I gave a shout out to Google when they shipped, so it is only fair to call out the Yahoo! Address Book API which was announced today by Charles Wu.

This is another step forward in allowing people to safely access their contacts on many different web sites. Similar to the Windows Live Contacts API, it uses a delegated authentication system – (BBAuth not OAuth “yet”) and seems to be a read only API (without written consent).

To really understand a service I usually read the terms of service. Found interesting tidbit :)

  • You shall not : use the Yahoo! Address Book APIs to operate nuclear facilities, life support, or other mission critical application where human life or property may be at stake. You understand that the Yahoo! Address Book APIs are not designed for such purposes and that their failure in such cases could lead to death, personal injury, or severe property or environmental damage for which Yahoo! is not responsible;