Morning Edition 14.09.00

NEWS AOL is bracing itself for some major concessions if its $170bn merger with Time Warner is to become reality. The deal struck earlier this year is currently at the mercy of the regulators around the world. The Times reports that one of the options the US Federal Trade Commission is considering is to force AOL to open up its instant messaging service. The 'live chat' forum currently has 65 million subscribers and is seen by AOL insiders as a jewel in their crown... If that wasn't bad enough, the EU's 'deal breaker' Mario Monti has turned his attentions to Time Warner's own acquisition of EMI. The Financial Times says EMI is likely to be made to sell record labels or copyrights if the $20bn deal is to be cleared... AOL/Time Warner/EMI are not the only triumvirate having difficulty reaching an agreement. Back in the UK the combination of BT, its rivals and watchdog Oftel is creating the usual chaos. According to the Telegraph the January 2001 deadline to unbundle the local loop will not be met because BT's competitors cannot get physical access to the telephone exchanges and deploy the necessary equipment. Kingston Communications' CEO, Steve Maine, told the paper: "This is an incomplete and imperfect process." No kidding. Finally, back to The Times and news that Dave Stewart, the bearded half of the band Eurythmics, is planning to launch at internet television service over digital. He'll partner with Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, to create a service featuring "hundreds of digital channels" devoted to archive footage of different artists. There are no plans yet for ebusiness programming but if you change your mind, Mr Stewart, you know where we are... Morning Edition will be back tomorrow morning...