AOL-Time Warner Deal Triggers Conflicting Views About Internet Boom; York University Scholars Assess the Business and Social Impacts

TORONTO, January 14, 2000 -- Can AOL-Time Warner build a successful business on the delivery of culture and entertainment over the Internet? The world's largest corporate merger to date has triggered wild speculation about the future of the Internet and entertainment sectors. Now, observers in both business and academia are taking a calmer look at the implications of the linkup.

Will it produce a domino effect of similar mergers, or counter strategies by related industries? What will be the impact on local, national and global cultural and arts institutions, as well as the consumer? York University scholars of business and the Internet, marketing, social science, mass communication and culture offer reasoned opinion on these and other issues as they play out in the coming weeks and months.

Does the joining of AOL and Time Warner signal a battle of the telecom and Internet "dotcom" titans for a market once dominated by Microsoft and others? The merger was made possible by current market valuations of internet stock. Will this prompt further Internet dotcom speculation or a reassessment of Internet share values? What will be the impact of mega US-based entertainment companies on development of Canadian culture and on issues like regulation of the CBC?

Fred Fletcher is a professor of political science and Director of the York-Ryerson joint, graduate program in Communications and Culture. Fletcher is also a former journalist. He can comment on the regulatory implications of the merger, what it means for Canada's attempts to keep up and retain a place for Canadian content, and on the implications for Canadian news organizations. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 88819 or at home (416) 932-8453.

Paul Hoffert is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Director of the CulTech (Culture and Technology) Research Centre at York, which models the future of connected communities and builds partnerships among academic institutions, governments and the private sector to test them. He is author of the book, The Bagel Effect (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1998), which argues that power and control is moving away from centralized organizations to customers, citizens and users at the edge of these organizations -- a function of the phenomena of decentralization, downsizing, deregulation, digitization and convergence. Hoffert is in California this week and next. He can be reached on his cell phone (416) 560-6732, or via email: polibop@yorku.ca.

Sam Lanfranco is an Associate Professor of Economics at York's Atkinson College, specializing in the impact of the Internet and its related technologies on organizations and organizational change, and on social processes. He is a consultant in these areas to the World Bank, the United Nations, the Canadian government, and the "dotcom" industry. He can be reached at (416) 816-2852, or by email: lanfran@yorku.ca.

Alan Middleton is a professor of marketing in the Schulich School of Business and a former advertising professional. He sees the AOL-Time Warner merger as the precedent for major changes in marketing and commerce in the 21st century. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 33180.

Larry Schwartz is Adjunct Professor of Finance at York's Schulich School of Business and a specialist in competition law. Schwartz, who is a member of the Canadian Competition Tribunal, can explain the differences between US anti-trust laws and Canadian legislation on competition. He notes that in Canada, the Commissioner of Competition must agree to take up a case because no private right of anti-trust action in Canadian law exists. He can be reached at (416) 952-9996.

Arthur Siegel is a professor in the Division of Social Science, Faculty of Arts at York and author of Politics and the Media in Canada (McGraw-Hill Ryerson Press, 1996), and Radio Canada International (Mosaic Press, 1996). He can comment on issues of ownership concentration and cultural regulation. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 33430, or at home (416) 495-0190.

Don Thompson, Nabisco Brands Professor of Marketing at York's Schulich School of Business, specializes in strategic market planning, marketing strategy and marketing and economic regulation. He thinks there will be a substantial domino effect from the AOL-Time Warner merger, and the impact on both culture and marketing in Canada will be profound. Thompson can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77961.

Bernie Wolf, professor of economics and international business at York's Schulich School of Business, specializes in international trade with a focus on the auto and telecommunications industries. He can comment on the financial aspects of the AOL-Time Warner deal and how anti-trust issues will play out. Wolf can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77933, or (416) 223-2794.

Frank Zingrone, a professor of Mass Communications in the Faculty of Arts, can comment on how the merger may impact on the issue of intellectual property rights and the shaping of competition in the industry. He can be reached at home at (416) 489-3747.

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For further information, please contact:

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/003/00