AOL, in a desperate attempt to

become America's Fifth Network,

will in late fall 1997 take the

route of previous efforts by

television stations to boost

their ratings. In a bold break

with its past, it abandons its

famously chaste Terms of Service

as well as its policy of

monitoring online chat rooms,

opting rather for a "grittier,

edgier AOL" which "responds to

the needs of its users,

specifically a 17-to-34-year-old

urban demographic." In a move

straight from the Fox Network

playbook, AOL will promote its

newest content areas such as AOL

in da 'Hood, CyberCops, and the

adult-oriented Byte Me.