Disney takes AOL Time Warner 'monopoly' row public

NEWS US entertainment giant Disney has publicly accused AOL Time Warner of having a monopoly on cable broadband networks, and has called for the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to put a stop to possible abuses. In a conference over the weekend hosted by the New Yorker magazine, Disney claimed that a merged AOL Time Warner could use this broadband monopoly to squeeze out competitors. Disney is particularly worried about the future of Internet access and interactive television. A row between the two companies erupted last week, when Time Warner pulled Disney's ABC network from its cable line-up. The Federal Communications Commission stepped in, forcing Time Warner to restore ABC to its customers a day and a half later. But the incident has left both Disney and just over three million effected viewers fuming. Time Warner says Disney is to blame. The two companies have been engaged in lengthy contract negotiations for running ABC over Time Warner's network. The incident has highlighted the vulnerability of content providers to a handful of powerful cable companies. Now that AOL has bought Time Warner's extensive cable networks, Disney is worried that access to broadband content on the Web will be under the same stranglehold. According to Noah Yasskin, analyst with research firm Jupiter Communications, US cable operators will gain even more control as the Internet moves toward broadband. Ironically AOL will be in the same position as Disney if the merger - which is still under investigation - does not clear. The company bought Time Warner largely for its broadband networks. Yasskin explained: "AOL had been pushing for free access to all cable networks. Now that they've bought Time Warner's networks, they're pushing for that somewhat less." He said that the industry has been witness to this problem before - in the telecoms sector. Yasskin said: "The regulators have forced telcos to open up their copper wires to competitors. That hasn't happened with cable." Disney has not asked for the merger to be prohibited, but it does want the DoJ to draw up guidelines for the regulation of digital media.