Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Greg Cox <glcox AT pobox.com>]

> Nope.  Prior art disqualifies a patent.  If you file for a patent and
> someone else can demonstrate that your idea was implemented by someone
> else before you applied for the patent, the patent is void.

Guess it comes down to WHAT they patented.  Looks like patent 6,449,344,
which is the only one I saw that had AOL as the assignee and filed in 9/2002.

The abstract (since I'm not going to read the whole thing) reads to me
like Zephyrs would fit the bill completely except for "the user not
necessarily being identified with a given communications terminal."
ISTR that Zephyrs linked you back to your workstation.  Maybe someone
with more AFS experience could chime in here.

It would amuse me to no end if a 1991-born MOO, with a login watcher
configurable for a set of 'interesting' players, could come along and
bust this up, though.