toggle

AAPL Stock: 497.67 ( -11.79 )

MacNN News

Microsoft to buy America Online?

updated 03:10 pm EST, Fri March 19, 2004

MS to buy AOL?

Microsoft is among the division: "Time Warner executives have held discussions in recent months with Microsoft about a potential sale of AOL, The New York Post has learned. In addition, Time Warner lawyers have begun analyzing any potential antitrust issues from such a deal, and to date their conclusion is that there would be few roadblocks to a Microsoft acquisition of AOL, according to sources familiar with the matter."

by MacNN Staff

(15)

TAGS :

industry

Share the Article

Facebook Twitter Delious Slash Dot Digg

toggle

Comments

iamnoone
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2003

0

03/19, 03:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Sweet

One lame POS company wants to buy another equally lame POS company. Great, then it just be one Big POS all around for everyone. God help us all if this is true!!!

stryfe
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2003

0

03/19, 03:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let's see...

an overvalued software provider with a substandard yet prevolent product attempting to purchase a declining ISP...

Not good, but not death to Apple.

pastusza
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Nov 1999

0

03/19, 03:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
No antitrust issues?

Lemme get this straight, there was this big lawsuit by the government claiming that bundling of IE caused anti-trust violations and now Microsoft wants to buy the company that makes the #2 browser?

Not to mention the fact AIM competes with MSN Messenger, as well as many other software business lines. This would SERIOUSLY s**** iChat.

Everyone pray this doesn't happen.

dav
Mac Elite

Joined: Dec 2000

0

03/19, 03:29pm | report spam | close Reply |
ITMS

Not so good for the aol one-click to itunes music store.

johnhood
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2003

0

03/19, 03:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
YIKES

"Jeepers!"
--
http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood

outZider
Junior Member

Joined: Sep 1999

0

03/19, 03:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Wait, what?

Hello? Nullsoft (WinAmp)? Netscape? FEW ROADBLOCKS? Ohh, bad stuff, kids. Bad stuff.

John Dwight
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 1999

0

03/19, 03:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
Game Over

As Bill Paxton's character stated in Aliens: "Game over, man!"

re: MS: This hog's been at the trough so long now, we can only hope that it will explode from sheer greed and gulttony. Maybe the EU will have the stones and the ethics to chasten the Behomoth of Redmond; the U.S. surely doesn't. Wimps.

trevc
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2000

0

03/19, 03:59pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not so good...

You'd be surprised how many people have those AOL CD's that fly around as coasters, but a LOT of people are still signed up under them!!!

I thought if AOL went Mozilla as their browser then it would help slightly in the browser wars. I'm not so much against Internet Explorer, but would rather see W3C defining standards as opposed to Microsoft and their Active X stuff, etc., etc.

jasonbw
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2000

0

03/19, 04:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
if the riaa got involved

...and SCO (well, h*** microsoft practically owns them now) i could get all my hating done in one company! imagine the time savings!

JEB
Junior Member

Joined: May 2001

0

03/20, 12:34am | report spam | close Reply |
GAME.

This merger would be GAME for a couple of dozen new monopoly lawsuits.

pnorman
Junior Member

Joined: Oct 1999

0

03/20, 06:49am | report spam | close Reply |
no antitrust issues?!

Quote from article: "Time Warner lawyers have begun analyzing any potential antitrust issues from such a deal, and to date their conclusion is that there would be few roadblocks to a Microsoft acquisition of AOL"

How can there be no anti-trust issues? How can there be no roadblocks? Simple answer: the Bush government won't stand in the way of such a merger - just like it let Microsoft off easy in its "landmark" anti-trust trial. What was so landmark about it? It had no discernable effect on Microsoft's continuing monopolistic efforts.

When i can't believe how stupid and blind people/government/lawyers/computer users are when faced with such blatantly obvious anti-competitive behaviour by Microsoft, it still takes me a moment to think it thru and understand that people/government/lawyers/etc are being so blind and stupid simply because the government is sanctioning the anti-trust behaviour instead of sending a clear message to mr and mrs consumer that the behaviour of microsoft in cases like this is not good for consumers and, if such activity were pursued properly legally, would in fact be deemed illegal.

This is all bigger than any of us - in that we're doomed and can't lift a finger. All the lawsuits against Microsoft demonstrate that there ARE powerful business people out there that recognize this and are using their money and power and means to fight it. The fact that they fail, however, demonstrates that theres no hope for the rest of us to change the way things are.

The current activities surrounding the European Economic Union's Microsoft commission shows that its possible to fight Microsoft (successfully? We'll see this coming week) but hints that it would be next to impossible in the United States. Why? The current US government is in favour of letting Microsoft do what it wants (demonstrated in every case brought against Microsoft since Clinton left office).

Maybe, just maybe, a success in Europe will lead to similar success in America when a more favourable political and legal climate exists: that is, when the conservative, friend-of-business government of Bush and the Republicans is replaced with a Democratic government.

-peter

Too Artificial
Forum Regular

Joined: Mar 2003

0

03/20, 10:52am | report spam | close Reply |
Please

Peter please spare us your anti-Bush liberal agenda. If you think for one minute the country will be better off with John "I voted for that, I never voted for that" Kerry.... I guess next you'll be complaining about unemployment and how God awful it is under Bush, when truth is it's at the same levels as in 1996 under Clinton. Give it a rest.

tdellos
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2003

0

03/20, 11:42am | report spam | close Reply |
At least he had claims...

Too Artificial:

At least Peter made a claim, specifically, "The current US government is in favour of letting Microsoft do what it wants (demonstrated in every case brought against Microsoft since Clinton left office)"

If you don't like his claim, refute it rather than making vague, unrelated to the MS issue, personal attacks against John Kerry.

And as far as refutation goes. Per the Bureau Of Labor Statistics, in 1996, unemployment was at 5.4 %, down from the 7.5% rate in 1992 when Bill Clinton took control from George Bush Sr.. In fact, the unemployment rate dropped every year Clinton was in office, bottoming out at %4.0 in 2000. The current unemployment rate is %5.6, so current unemployment is higher than in 1996.

To find the last time unemployment was at or under %4.0 during a Republican administration, you need to go back to 1969 under President Nixon, when it was at 3.5% (no worries, his administration had it up to %7.7 by the time they were voted out).

nuckin futs
Forum Regular

Joined: Dec 2000

0

03/20, 02:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
you know what they say...

if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em (then shut it down).
Or maybe next thing you know, they'll offer free stuff if you switch from AOL to MSN.

eswinson
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

0

03/21, 09:49am | report spam | close Reply |
let 'em buy them

If we are lucky AOL will continue to offer its curse of death as a Microsoft division.. Just as AOL corrupted the internet, essentually killed netscape, nearly bankrupted Time warner and messed up every PC I have installed it on. Every thing that touches AOL usually turns to sour withing a very short time. Infact my former employer VerticalNet was run into the ground by former AOL exectutives that "knew" what they were doing. In my opinion AOL has been on a downward slide ever since it changed its name from AppleLink... brb... I've "Got Mail"

Show More Comments

Login Here

toggle

Network Headlines

02/15	Apple upgrades iBookstore with screenshots...
02/15	Congress asks Apple to answer questions...
02/15	FLA head describes Foxconn plants as...
02/15	Apple asks to sue bankrupt Kodak in...
02/15	Apple voluntarily pulls iPads from...

Show All

02/15	Congress asks Apple to answer questions...
02/15	FLA head describes Foxconn plants as...
02/15	Apple asks to sue bankrupt Kodak in...
02/15	Apple voluntarily pulls iPads from...
02/15	Gartner: Apple No 1 vendor in Q4, but...

Show All

02/15	Apple upgrades iBookstore with screenshots...
02/15	Congress asks Apple to answer questions...
02/14	Apple attempting to disrupt Siri hacks...
02/14	Readability iOS app delayed, Android...
02/13	Apple launches 2012 back-to-school...

Show All

02/15	Monster iCarPlay Wireless FM Transmitter...
02/14	Refurb. 16GB iPhone 4, now only $259...
02/13	Refurb. Flip UltraHD Pocket Digital...
02/10	$380 off refurbished 2.8GHz Mac Pro...
02/09	iHome Dual Alarm Clock for Apple iPod...

Show All

toggle

Microsoft to buy America Online?

updated 03:10 pm EST, Fri March 19, 2004

MS to buy AOL?

Sweet

Let's see...

No antitrust issues?

ITMS

YIKES

Wait, what?

Game Over

Not so good...

if the riaa got involved

GAME.

no antitrust issues?!

Please

At least he had claims...

you know what they say...

let 'em buy them

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

to our RSS

Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace

Microsoft to buy America Online?

updated 03:10 pm EST, Fri March 19, 2004

MS to buy AOL?

Related Articles

Recent Articles

Sweet

Let's see...

No antitrust issues?

ITMS

YIKES

Wait, what?

Game Over

Not so good...

if the riaa got involved

GAME.

no antitrust issues?!

Please

At least he had claims...

you know what they say...

let 'em buy them

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

to our RSS

Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace