The Associated Press is reporting the following this evening:

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WASHINGTON (Nov. 22) - In a stunning alliance that could change the landscape
of the nation's technology industry, America Online is in talks to buy
Netscape Communications Corp., a person close to the situation said Sunday.

It was unclear whether any formal announcement about the deal, which also
involves Sun Microsystems Inc., would be made before financial markets opened
Monday. But the person said that under one scenario the $4 billion, all-stock
transaction would leave AOL to run Netscape's ''Netcenter'' Web site and to
distribute Netscape's popular browser, the software that lets people view
information on the Internet.

Sun Microsystems, in turn, would benefit in two ways: It would take control of
Netscape's business-level ''server'' software, and it would enjoy widespread
distribution among AOL's 14 million subscribers of its Java technology for
running Internet programs.

The alliance, if formalized, could spell trouble several ways for Microsoft
Corp., the industry giant whose Internet software competes directly with
Netscape's.

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Wirt Atmar