The outlook is frosty between Microsoft and AOL

 

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Posted on 19 Dec 2000 at 16:02

The forecast is for further frost in the relations between Microsoft and AOL, with news emerging of attempts by Bill Gates to throw a late spanner in the works of AOL's proposed merger with Time Warner.

The New York Times is reporting that Bill Gates has telephoned the chairman, and other members, of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging them to investigate AOL's dominance with its Instant Messaging service. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already given its approval to the merger, so the FCC remains the next best chance of influencing the conditions imposed.

Microsoft is at the vanguard of a group of companies, which includes Yahoo and AT&T, demanding that AOL opens up its IM service to be interoperable with other messaging systems.

The two have clashed swords before. Back in November, AOL attempted to file a "friend of court" brief in the Microsoft anti-trust case, expressing concern over Microsoft's dominance. Then, back in early December, Microsoft asked the FTC for stricter restrictions on the AOL Time Warner merger. And further back, in the summer of 1999, the two clashed over the compatibility of MSN's Messenger Service with AOL's messaging system.

Expect the relations to grow even colder over the Winter...

Author: Alun Williams