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The five-member FCC intends to decide on the merger proposal by Jan. 1.

FCC SAID READY TO VET AOL-TW MERGER IF INSTANT-MESSAGING SHARED

Regulators To Levin And Case: IM Ready To Approve You
Following in the footsteps of the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission reportedly plans approve America Online's $130 billion acquisition of Time Warner if AOL allows rivals to operate on its instant-messaging system.

The five-member FCC is reviewing the recommendation and intends to decide on the merger proposal by Jan. 1. That's great news for us journalists, who until this announcement had nothing a couple of weeks of drinking and debauchery to look forward to. The commission's approval is the final hurdle for the merger.

An FCC draft recommendation said AOL would have to allow at least one other provider of instant messaging to compete with it on Time Warner's cable TV network, The Washington Post said. The FTC approved the deal on 12/14 (see story).

In a related story, Steve Case IM'd Gerald Levin to say his folks were going out and he was having a rad party.