The timeline is intended to identify generally what tasks the agency needs to accomplish in order to complete its review in cases involving complex or difficult issues, the normal order in which these tasks can be most efficiently performed, and the time normally needed to complete them. Any such general timeline necessarily oversimplifies the process. Statutes and regulations require different procedures for different types of licenses or authorizations, and the circumstances of individual cases will differ (for example, the actions taken by other government agencies considering the antitrust, national security, or law enforcement issues relating to the transaction). The timeline should therefore be viewed as a flexible tool, not an effort to force the review of all diverse transactions into one inflexible mold. For these reasons, the timeline clock may need to be started and stopped several times during the process. A record of these actions for America Online and Time Warner is provided below.

Clock Stopped		Clock Restarted	Days Stopped	Reason for Stop
Day	Date
75	6/10/00	6/30/00	19	Awaiting response to information request [Word97 | Acrobat]
179	10/11/00		92	Awaiting FTC Action
179	1/11/01	approved	92	FCC Gives Conditoned Approval to AOL - Time Warner Merger