Ending a restriction imposed when America Online's merger with Time Warner was approved in 2001, the Federal Communications Commission has now agreed to let AOL send video over its Instant Messenger program, the Washington Post reported August 19.
Federal regulators had been concerned a combined company including a large cable television operation and the nation's most familiar Internet service provider could dominate news and entertainment in cyberspace and keep out competitors, the Post said, but AOL's falling percentage of instant messaging's market may have eased FCC discomfort with them sending video on the medium.
"We think that we made a compelling case" to the FCC, AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose told the Post, without offering further comment pending an official FCC announcement. The FCC voted 3-2 to lift the restriction on video over IM, with the panel's three Republicans approving it and two Democrats rejecting it, the newspaper said.
AOL and Microsoft have been negotiating since May to make their messaging systems more compatible, but the Post said no deal has yet been reached. AOL doesn't require its members to use Instant Messenger, but they don't let the system work with MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or other instant messaging programs, the paper added.
