|
|
|
|
|
|
Competitors Say AOL Time Warner Can't be Trusted October 6, 2000 Representatives of several corporations that would be affected by the proposed America Online/Time Warner merger testified in opposition to the merger at a hearing conducted today by the House Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee. According to the company representatives, a merged AOL/Time Warner could not be trusted to provide access to its cable systems. Last week, the subcommittee held a hearing on the merger in which the only witnesses were AOL CEO Steve Case and Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin. The hearing today was for the purpose of hearing from the competitors of AOL/Time Warner. Lowell Gray, head of the internet service provider Shore.net, testified "I believe that vertical integration of content and communications, combined with the lack of data privacy protections, is a grave threat to our nation.... It's not the government as Big Brother that I worry about. It's the giant, all-seeing corporation...." He said that Time Warner and other cable companies should be held to be held to the same open-access requirements as phone companies. Louis Meisinger, a lawyer for Disney (a.k.a., "The Mouse that Roared") testified that AOL Time Warner's "stated strategy is to monopolize the field for itself." Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass) remarked that it was odd to see Disney, which acquired the ABC network several years ago, concerned when "you're huge." Meisinger responded, "Our concern, frankly, as a large company, is that even our content can be foreclosed from the market" by a combination as large as AOL Time Warner. America Online and Time Warner announced the proposed merger on January 10, 2000. The merger is valued at $350 billion, and the new company will have combined revenues of over $30 billion. The merger will combine Time Warner's array of media, entertainment, and news holdings and its broadband delivery systems with America Online's extensive Internet franchises, technology, and infrastructure. By merging the world's leading Internet and media companies, AOL Time Warner will be uniquely positioned to sieze market share and dictate media content. AOL Time Warner’s brands include AOL, Time, CNN, CompuServe, Warner Bros., Netscape, Sports Illustrated, People, HBO, ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, AOL MovieFone, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Digital City, Warner Music Group, Spinner, Winamp, Fortune, AOL.COM, Entertainment Weekly, and Looney Tunes. Under the terms the merger agreement, Time Warner and America Online stock will be converted to AOL Time Warner stock at fixed exchange ratios. The Time Warner shareholders will receive 1.5 shares of AOL Time Warner for each share of Time Warner stock they own. America Online shareholders will receive one share of AOL Time Warner stock for each share of America Online stock they own. When complete, America Online’s shareholders will own approximately 55% and Time Warner’s shareholders will own approximately 45% of the new company. Case, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of America Online, will become Chairman of the Board of the new company. Gerald M. Levin, Time Warner's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will become AOL Time Warner’s Chief Executive Officer. Ted Turner, who owns 9% of Time Warner's stock from an earlier merger between Time Warner and Turner Communications, will become Vice Chairman of AOL Time Warner. The Federal Communications Commission's recommendation on the proposed AOL/Time Warner merger is due by the end of the month. The merger will also need to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission, which is scrutinizing how the combined company will permit competitors to access its cable lines. The European Union is also evaluating the merger. The merger is expected to be approved, but some restrictions or devestment may be imposed by the regulators. Next month: Taco Bell's proposed acquisition of AOL Time Warner promises an explosion in the internet food delivery business. The new company, to be called Taco On Line (TOL)... |
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Hollywood vs. America
Popular Culture & the War Against Traditional Values
Michael Medved
Medved powerfully argues that Hollywood ignores--and assaults--the values of ordinary American families, pursuing a self-destructive and alienated ideological agenda that is harmful to the nation at large and to the industry's own interests.
