London, Oct 15: Microsoft Corp. began the systematic shutdown of its online chat rooms on Tuesday, silencing a once boisterous forum for oddball rants and political observations darkened by spammers and sex predators. Last month, the world's largest software company stunned the industry and the millions who use its chat rooms by announcing its was closing MSN chat in 28 countries, saying it had become a haven for peddlers of junk "spam" e-mail and paedophiles.

In place of chat, Microsoft has begun promoting the Instant Messenger service in which it competes with AOL Time Warner, and Yahoo.
It plans to license IM, which allows for more confined online conversations, to business customers and integrate it more closely with its money-losing MSN Web service.
On Tuesday, a Microsoft spokesman said two more countries had been added to the list of 28: Australia and New Zealand. The company declined to comment on the shutdown process, saying each of the 30 affected nations would be switched off one by one. Bureau Report