If this happens, Apple and Sony, with their more proprietary services, may fall victim to the music software program that is most widely used.

Launchpad itself, however, was a proprietary service and the source code was not available.

Being a resource on which members can depend for proprietary services adding personal, professional and corporate value.

But even three years ago, America Online acknowledged that it could not keep instant messages limited to its proprietary on-line service.

The company's proprietary service alone has 16 million members.

The Web is also appealing to subscribers because it offers more advanced features than any proprietary on-line service can provide.

All the on-line companies are moving to shift their proprietary services onto the Web.

"This closes the final chapter on the proprietary services as a category."

We want a solution which is not a proprietary service of one company.

Yet perhaps the bigger challenge will be the business issues raised by shifting a proprietary service toward the open-standards environment of the Internet.