Slashdot Mirror
AOL Seeks Cable Pact With MSN
Daemosthenes points to this Washington Post article, which reads in part: "America Online Inc. is negotiating a deal to give its long-standing nemesis Microsoft Corp. access to Time Warner Inc.'s cable-television lines in a push to meet government demands over AOL's pending takeover of the media company, according to sources familiar with the matter. The rapprochement between AOL and MSN, Microsoft's online service, is a startling reversal of form for two fierce competitors offering rival online services and instant-messaging systems." The entangling alliances here are thicker than your average EULA, too -- the story points out some of the other tendrils which tie together several of the big ISPs, including one of mine (Earthlink).
Monopoly anyone? Unfair trade practices?
You do realize that a lot of companies know that competition hurts them both, so that's why so many of them create organizations and associations to help prevent 'destructive' competition - or at the very least exclude others. Look at the Big 3 auto makers and the Auto Pact. Look how happy utilities companies were when utility price standardization came in. Sure it didn't mean huge profits, but it meant consistent ones. RIAA? MPAA?
What MS and AOL are doing is starting the beginnings of another such association - they'll probably try and squeeze out smaller ISPs, likely with government help. When governments start demanding content control on the internet such as keeping porn away from kids, these guys will step up and use that as an excuse to squeeze out small companies. They'll use anything as an excuse. Look at the MPAA - if you're an independent film maker, just TRY and get a real rating on your film. Playboy had an interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone and they discussed how one of their films kept getting an NC-17 rating and they couldn't get it through... they got no help and no one would tell them which parts were offensive. But when they were making the South Park movie, the rules were bent for some parts of it, and they ALWAYS knew what to remove/edit.
I'm a little segfault, short and stout.
Nemesis? Netscape owner AOL has been using a special version of Internet Explorer software since day one, and still continue to do so. The full Internet Explorer 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5 browser is also bundled onto many of the AOL CD's distributed in the last few years. So what is this "nemesis"? AOL and MS have been allies from day one.
--I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.