Finally, the work rules prevent the Debtors from implementing alternative distribution systems into new, currently unserved markets.

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It might also dissuade other brokerage firms from providing the alternative distribution that was Merrill's primary reason for doing the deal.

ECONOMIST: Merrill Lynch

That sort of unbundling will take a while, due to a Byzantine system of contracts, so in the meantime, cable companies can embrace alternative methods of distribution by pushing high-speed internet access, as the Time Warner president said in the article.

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