| HOME | AOL could benefit from CompuServe merger By JIM BROOKS Rumors have a way of taking on a life of their own sometimes, and that's been the case with America Online's rumored acquisition of CompuServe. AOL, with more than eight million subscribers, was rumored to be considering making a bid for the nation's second-largest online service. While neither company has publicly acknowledged anything, analysts say this rumor appears to be true. AOL has had its share of adverse publicity in the past months, stemming from users being unable to access the service. Attorneys general from a number of states threatened to intervene and the company made some rapid changes and accelerated its modem and phone line expansions. But why buy CompuServe? Despite their much-touted expansion, AOL could has much to gain by taking over CompuServe's infrastructure -- modems, phone lines and hardware. Automatically adding new subscribers would push the company over the 10 million member mark, a goal AOL planned to reach by year's end. Tax-preparation giant H&R Block, owner of 80 percent of CompuServe, has reportedly been interested in selling its interest in the online service. And business analysts say AOL may be Block's best bet if it wants to sell off CompuServe. The 2.8-million-member-strong online service never adopted the popular (albeit controversial) unlimited-usage pricing as AOL did last December. Though popular in its own right, CompuServe has never had the access problems that have plagued AOL in recent months. ENHANCED CD. BMG Entertainment will be adding something unique to its CD releases soon. Each disc of music will also contain the latest version of software to access America Online. The story appeared last week in the entertainment daily Variety. According to the story, each ECD (Enhanced Compact Disc) will contain both the AOL software and the music by the label's recording artists. There will be no increase in price for the ECDs. AOL promotional disks have long been shrink-wrapped with computer magazines, and mass mailings have put them in millions of mailboxes across the country. They've even been given out with the peanuts on some airline flights. But this marks the first time the software has been included on a music CD. The record label plans an extensive market blitz, and will create areas of content related to BMG label artists. The label has three content areas already connected to AOL. OFFICER.COM. If you spend much time on the World Wide Web, you undoubtedly make many accidental discoveries of really great Web sites. So it was with my discovery of the Officer.com Web site. As you might expect, the site is devoted to crime and law enforcement. This is a personal Web site, but a very content-rich one. You'll find a listing of every police agency Web site in the world, links to enforcement-related groups, clubs and associations and much more. You'll find virtual wanted files, links to Crime Stoppers Web sites -- in short, if there's a Web site or resource out there, it probably is listed at Officer.com. I found the links to federal crime statistics and their research links page chock full of good information. Point your Web browser to www.officer.com for more information. Comments and questions about this column may be sent to jbrooks@myoldkentuckyhome.com, or visit www.myoldkentuckyhome.com on the World Wide Web. | HOME |