LONDON (Brand Republic) – America Online may have to open its instant messaging service to rivals, including Microsoft, in order to win approval for its merger with Time Warner.
At the moment, AOL customers can only send messages to other AOL subscribers. It is believed that the Federal Communication Commission has proposed that AOL give its competitors access to its instant messaging service as part of a review of the planned merger. The merger is also being examined by the Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission.