Paltalk is a
proprietary video group chat service that enables users to communicate by video, Internet chat, or voice.
History
In 2007, the
filmed suicide of one of the service's users was widely reported in the media. Concerns were raised over the possibility that it could
inspire further suicides.
Paltalk filed a series of patent lawsuits against
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developers claiming they were infringing U.S. patents 5,822,523 and 6,226,686 "Server-group messaging system for interactive applications", patents they purchased from the now-defunct company HearMe in 2002. Paltalk first brought a case against
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
in 2006, claiming
Halo
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to:
Most common meanings
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
* ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021)
Arts and en ...
and
Xbox Live
The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
violated its patent rights, and later settled out of court.
In 2009, Paltalk then moved on to
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
,
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. Activision Blizzard currently includes three operating units: Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King (company), King.
Founded in July 2 ...
,
NCsoft
NCSoft Corporation (stylized as NC, formerly stylized as NCSOFT; ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, primarily known for the distribution of massively multiplayer online role-pl ...
,
Jagex and
Turbine, Inc., claiming that these companies are also violating Paltalk's patents whose damages range in the "tens of millions of dollars". In 2010, a US judge dismissed the lawsuit against Jagex and stated "After reviewing source code for the
RuneScape
''RuneScape'' is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. ''RuneScape'' was originally a browser game built with the Java (programming language), Java progr ...
video game made available by Jagex, Paltalk and Jagex agree that the RuneScape video game does not infringe the patents-in-suit."
In June 2013, it was revealed that Paltalk was targeted by the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
's
PRISM surveillance program.
Tinychat
In December 2014,
online chat
Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based (webcams), one-on-one or one-to-many ( group) chat (formally also known as synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and possi ...
website Tinychat was acquired by Paltalk. Paltalk stated that Tinychat would remain a standalone application. Tinychat allowed users to communicate via
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...
,
voice chat, and
video chat, and to create their own virtual chat room on any topic. Tinychat ran on HTML5 compatible browsers and standalone apps for Android or iOS. The chat rooms could contain a rolling maximum of 12 video and audio feeds. Tinychat, including all of its services, was owned by PeerStream.
On November 16, 2009, Tinychat launched Tinychat.tv, which offers users the ability to live stream any video or show hosted on Tinychat. The service used Tinychat's API and provides the ability to launch a personalized page and channel for initiating multi-user shows. Tinychat announced that it would not charge for the cost of bandwidth. Based upon restrictions, Tinychat.tv has been closed.
In February 2010, Tinychat launched Tinychat Next, a service similar to
Chatroulette. Tinychat Next differed from Chatroulette with the addition of topic-based rooms. In January 2011, Tinychat raised $1.5 million in funding.
On December 16th 2024, an announcement that Tinychat had ended services and closed down appeared on the Tinychat website. The shutdown announcement page featured an advertisement for Paltalk.
See also
*
Comparison of instant messaging clients
*
Patent troll
In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or ...
References
External links
*{{official site, Paltalk.com
Online chat
Android (operating system) software
BlackBerry software
Videotelephony
1998 software
Companies in the PRISM network