MSN.co.uk welcomes increased interoperability as a result of AOL-Time Warner merger.

M2 PRESSWIRE-15 January 2001-MSN.CO.UK: MSN.co.uk welcomes increased interoperability as a result of AOL-Time Warner merger (C)1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:12012001

Following the announcement of the AOL and Time Warner merger today, MSN.co.uk the UK's most visited web destination, welcomes the news that users of any Instant Messaging service will, in time, be able to communicate in a seamless, convenient, private and secure manner.

MSN.co.uk has been a founder member of IMUnified, a coalition created in July 2000, with the aim of rapidly enabling users of all members' Instant Messaging services to communicate freely with each other in the same simple manner they have come to expect from phone and e-mail based communication. In addition, the coalition is fully committed to protecting users' privacy and security in the implementation of interoperable Instant Messaging.

Commenting on the news, Geoff Sutton, Director of MSN.co.uk said: "We have always supported interoperability for Instant Messaging and will continue to do so until this solution is realised. Internet users want to exchange instant messages with each other, regardless of which service they use. We welcome the news that AOL will have to become a part of this open standard for Instant Messaging, it will be a big win for the users of all our services."

MSN Messenger Service has 24 million users world wide.

Although the FCC conditions surrounding the merger were less stringent than MSN had hoped, the announcement brings the industry one step closer to making open communication between all instant messaging services a reality.

Notes to Editor:

About msn.co.uk:

MSN gives consumers a new home on the Internet - a central place where they can get everything they need from the Web and make the most out of their time online. With more than 200 million visitors worldwide and more than 10 million (MSN data) in the UK per month, the MSN integrated network of content and services is the most popular destination on the Internet. MSN is available in 33 markets and in 17 languages - a broader global presence than any other portal. MSN takes advantage of the Microsoft '.NET' platform to offer leading services, any time, any place and on any device, with the most integrated and personalised user experience for communications, search, shopping, personal finance and entertainment.

Best-of-breed services available on msn.co.uk include the MSN Hotmail web-based e-mail service; MSN Messenger Service, one of the fastest growing instant messaging services on the Web; MSN Search, the UK's most popular online search service; MSN Web Communities, where people can create their own web sites, and MSN Shopping, the one-stop online shopping resource. MSN is freely available to all Internet users and is located on the Web at http://www.msn.co.uk

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business

computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.

About IMUnified

IMUnified, a recently formed coalition (25 July 2000) of leading technology and instant messaging companies, created to provide functional interoperability enabling its members' Internet users to communicate freely with each other.

IMUnified will strive to implement open standards-based interoperability for instant messaging as these protocols emerge from the IETF standardization process. The founding members of IMUnified are AT&T, Excite@home, iCAST, MSN, Odigo, Phone.com, Prodigy, Tribal Voice and Yahoo! More information on IMUnified and its activities can be found at http://www.IMUnified.org/.

CONTACT: Benjamin Philipson, Assistant Account Executive, The Red Consultancy. Tel: +44 (0)20 7465 7775 Fax: +44 (0)20 7486 5270 e-mail: benp@redconsultancy.com Nina Ashworth, The RED Consultancy Tel: +44 (0)20 7465 6425 e-mail: ninaa@redconsultancy.com Scot Devine, The RED Consultancy Tel: +44 (0)20 7465 7768 e-mail: scotd@redconsultancy.com Mary-Claire Tweedy, The RED Consultancy Tel: +44 (0)20 7465 7738 e-mail: mary-clairet@redconsultancy.com

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