AOL/Time Warner Say I Do...to Open Access?

AOL and Time Warner Communications' new "memorandum of understanding" pledging commitment to open access--released just prior to a February 29 Senate panel on their proposed merger--is doing little to ease the fears of consumer advocacy groups and others monitoring the high speed Internet access battle. The

Memorandum states that Time Warner will "offer consumers a choice of multiple ISPs, including AOL," but makes clear that the deal isn't yet binding. AT&T issued a similar statement back in December, making public a deal to share its high speed network in the midst of negotiations with the FCC over a proposed merger with MediaOne. Both companies dropped lobbying efforts for government-backed regulations to ensure open ISP access to high speed networks once they announced plans to merge with the cable companies that own them.

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34640,00.html http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/03/biztech/articles/01online.html http://judiciary.senate.gov/wl229200.htm

The Berkman Center is closely involved in the debate over open access. Follow the links below for an article on Berkman Professor Lawrence Lessig's efforts to raise public awareness about what's at stake, and for details on our Open Access project:

http://www.redherring.com/insider/2000/0229/tech-lessig022900.html http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/openaccess/