AOL Denies Report Alleging Effort to Link Instant Messaging Systems

America Online Inc. came under fire Tuesday for a report, denied by the company, that it had quietly tested a way to link its two popular instant messaging systems, which would undermine arguments it made to regulators probing its merger with Time Warner Inc.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that AOL had for some months been holding compatibility tests to allow users of its Instant Messaging (AIM) software to sign on to its separate ICQ message network.

AOL disputed the story. Spokeswoman Tricia Primrose said AOL engineers eight months ago had conducted a short-lived test to see how AOL Instant Messaging software could be used to connect ICQ users.

“This was an 8-month-old test . . . designed to study some of the technical issues involved in instant messaging. It doesn’t allow for inter-operability,” Primrose said.

AOL’s AIM and ICQ, along with similar programs from more than a dozen rivals such as Yahoo Corp. and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN, allow users to communicate by typing rapid-fire e-mails on pop-up computer screens.

Competitors complain that the No. 1 Internet services provider has a virtual stranglehold on the instant messaging market with its AIM and ICQ services.

Shares of AOL ended little changed at $55.50, up 94 cents, and Time Warner gained 38 cents to close at $80.50, both on the New York Stock Exchange.