FCC lifts AOL restrictions

Get ready for video-enabled AOL Instant Messenger. The FCC finally lifted restrictions dating back to AOL’s merger with Time Warner that prohibited the company from adding video capability to its popular IM client. Now that AOL’s market share in the IM space is shrinking and the company has struck a settlement deal with Microsoft to make AOL IM and Windows Messenger more compatible, the FCC decided lifting the video restriction made sense. Can’t wait for the first versions of video AOL IM to come out, which shouldn’t be too far down the road.