The stockpiles that are costing companies money today were assembled after demand far outpaced supply for many goods this time last year. In New York, I'm Michelle Brier for Marketplace. The Federal Trade Commission today unanimously approved the 111-billion dollar merger of America Online and Time Warner, after extracting promises that the merged company will keep its cable lines open to other Internet service providers. Even before the proposed merger, which is now all but assured, the two separate companies had plenty of commercial clout. John Dimsdale reports that the FTC is hoping today's decision will establish the blueprints for future development of high-speed access to the web.
Cable is so far the best way for fast computer access to the Internet from home.
Federal regulators negotiated the concessions in an effort to keep the new technology open and competitive. The huge company's sacrifices have taken some of the luster from AOL's potential profits, at least according to some analysts. AOL's stock price has dropped nearly a third since the proposed merger was announced back in January. They could throw in magazine subscriptions by the time we're done with this. The FCC is likely to require AOL to open up its Instant Messaging service to competitors.