MXit
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (August 2007) |
| MXit | |
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| Developed by |  MXit Lifestyle |
| Latest release | 5.6.2 / 28 May 2008 |
| Genre | Instant Messenger |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | MXit.com |
MXit (pronounced "mix it") is a free instant messaging software application developed in South Africa that runs on GPRS/3G mobile phones with java support and on PCs, using Adobe Flash Player. It allows the user to send and receive text messages to and from PCs that are connected to the Internet and other phones running MXit. These messages are sent and received via the Internet, rather than with standard SMS technology. The user can also exchange messages with online chat communities like MSN Messenger, ICQ and Google Talk. Messages were limited to 2 000 characters, but this has been reduced to 1000 to alleviate RAM issues. MXit does not charge for sending and receiving person to person messages but some mobile operators do charge for GPRS/3G data cost although these costs are much cheaper than traditional SMS messages, as little as 1 cent (ZAR) per message compared to the normal SMS rates of approximately 75 cents (ZAR). Due to this fact it has become a very popular IM service, especially amongst younger generations.
MXit has a registered userbase of over seven million, about eleven million log-ons per day and over 210 million messages sent/receive per day. The application is distributed internationally and used by users in 120+ countries daily, but the bulk of its userbase is in South Africa and Indonesia. In January 2007, media giant Naspers acquired a 30% stake in the company for an undisclosed amount.[1]
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[edit] History
In 2000 Clockspeed Mobile, a research and development division of Swist Group Technologies, developed a Massive Multiplayer Mobile game. The game was SMS based and was not successful due to the high cost of SMS since GPRS was still not widely implemented. In the 2003 the game was reassessed and in the latter half of 2003 the first version of MXit was released. In April 2004 Clockspeed Mobile became independent and on the 1st of July 2006 became MXit Lifestyle (Pty) Ltd.
[edit] MXit International
[edit] European Data Centre
In August 2007 MXit commissioned their European Data Centre located in Frankfurt, Germany. The purpose of this server farm is to take over most of the international traffic from the South African servers.
[edit] Indonesia
MXit Indonesia was launched in early 2008. A dedicated Indonesian forum has been set up and Indonesian users can now also buy Moola.
[edit] India
MXit India is set to launch in mid 2008.
[edit] Versions
- Phone specific versions for most mobile phones
- Generic MIDP 2.0 version
- MXit PC v1.2 Beta
[edit] Hardware Requirements
A Java enabled mobile phone with mobile internet capabilities (CSD/GPRS/3G) or a PC with internet connectivity and Adobe Flash Player. Users of Google Talk can also invite MXit users using an email address-like Jabber ID formed from their cellphone number, i.e. number@mxit.co.za.
[edit] Tradepost
Tradepost is the MXit e-commerce store where users may purchase access to certain services and update Moola (the MXit currency).
[edit] Moola
Moola is the currency used by MXit and its users. One Moola is the equivalent of one South African cent. With 200 Moola, 100 messages can be sent in the chat rooms. The user does not pay Moola for normal Instant Messaging. Above paying Moola, the user is charged internet costs, according to his or her service provider.
Moola can only be obtained by sending a premium rate SMS to a South African shortcode (source [1]), because of this, only South Africans can purchase Moola and therefore only South Africans can talk in the chatrooms, this explains why the bulk of the users on MXit are South African.
[edit] Criticism
Like any tool, such as the telephone or automobile, MXit can be used in criminal activity. Articles in the 27 July 2006 editions of YOU and Huisgenoot magazines indirectly implied that MXit enables access to pornography and allows paedophiles to contact minor users, often by pretending to be minors themselves. On 30 July 2006, the M-Net actuality program Carte Blanche broadcasted an insert in which a young girl explained how an alleged paedophile contacted her via MXit. The girl, however, admitted that she violated the MXit rule not to share personal contact details with other users.[2]
Until Feb 2008, the MXit service was backed by ejabberd, an open source instant messaging server that is based on the open standard Jabber. MXit replaced ejabberd with a new self-developed, high scalability software core to assure continual growth and innovation requirements can be met. Although external Jabber clients were originally allowed to connect to the MXit backed servers, this had to be discontinued due to instability induced by unreliable and untrustworthy sites.
MXit replaced the client-2-server code of ejabberd with an implementation of an invented protocol that requires less bandwidth. The reason for doing this is claimed to be "because it would get too expensive if the standard Jabber protocol in XML was used".[3] However, bandwidth savings would be also possible by using Stream Compression, which would not break compatibility with Jabber clients, and thus would allow more competing clients connect to MXit. Stream Compression would however require significantly more processing power on the mobile devices.
MXit also has a "piracy protection" feature that should exclude usage of custom modified versions, probably containing a malicious code. However, this feature does not always work as it should, it often does not allow fully original, unmodified and properly downloaded and installed editions to work, thus preventing user to use the program without any reason to do so.
[edit] Protection of minors
MXit Lifestyle has taken certain steps to protect minors and other MXit users. These include:
- Online safety tips available on the official MXit website.
- Rules which prohibit pornography, stalking, harassment or other forms of abuse.
- Users agree to rules which are aimed at protecting their private information
- Users can ban other users from contacting them through MXit
- A peer rating system for exclusion of repeat offenders from chat rooms
- Secure login
- Users have full control over profiles and public information
- MXit users are required to be older than thirteen
[edit] MXit in the news
[edit] October Abduction
In October 2006, an alleged paedophile made use of the MXit service to gain the trust of a sixteen year-old girl living in Ekurhuleni, South Africa, and then was able to get her home address. The 33 year-old man then abducted the girl outside her Springs home on the 10th of October 2006, in full view of her sister with whom she was walking. The man took the teenager to a house near Randfontein, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and kept her captive for five days. The girl was able to escape, and notified the authorities. In a planned sting operation, the South African police snared the man by pretending to be another, different, teenage girl on MXit, and were successfully able to trap him when he arrived at a predetermined meeting point. This incident, like most other abuses of MXit, result from users giving away personal information themselves.
The man has appeared in the Springs Magistrate's Court on charges of abduction and rape. The creators of MXit have since aligned themselves with South African law enforcement to further secure minors' safety when using MXit.[4]
[edit] MXit blamed for exam results
Numerous news agencies and papers have placed articles in which they quote parents from all over South Africa who claim that MXit is having an effect on their children's school work. Some argue that their children fail to communicate properly and find themselves in their own world of mobile chatrooms. This has led to parents starting to confiscate their children's phones. There is, however, no sufficient evidence to support these claims. [2]
[edit] Legal Duties
MXit use and users are governed by South African law. In terms of the provisions of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 38 of 2002, service providers such as MXit cannot be held liable for the content of user messages or the abuse of the technology by users and others. In terms of the provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act 91 of 2002, MXit may not monitor or intercept user communications unless authorised thereto by a court order. In the recent chat room case of Tsichlas versus Touchline Media, the judge said the following: "If discussion forum operators were required to monitor all postings for defamatory content, it would severely restrict the operation of the forum and would furthermore grossly curtail free speech". Further duties and rights of MXit and its users are detailed in the MXit terms and conditions available on the MXit website.
[edit] References
- ^ "Naspers acquires a 30% share in MXit", Naspers.co.za, 2007-01-26. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
- ^ "MXit Safety Guidelines", MXit.co.za, 2006-10-19. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.
- ^ "How MXit works", defza.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
- ^ Rondganger, Lee. "MXit teams up with police to improve security", IOL.co.za, 2006-10-19. Retrieved on 2006-10-19.
