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AOL Ends Open Access Push

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the getting-down-to-the-bottom-line dept.

Elwood Blues writes "The Washington Post is reporting here that AOL has ended its push for access to cable systems, pulling out lobbyists across the country. Kind of sad. Instead of fighting the companies, they just bought one. " Just as pundits predicted. Steve Case, Jan. 11, 2000: "AOL Time Warner will remain committed to open access." Steve Case, today: "Suckers! I can't believe they actually bought it!"

1 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why does this equal antitrust by Shoeboy · · Score: 5

    Since when does a company advocating openness only when they stand to gain == antitrust violations. Everyone has been hypocritical on the open standards issue for years now and nobody can seriously claim that Sun or HP has a monopoly of anything. Name me one major player in the computer industry (other than the FSF) that hasn't constantly shifted its position on open standards and free competition. Let me provide a translator for you:

    Scott McNeally: We need an open and competitive marketplace.
    Translation: I want to be Bill Gates.

    Larry Ellison: It's wrong for a company to monopolze standards and leverage its marketshare.
    Translation: It's wrong for Microsoft to leverage its market share, but when we do it, it's OK.

    Steve Case: What we need is an environment where no company has an unfair advantage.
    Translation: What we need is an environment where only AOL has an unfair advantage.

    RMS: Source code should be available to everyone.
    Translation: Source code should be available to everyone.

    I hope that clears things up for you.

    --Shoeboy