TechWeb: FCC To Air Instant-Messaging War

"The next skirmish in the instant-messaging war is expected to take place Thursday in a Federal Communications Commission hearing room. There, Ross Bagully, CEO of Tribal Voice, will express industry concerns about America Online's repeated attempts to shut instant-messaging rivals them out of its IM equation."

"Rivals desperately care what AOL does. Between its AIM and ICQ offerings, AOL owns the lion's share of the IM market with an estimated 110 million to 120 million users."

"The FCC hearing will examine the impact of the proposed merger of AOL and Time Warner (stock: TWX) and what their combined might would mean to consumers and competitors. AOL is now getting the kind of public scrutiny once reserved by Microsoft, Mak said."

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