Editorials
Tuesday, January 11, 2000Marriage of giants in
telecommunicationsLEGAL experts seem to agree that America Online Inc.'s proposed purchase of Time Warner Inc. violates no antitrust law, but the merger proposal still raises concerns. The biggest corporate merger ever would closely follow another huge media hook-up, the proposed combination of CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. The concern is that a less diverse media would diminish competition at greater cost to consumers.The issue: The merger of America Online and Time Warner would be the largest corporate merger in history.
The AOL/Time Warner merger also is a major step toward uniting traditional media and the Internet. Time Warner chairman Gerald M. Levin remarked that the deal "really completes the digital transformation of Time Warner." Punahou graduate Steve Case, who will be chairman of the media titan, calls it "an historic moment...(that) will launch the next Internet revolution."
The problem with revolutions is that their consequences often are hard to predict, and this is no exception. What seems assured is that the merger of the biggest name in traditional media and the most dominant Internet service provider will result in the world's largest media presence by far.
Time Warner achieved its current size when it won approval in 1997 of its acquisition of CNN. The corporation now encompasses the CNN, HBO, TNT and Cartoon television channels; Time, People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune magazines, and Warner Bros. and affiliated movie companies. America Online owns CompuServe and Netscape, the popular Internet browser.
The proposal raises questions about the resulting interlocking ties of AOL, Time Warner and AT&T, the largest cable operator and long-distance telephone company. AT&T is seeking to acquire Media One Group Inc., which owns one-fourth of a joint venture with Time Warner called Time Warner Entertainment, which in turn owns 11 million cable television subscribers. Thus, the two mergers would result in AT&T owning 25 percent of a venture holding a large portion of the cable assets of a combined AOL/Time Warner.
AOL has been seeking access to high-speed Internet access systems provided through cable, while cable companies have claimed the sole right to provide Internet service to their subscribers and to exclude AOL. The AOL/Time Warner merger could provide AOL the cable access it desires.
Corporate maneuvering in the new age of communications technology may require new ground rules. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have yet to determine which agency will even review the AOL/Time Warner proposal.
Congress should examine whether new measures are needed to protect consumers in a communications world that has entered cyberspace in a large way.
Megan’s Law
SEXUAL-offender laws modeled after "Megan's Law" in New Jersey have been enacted in all 50 states. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a state court decision that Pennsylvania's most severe classification of offenders violated defendants' rights.
While Hawaii's version of Megan's Law is similar to a portion of the Pennsylvania law that the court left intact, the Pennsylvania case should put other states on notice that hounding of past sexual offenders may not be tolerated.
The Pennsylvania law designated all persons convicted of rape, kidnapping a child and forcing a child into prostitution as "sexual predators." If released from prison, they were required to keep their addresses registered with police for life. Police notified neighbors, the crime victims, school and college officials and day-care centers of their presence.
Such defendants could shed themselves of the designation only by proving in court "by clear and convincing evidence" -- the law's most severe burden of proof -- that it is not deserved. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court deemed that part of the law "constitutionally repugnant," and the U.S. Supreme Court let the decision stand without review.
Pennsylvania's high court affirmed a part of the law that requires all "sexual offenders" to register their addresses with police for 10 years after release from prison.
Hawaii's law lacks notification requirements similar to those that were overturned in the Pennsylvania case. It does provide public access to current street names, but not house numbers, of about 500 Hawaii residents convicted of sex crimes.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused two years ago to consider a challenge to the original "Megan's Law" in New Jersey. Hawaii subsequently approved a similar law consistent with moderate versions that have survived court challenges. Those versions have resulted in public awareness without creating the vigilantism that opponents predicted.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
