Yahoo! Messenger Protocol Tutorial - Part 5

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Yahoo! Protocol: Part 5 - Disclaimer and Legal

Upon becoming a member of the Yahoo! community, a user agrees to follow the Yahoo! Terms of Service (TOS) [https://www.yahoo.com/]. According to the TOS, when a user registers, he is obligated to provide completely trueful answers to any questions posed by Yahoo! and update any information if it changes. Section 3a, b states the following:

You also agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service's registration form (the "Registration Data") and ( maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or Yahoo! has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, Yahoo! has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).

From a strictly legal point of view, discovering the underlying Yahoo! Messenger protocol, using a third party application to connect to any Yahoo! service or use of any booter program is strictly prohibited and is in violation of the Terms of Service agreement. In regards to discovering the Yahoo! protocol, section 16 of the TOS states:

You acknowledge and agree that the Service and any necessary software used in connection with the Service ("Software") contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other lawsâŚÂ  Yahoo! grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the object code of its Software on a single computer; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, create a derivative work from, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, nor to use modified versions of the Software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to the Service. You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through the interface that is provided by Yahoo! for use in accessing the Service.

Yahoo! makes it very clear that a user of its service shall not âreverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code.â By even knowing the underlying protocol to Yahoo! Messenger you are in violation of the TOS.
In regards to using programs that will disrupt the normal experience of a user, commonly known as booters, section 6d,h-j of the TOS states:

d.  forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Service;h.  upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
i.  disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to "scroll" faster than other users of the Service are able to type, or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users' ability to engage in real time exchanges;
j.  interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service;

Any breaches to the TOS may lead to the termination of the violatorâs Yahoo! account, any associated email address, and access to the Yahoo! servers. Section 13 states:

You agree that Yahoo! may, under certain circumstances and without prior notice, immediately terminate your Yahoo! account, any associated email address, and access to the Service. Cause for such termination shall include, but not be limited to, (a) breaches or violations of the TOS or other incorporated agreements or guidelines, ( requests by law enforcement or other government agencies, Š a request by you (self-initiated account deletions), (d) discontinuance or material modification to the Service (or any part thereof), (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, (f) extended periods of inactivity, (g) engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities, and/or (h) nonpayment of any fees owed by you in connection with the Services. Termination of your Yahoo! account includes (a) removal of access to all offerings within the Service, including but not limited to Yahoo! Mail, Groups, Messenger, Chat, Domains, Personals, Auctions, Message Boards, Greetings, Alerts and Games, ( deletion of your password and all related information, files and content associated with or inside your account (or any part thereof), and Š barring of further use of the Service. Further, you agree that all terminations for cause shall be made in Yahoo!'s sole discretion and that Yahoo! shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account, any associated email address, or access to the Service.

Perhaps more disturbing to some is the fact that Yahoo! has no reservations in cooperating with law enforcement or other third parties that may wish to pursue investigations into users who breach the TOS. Although minor violations will undoubtedly be over looked, it is still the policy of Yahoo! to assist any legal agent who feels that the TOS or any other laws have been violated. Section 6 states:

You acknowledge, consent and agree that Yahoo! may access, preserve and disclose your account information and Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; ( enforce the TOS; Š respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties; (d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e) protect the rights, property or personal safety of Yahoo!, its users and the public.

Considering that there are over thirty common third party Yahoo! clients [http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/], some of which may profit from Yahoo! services, Yahoo! is apparently not strictly enforcing the terms of their TOS with regard to section 16.

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Edited May 11, 2006 by tansqrx (see edit history)