In 2008, the company launched YY, a voice-based gaming communications service, which enabled gamers to voice chat over the Internet and text chat in real-time while slaying monsters or coordinating gaming missions.

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The court ruled that that Internet Service Providers were protected by US Federal law that said providers of chat rooms or news groups are not considered the publishers of information furnished by others.

BBC: Google was one of the firms backing the appeal

Indeed, within days of the recent denial-of-service hacks, authorities quickly focused their search on an Internet Relay Chat braggart with the moniker "mafia-boy" and on "Coolio, " the alias of the person who allegedly hijacked the domain of RSA Security and redirected it to a defaced site.

CNN: Net crime does pay for cops