Even after the merger approval, AOL Time Warner was caught denying advertising placement to other ISP's for dial-up and DSL services at the exact time their ad revenue was shrinking

From the beginning of October 2000 to the merger approval on January 11, 2001, the whole notion of inevitability was brushed aside by the revelation that both companies, AOL and Time Warner, were telling the politicians and regulators a half-truth about their plans to allow other ISP's access to their cable's high speed Internet product