Hands Off the Internet Statement on AOL-Time Warner Merger

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The following is a statement by Peter Arnold, executive director of Hands Off the Internet regarding today's announcement of a merger between America Online and Time Warner:

"The key aspect from the AOL-Time Warner press conference was the statement by Mr. Levin, endorsed by Mr. Case, that it's time to take the issue of access regulations out of Washington and out of the localities. As both men stated, individual companies are much better able to serve consumers by structuring relationships without concern about whether it might violate some misguided government regulation."

"For a year now, AOL-backed groups have been active in pushing state and local access regulation in franchise transfers and renewals across the country. It will be interesting to see if they are as aggressive in promoting this regulation in the service territories for AOL-Time Warner."

Hands Off The Internet is a coalition of Net users united in the belief that the Internet's growth stems from the ability of entrepreneurs to innovate without worrying about regulation. Hands Off The Internet supports policies that ensure the broadest range of choices for Internet users. That includes support for an unregulated approach to Internet access, support for The

M&A West, Inc. to Establish Linux Investment Fund

The Company previously announced its Linux Funding website, http://www.linuxfunding.com. This site will be greatly expanded over the next several weeks as a clearinghouse for Linux developers, investors and users of this rapidly-growing technology. The site will include investment opportunities, industry and technology news and forums for developers to interact through chat rooms and bulletin boards.

The Open Source phenomenon has been gaining widespread support across the technology industry with the recent sponsorship of major market competitors such as Redhat (Nasdaq:RHAT - news), Corel Corp. (Nasdaq:CORL - news), Perle Systems, Ltd. (Nasdaq:PERL - news) and VA Linux Systems (Nasdaq:LNUX - news) among others.

M&A West, Inc. has four primary business objectives. The first is to become a meaningful player in the acquisition and development of Internet and technology companies. The second is to provide seed capital to newly emerging Internet companies. The third is to provide a full line of business services to emerging micro-cap and small cap companies to increase awareness of their business. The fourth is to create and grow offshoot Internet-related companies under the M&A West, Inc. umbrella. Other companies in this space include CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI - news) and Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq:ICGE - news).