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Article: Merger may lead to new Internet rules: ; Cable companies may be required to offer a choice
- Article from:
- Charleston Daily Mail
- Article date:
- December 15, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2000 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WASHINGTON - For years, the government has taken a hands-off
approach to emerging technologies that promise a new world of
Internet services for consumers. But the approval of the America
Online-Time Warner merger could lay the groundwork for new rules
preventing cable companies from shutting out competitors as they
increasingly deliver the Internet to Americans' homes.
The Federal Trade Commission, in blessing the $111 billion deal,
required the companies to offer their high-speed Internet
subscribers a choice of online providers, besides AOL.
The fear was that the new corporate giant would provide high-
speed Internet access to its millions of Time Warner cable customers
- and allow them ...