The message 'Data Service Communication error' can be caused by several issues.
The two most common issue is either caused by using an older version of the GatherPlace software (GP4) or by a communication blockage between your computer and the GatherPlace servers.

To make sure you have the latest version of the GP4 software, select Check for New Version in the Help menu of GP4. If your version is outdated, you will be prompted to download a new one.

If you do have the latest version of GP4 installed and still get the error message, there is something blocking the communication between GP4 on your computer and the GatherPlace servers.
This is typically caused by parental controls, content filters, or security software installed or enabled on the computer. Depending on the settings, we have seen the parental controls on both Macintosh computers and Windows Vista computers block the GP4 communication without any prompts or warnings so there is no opportunity to 'Allow' the connection.

If you do have parental controls running on your computer or have other security software installed, this article lists the IP addresses, port numbers, types of Internet traffic and DNS names GatherPlace uses for the meetings: KB 147 . You, or the tech support staff of the security software you have installed, will need this information in order to adjust the settings in your parental controls or security software.

If you are unsure which software may be blocking the communication, try running GP4 from the Administrator account to see if there are no issues. If that works and running GP4 on a limited account gives you the error, try temporarily disabling the parental controls on that user account and run GP4 again. If that solves the problem, you know it was parental controls that was causing the issue so you can adjust the settings to allow the GatherPlace servers for that user account. If you don't have parental controls on the computer, try the same method with each of the security software programs installed until you find the one causing the blockage.

Please note that you will need to refer to the documentation, or contact the technical support staff, for your particular security software you have installed to find out how to configure it to allow the GatherPlace servers to communicate to the GP4 program. While many of these types of software have similar interfaces that allow you to add servers, sites or IP addresses to an 'Allow' list, or have a list of sites/servers that were blocked, GatherPlace support cannot help configure third party software so the best place to get help is directly from the manufacturer of the software.

For Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, type the words 'Parental Controls' (no quotes) in the search field that appears after clicking the Windows Start menu/button on the lower left corner on the screen for additional information on the parental controls.