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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: polarisnh who wrote (27226)	7/28/1999 8:25:00 AM
From: Pruguy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

The open access coalition is not trying to ride on the cable lines for free, when athm and t supporters use this line, it quickly changes their argument to propoganda rather than anything of substance. It is well publisized that aol has offered a fee, just athm has declined to accept it. that is reality....

To: polarisnh who wrote (27226)	7/28/1999 1:00:00 PM
From: Midtown eBoy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 41369

Steve, I think you know that AOL has offered a fee to AT&T to use the lines, just as they pay the RBOCS for use of the telephone lines. AT&T just wants to squeeze them. But there is an issue that I believe many fail to recognize now. As I use my @Home cable modem to sign on to AOL, AOL's metrics, in terms of pages viewed and online time go up with my use. I do not believe @Home derives any metrics from my use, beyond the simple fact that I am a subscriber, because I have not installed their software, I do not view their homepage, I see no click-thru ads posted on their home page, etc. But to get to AOL, one must go thru their "home page," so to speak. Some may call that a closed system, but it ensures accurate counting of the metrics. Whereas, if you get the cable modem, you can just sign onto the "raw" internet connection, elect not to go thru a proxy server (thru internet options in IE) and convey no benefit to @Home metrics. All @Home gets is the subscription fee, and if AT&T now wants to cut that in half, so be it. It'll cost me less. Keeping track of its customer's browsing, on a raw internet connection, is a potential problem for @Home, and it may affect their metrics. The sticking point in the AOL/AT&T negotiations is that AT&T wants to "own" the customer, but I don't know how they can even keep track of their own customers. I don't think that AT&T wants the situation to emerge whereby they have 4 or 5 million customers but minimal page views on the Excite customizable home page, because for $5.00 more users can get onto the AOL system with all it's proprietary content.