requests after ICANN's Public Meetings in Berlin in
May was a centralized ("official") real-time chat site for online
participants to use to communicate with each other.
I'm prepared to make such an area available, but as yet no online chat
software has met my the requirements I believe are appropriate:
* Free, donated, or already owned by the Berkman Center. (IChat and Oreilly
Webboard fall into the last category.)
* Has a web interface to eliminate the nee for installation of an IRC or
other special-purpose client. (I worry that installation of such a program
would be too burdensome for non-technical users, and it'd likely be
impossible on shared computers.) JavaScript is OK, as far as I'm concerned,
being realistic about what client-side tech really is necessary for chat to
work.
* Is stable and reliable. (IChat might do the job except that it fails this
test, according to past Berkman experience with the product.)
* Allows direct access to the chat without a lengthy or unduly burdensome
registration routine. (Yahoo Chat is marginal in this respect, certainly
not as good as I'd like. Webboard is customizable, but I haven't yet made
as much progress as I'd like in reducing the number of clicks to get to the
actual chat room.)
* Multitasks readily, allowing the RealPlayer and (another session of the)
web browser to run at the same time.
* Provides a complete, easily-readable log of the chat session.
Do people agree that these are appropriate criteria? Are they too
restrictive, or too broad?
Any suggestions on software that meets this criteria? I'd be happy to use a
free web-based service like Yahoo Chat; to link to a Chat server hosted by
any entity that makes reasonable assurances of equal access, service
availability, etc.; or even to install additional software on our NT server
if necessary. But at the moment I'm not thrilled with any of the options
I've found so far, and while Yahoo Chat or Webboard (among many others!)
might certainly do the job, I'd like to think there's something better out
there.
Comments and suggestions on or off-list, as appropriate.
Ben Edelman
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Harvard Law School
