EzMess

During 1999 an argentine team lead by Nicolás Echániz based in Buenos Aires developed EcMess (later renamed to EzMess) which was one of the first cross-browser web based instant messengers developed. The server side of the application was written in Python, based on Sam Rushing's Medusa -an extensible Internet server framework which was also the codebase for the Zope server.

Events were pushed to the clients as small scripts through a hidden "forever frame", presenting to the end user a true real-time messaging experience. EcMess not only had messaging and chat capabilities but also included public chat channels or groups and the ability to run in embedded or stand-alone modes.
The main advantage EzMess presented to the end user was the ability to log in from any internet enabled computer and have the contacts list and messaging history ready available, a feature popular messengers were lacking at that time.
The inability of the system to interconnect with other messaging networks was seen by it's developers as it's main obstacle towards broader adoption.
Active development ceased in late 2001 but the service is still online and to some extent usable.

At the time EzMess was developed, event-driven asynchronous web applications were unusual. Later on in 2006 the techniques that empowered this sort of application came to be known as Comet.

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