The Digital Beat Extra is a free online news service provided by the Benton Foundation. Much like our Digital Beat Daily , Digital Beat Extras are intended to keep you up to date on important industry developments, policy issues, and other pertinent communications-related news events.
Extras go beyond the headlines to get a deeper perspective of selected topics.
We welcome your suggestions to cover issues related to the following topics. Appearing before Congress soon after, Steve Case, CEO of America Online, and Gerald Levin, head of Time Warner, assured lawmakers that their pending merger would not stifle competition in the market for broadband services. AOL officials say that the company sill backs the principle of open access, but no longer believes that it should be mandated by the government. Consumers will not be required to purchase service from an ISP that is affiliated with AOL Time Warner in order to enjoy broadband Internet service over AOL Time Warner cable systems. Accordingly, both the cable operator and the ISP will be allowed to market and sell broadband service directly to customers.