America Online (AOL) Technologies president, Mr Ray Oglethorpe, was reluctant yesterday to comment on the merger between EMI group and its own future partner Time Warner, but he said the online delivery of music would be crucial for AOL's development in the future.
Stating that the ability to deliver music over the Internet would revolutionise the industry in a manner similar to the development of the Compact Disc in the 1980s, Mr Oglethorpe implied that EMI would make a good fit with AOL Time-Warner, when merged.
The driver for AOL Time Warner would be the ability to deliver the music of major artists over the Web, he said. "Right now it isn't easy, but AOL is very good at making hard things easy."
Speaking after the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, formally opened AOL Technologies software development park at the Citywest complex in west Dublin, Mr Oglethorpe said it was too early to speculate on the full potential of the AOL Time Warner deal, which is worth some $163 billion.
AOL plans to employ about 300 software professionals at the Citywest complex by the end of 2001. The company already has about 100 workers at the site, its only software development operation outside the US.
