Short Reports

The FCC will require local telephone companies to share their lines with businesses that want to offer high-speed Internet connections to customers.

Consumers might benefit with more choices for services, such as certain digital subscriber lines, at competitive prices.

America Online Inc. plans to require games played on its service to be rated by an independent trade group and will not carry games rated “adults only.”

A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in a class-action consumer lawsuit accusing Ford Motor Co. of a design defect that made millions of vehicles prone to stalling. The suit, on behalf of 3.5 million current and former California owners of Ford vehicles in model years 1983-95, claims the vehicles stalled because an ignition device was mounted in the wrong place. A jury could not reach a verdict.