{{otheruses}}

{{tooshort}}
{{ infobox company
|company_name=AOL LLC
|company_logo=[[Image:AOL logo.png|200px]]
|company_type=[[Subsidiary]] of [[Time Warner]]
|company_slogan="See What's Here For You"
|foundation=[[1985]] (as '''Quantum Computer Services''')
|location_city=[[New York, New York]]
|location_country=[[United States]]
|location_city=[[New York, New York]] (operations in [[Dulles, VA]])
|location_country=[[United States]]
|key_people=[[Randy Falco]], [[Ted Leonsis]], [[Ronald Grant]]
|num_employees=8,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/Company-Profiles/A/AOL-LLC-Jobs_26597 |title=AOL LLC on Yahoo HotJobs |accessdate=2007-01-16}}</ref>
|industry=[[Internet]] & [[Telecommunication|Communications]]
|products=[[Internet service provider|Internet service]]
|homepage=[http://www.aol.com/ AOL]
}}

'''AOL LLC.''' (formerly '''A'''merica '''O'''n'''l'''ine, Inc.) is an American global Internet services and media company operated by [[Time Warner]] and headquartered in New York, New York. It has [[franchising|franchise]]d its services to companies in several nations around the world, or set up [[international]] [[version]]s of its services. <ref>[http://about.aol.com/international_services International Services - About AOL (AOL.com)]</ref>

== Description==
With regional branches around the world, the former American "[[goliath]] among [[Internet service provider]]s"<ref name="lessbemore">{{cite news | url = http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2006/tc20060731_168094.htm | title = Will Less Be More for AOL? | first = Catherine|last = Holahan|publisher = [[BusinessWeek]] |date= [[2006-07-31]] | accessdate = 2006-08-01 }}</ref> once had more than 30 million subscribers<ref name="lessbemore" /> on several continents.
In January 2000, AOL and [[Time Warner]] announced plans to merge. The terms of the deal negotiated called for AOL shareholders to own 55% of the new, combined company. The deal closed on [[January 11]], [[2001]] after receiving regulatory approval from the [[Federal Trade Commission|FTC]], the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] and the [[European Union]].

'''America Online, Inc.''', as the company was then called, was led by executives from both AOL, SBI and Time Warner. [[Gerald Levin]], who had served as [[CEO]] of Time Warner, was CEO of the new company. [[Steve Case]] served as [[Board of Directors|Chairman]], [[J. Michael Kelly]] (from AOL) was the [[Chief Financial Officer]], [[Robert W. Pittman]] (from AOL) and [[Dick Parsons]] (from Time Warner) served as Co-[[Chief Operating Officer]]s. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $226 billion to about $20 billion.<ref name="scrapcharge">{{cite news | url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060727/wr_nm/media_timewarner_aol_dc_7 | title = AOL expected to scrap charges| first = Kenneth|last = Li|publisher = [[Yahoo!]] |date= [[2006-07-26]] | accessdate = 2006-08-09 }}</ref>Similarly, its customer base has decreased to 10.1 million subscribers as of [[November]] [[2007]]<ref name="custBase">{{cite news | url = http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9046103&intsrc=news_ts_head | title = AOL revenue, subscribers plummet| first = Linda|last = Rosencrance|publisher = ComputerWorld |date= [[2007-11-08]] | accessdate = 2007-11-12 }}</ref>, just narrowly ahead of [[Comcast]] and [[AT&T Yahoo]].

AOL is a company in transition, made evident by discussions of buy-outs and [[joint venture]]s during a period of dramatic decline in AOL's subscriber base.<ref name="lessbemore" /> News reports in late 2005 identified companies such as [[Yahoo!]], [[Microsoft]], and [[Google]] as candidates for turning AOL into a joint venture;<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051111_725373.htm
|title = Has AOL Met Its Match?
|first = Catherine
|last = Yang
|publisher = [[BusinessWeek]]
|date= [[2005-11-11]]
|accessdate = 2006-08-01 }}</ref> those plans were apparently abandoned when it was revealed on [[December 20]], [[2005]] that Google would purchase a 5% share of AOL for $1 billion.

AOL was rated both one of the best and worst Internet suppliers in the UK, according to a poll by [[Watchdog (TV series)|BBC Watchdog]].<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/internet/internet_20070321.shtml
|title=''Broadband survey results''
|publisher = [[BBC News]]
|date=2007-03-21
|accessdate = 2007-12-04 }}</ref>
On [[March 31]], [[1997]], the short lived [[eWorld]] was purchased by AOL, forcing the 115,000 users to subscribe to AOL. The [[Internet service provider|ISP]] side of AOL UK was bought by [[The Carphone Warehouse]] in October 2006 to take advantage of their 100,000 [[Local loop unbundling|LLU]]s (local loop unbundling), which makes [[The Carphone Warehouse]] the biggest [[Local loop unbundling|LLU]] provider in the UK, enabling them to offer broadband at no charge to 90% of their [[TalkTalk]] ''Talk3'' customers.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6039740.stm</ref>

== History ==
{| class="wikitable" width=400 style="float: right; margin: 0.5em 0 1em 1em"
! colspan="2" | AOL release timeline
|-
| 1989
| AOL for Macintosh gains popularity as a Mac BBS
|-
| February 1991
| AOL for [[MS-DOS|DOS]] launched
|-
| January 1993
| AOL 1.0 for Microsoft [[Windows 3.x]] launched, AOL 2.0 for [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] launched
|-
| June 1994
| AOL 1.5 for Microsoft [[Windows 3.x]] launched
|-
| September 1994
| AOL 2.0 for Microsoft [[Windows 3.x]] launched
|-
| June 1995
| AOL 2.5 for Microsoft [[Windows 3.x]] launched
|-
| June 1995
| AOL 3.0 (Win16) for [[Windows 3.x]]/[[Windows 95]]/[[Windows NT]] launched
|-
| June 1996
| AOL 3.0 for [[Windows 95]] launched
|-
| July 1998 / June 1999
| AOL 4.0 (Casablanca) and Refresh 2 launched
|-
| September 1999
| AOL 5.0 (Kilimanjaro) launched
|-
| June 2000
| AOL 5.0 for 9x/NT/2K (Niagara) launched
|-
| October and December 2000
| AOL 6.0 (K2 - Karakorum) and Refresh launched
|-
| September 2001
| AOL 6.0.2 for XP launched
|-
| October and December 2001, May and July 2002
| AOL 7.0 (Taz) and Refresh 1, Refresh 2, and Refresh 2 Plus launched
|-
| October 2002
| AOL 8.0 (Spacely) launched
|-
| April 2003
| AOL 8.0 Plus (Elroy) launched
|-
| August and September 2003
| AOL 9.0 Optimized (Bunker Hill / Blue Hawaii) and Refresh launched
|-
| May 2004
| AOL 9.0 Optimized SE/LE (Thailand / Tahiti) launched
|-
| November 2004, July 2005
| AOL 9.0 Security Edition SE/LE (Strauss) and Refresh launched
|-
| August 2005 to March 2006
| AOL Suite Beta launched (cancelled)
|-
| September 2006, March 2007
| AOL OpenRide (Streamliner) launched
|-
| November 2006, April 2007
| AOL 9.0 VR (Originally AOL 9.5) and Refresh launched(AOL 9.0 for Microsoft Windows Vista but also works with Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP)
|-
| June 2007
| AOL 9.1 Beta launched
|-
|July 2007
|AOL Helix Beta launched, replacement of AOL OpenRide
|-
| September 2007
|AOL Desktop for Mac Beta launched
|-
| October 6, 2007
|AOL Helix renamed AOL Desktop
|-
| December 2007
|AOL Desktop
|}

AOL began life as a short-lived venture called '''Control Video Corporation''' (or '''CVC'''), founded by [[William von Meister]]. Its sole product was an online service called [[Gameline]] for the [[Atari 2600]] [[video game console]] after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by [[Warner Brothers]]. (Klein, 2003) Subscribers bought a [[modem]] from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Gameline permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of approximately $1 per hour.

In 1983, the company nearly went [[bankruptcy|bankrupt]], and an investor in Control Video, Frank Caufield, had a friend of his, [[Jim Kimsey]], brought in as a manufacturing consultant. That same year, [[Steve Case]] joined the company as a full-time marketing employee upon the joint recommendations of von Meister and Kimsey. Kimsey went on to become the [[Chief Executive Officer]] (CEO) of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services in 1985, after von Meister was quietly dropped from the company.

Case himself rose quickly through the ranks; Kimsey promoted him to vice-president of marketing not long after becoming CEO, and later promoted him further to executive vice-president in 1987. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to ascend to the rank of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991.

Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985 launched a sort of mega-[[Bulletin board system|BBS]] for [[Commodore 64]] and [[Commodore 128|128]] computers, originally called [[Quantum Link]] ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was licensed from [[PlayNET|PlayNet, Inc]]. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched [[AppleLink]] Personal Edition for [[Apple II family|Apple II]] and [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] computers. After the two companies parted ways in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1989.htm | title = History of Computing Industrial Era (1985-1990) | work = The History of Computing Project | accessdate = 2005-09-24 |date= [[2006-03-20]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://apple2history.org/history/ah22.html|title = Apple II history chapter 22 |date= [[2002-12-31]]|accessdate = 2005-09-24 }}</ref> In August 1988, Quantum launched [[PC Link]], a service for IBM-compatible [[personal computer|PCs]] developed in a joint venture with the [[Tandy Corporation]].

From the beginning, AOL included [[online games]] in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. In the early years of AOL the company introduced many additional innovative online interactive titles and games, including:
*Graphical chat environments [[Habitat (video game)|Habitat]] (1986-1988) and [[Club Caribe]] (1988) from [[LucasArts]].
*The first online interactive fiction series [[QuantumLink Serial]] by [[Tracy Reed (writer)|Tracy Reed]] (1988).
*[[Quantum Space]], the first fully automated [[Play-by-mail game|Play by email]] game (1989-1991).
*The original [[Dungeons & Dragons]] title ''[[Neverwinter Nights (AOL game)|Neverwinter Nights]]'' from [[Stormfront Studios]] (1991-1997), the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ([[MMORPG]]) to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text (1991).
*The first chat room-based text role-playing game [[Black Bayou]] (1996-2004), a horror role-playing game from [[Hecklers Online]] and [[ANTAGONIST, Inc.]].

<!--[[Image:AOL-Homepage-Dec1996.JPG|frame|125px|left|One of the first homepages for AOL.com, which went online on [[December 20th]], [[1996]].]]-->In February 1991 AOL for [[DOS]] was launched using a [[GeoWorks]] interface followed a year later by AOL for Windows. In October 1991, Quantum changed its name to America Online. These changes coincided with growth in pay-based BBS services, like [[Prodigy (ISP)|Prodigy]], [[CompuServe]], and [[GEnie]]. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in the fall of 1994.

=== Growth ===
Case positioned AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with [[computer]]s, in particular contrast to [[CompuServe]], which had long served the technical community. The PlayNet system that AOL licensed was the first online service to require use of [[proprietary software]], rather than a standard terminal program; as a result it was able to offer a [[graphical user interface]] (GUI) instead of command lines, and was well ahead of the competition in emphasizing communication among members as a feature.

In particular was the Chat Room concept from PlayNet, as opposed to the previous paradigm of [[Citizens' band radio|CB]]-style channels. Chat Rooms allowed a large group of people with similar interests to convene and hold conversations in real time, including:
*Private rooms - created by any user. Hold up to 27 people.
*Conference rooms - created with permission of AOL. Hold up to 48 people and often moderated.
*Auditoriums - created with permission of AOL. Consisted of a stage and an unlimited number of rows. What happened on the stage was viewable by everybody in the auditorium but what happened within individual rows, of up to 27 people, was viewable only by the people within those rows.
There were also text games played in the chat rooms, known as AOL chatroom games.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

In March 1994, AOL added access to USENET to the features it offered.

AOL quickly surpassed [[GEnie]], and by the mid-1990s, it passed [[Prodigy (ISP)|Prodigy]] (which for several years allowed AOL advertising) and [[CompuServe]].

Originally, AOL charged its users an hourly fee, but in 1996 this changed and a flat rate of $19.99 a month was charged. Within three years, AOL's userbase grew to 10 million people. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals. Also, games which used to be paid for with the hourly fee migrated in droves to the Internet.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

AOL was quickly running out of room in 1996 for its network at the Vienna, VA campus and moved to Dulles, VA a short distance away. The move to Dulles took place in mid-1996 and provided room for future growth.

AOL was relatively late in providing access to the open Internet. Originally, only some Internet features were accessible through a proprietary interface but eventually it became possible to run other Internet software while logged in through AOL. They were the first online service to seamlessly integrate a web browser into content.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

AOL introduced the concept of [[Buddy List]]s, leveraging their one-on-one [[instant messaging]] technology.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

=== Change in focus ===
Since its merger with Time Warner, the value of AOL has dropped from its $200 billion high. It has seen similar losses among its subscription rate. It has since attempted to reposition itself as a content provider similar to companies such as Yahoo! as opposed to an Internet service provider which delivered content only to subscribers in what was termed a "[[Walled garden (media)|walled garden]]". In 2005, AOL broadcast the [[Live 8]] concert live over the Internet, and thousands of users downloaded clips of the concert over the following months.

In 2004 along with the launch of AOL 9.0 Optimized, AOL also made available the option of personalized greetings which would enable the user to hear his or her name while accessing basic functions and mail alerts, or while logging in or out.

AOL eventually announced plans to offer subscribers classic television programs for free with commercials inserted via its new [[IN2TV]] service. At the time of launch, AOL made available [[Warner Bros. Television]]'s vast library of programs, with ''[[Welcome Back Kotter]]'' as its marquee offering. Other shows include ''[[Scarecrow and Mrs. King]]'', ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'', ''[[F Troop]]'', and ''[[Growing Pains]]''.{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

In 2006, AOL informed its American customers that it would be increasing the price of its [[dial-up access]] to [[United States dollar|$]]25.90. The increase was part of an effort to migrate the service's remaining dial-up users to broadband, as the increased price was the same price they had been charging for monthly [[Digital subscriber line|DSL]] access.<ref name="mills">{{cite web|url=http://news.com.com/AOL+hanging+up+on+dial-up+customers/2100-1025_3-6043910.html?tag=nl|title=AOL hanging up on dial-up customers?|last=Mills|first=Elinor|publisher=CNET|accessmonthday=August 3 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> However, AOL has started offering their services for $9.95 a month for unlimited dial-up access.<ref name="AOL">{{cite web|url=http://free.aol.com/thenewaol/plan_choice.adp |title=AOL price plans|accessmonthday=October 29 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>

On [[April 3]], [[2006]], AOL announced that it was retiring the full name "America Online"; the official name of the service is now "AOL".<ref name="pr">{{cite news|url = http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1179447,00.html|title = America Online Changes Its Name to AOL |date= [[2006-04-03]] | accessdate = 2006-07-24 }}</ref>

On [[August 2]], [[2006]], AOL announced that they would give away e-mail accounts and software previously available only to its paying customers provided the customer accesses AOL or AOL.com through a non-AOL-owned access method (otherwise known as "third party transit", "bring your own access", or "BYOA"). The move was designed to reduce costs associated with the "Walled Garden" business model by reducing usage of AOL-owned access points and shifting members with high-speed internet access from client-based usage to the more lucrative advertising provider, AOL.com. The change from paid to free was also designed to slow the rate of members canceling their accounts and defecting to [[Microsoft]] [[Hotmail]], [[Yahoo!]], or other free e-mail providers. According to AOL CEO Randy Falco, as of December 2007, the conversion rate of accounts from paid access to free access is over 80%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/aol-twx-randy-falcos-yearend-love-note-to-aolers.html|title=AOL (TWX): Randy Falco's Year-End Love Note to AOLers|accessmonthday=December 18|accessyear=2007}}</ref>.

In December 2006, in order to cut operating costs, AOL decided to cease using American based call centers to provide [[customer service]]. They drastically downsized Stateside corporate operations as well. Two weeks before [[Christmas]], thousands of workers were put on notice that their positions were being eliminated altogether, or being replaced with [[outsourced]] employees. On [[January 28]], [[2007]], the last domestic call center (based in [[Oklahoma City]]) closed its doors, and, during October 2007, the last call center in [[Canada]] was also shut down. All customer service calls are now handled by representatives in [[India]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Argentina]].

=== Moving of headquarters ===
On [[September 17]], [[2007]], AOL announced that it was moving its corporate headquarters from [[Dulles, Virginia]] to [[New York, New York]]<ref>{{cite news|url = http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119003377082529719.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|title = AOL Moves Headquarters To New York City |date= [[2007-09-17]] | accessdate = 2007-09-17}}</ref> and combining its various advertising units into a new subsidiary called [[Platform A]]. Overall, around 4000 employees are expected to move to the New York City headquarters. This action follows several advertising acquisitions, most notably advertising.com, and highlights the company's new focus on advertising-driven business models. AOL management stressed that "significant operations" will remain in Dulles, which includes the company's access services and modem banks.

By the end of September 2007 as part of preparation for the New York move, AOL completed the closure of its former primary Network Operations Center, [[Reston, Virginia|Reston Technology Center]], which it sold to [[Sprint Nextel]] in early 2007. This sale enabled AOL to consolidate its Northern Virginia operations from three sites (Dulles, Manassas, Reston) to two (Dulles and Manassas; personnel primarily went to Dulles, while machines moved to Manassas). AOL took advantage of the move to both reduce its overall hardware inventory and to determine a "right size" for its Network Operations Center staff after consolidating the three sites into two.

As part of the impending move to New York and the restructuring of responsibilities at the Dulles headquarters complex after the Reston move, AOL CEO [[Randy Falco]] announced on [[October 15]], [[2007]] plans to lay off 2000 employees worldwide by the end of 2007, beginning "immediately". That evening, over 750 employees at Dulles alone received notices to attend early morning meetings the next day<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/10/aol-twx-how-to.html|title=AOL (TWX): Live Layoff Coverage|date[2007-10-15|accessdate=2007-10-27}}</ref>; those employees were laid off on [[October 16]], [[2007]], though the employees would remain on the payroll until [[December 14]], [[2007]] in accordance with the [[Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act|WARN Act]]. Other employees whose groups were due for phase-out as part of the restructuring were informed on [[October 16]], [[2007]] that they would be kept on until [[December 14]], [[2007]] to complete any outstanding tasks, after which they would laid off. The reduction in force was so large that virtually every conference room within the Dulles complex was reserved for the day as a "Special Purpose Room", where various aspects of the layoff process were conducted for outgoing employees; remaining employees at Dulles were quick to dub the mass layoff "Bloody Tuesday" in online blogs and news reports<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/10/aol-twx-how-to.html|title=AOL (TWX): Live Layoff Coverage|date=2007-10-15|accessdate=2007-10-27}}</ref>. An unspecified number of staff at the former Compuserve facility in [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus, OH]] were also released, as well as the entire [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] Quality Analysis shop, a number of AOL employees working at the former Netscape facility in [[Mountain View, California|Mountain View, CA]], the development team in France, and practically the entire [[Moncton|Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada]] member services call center site. The end result was a near 40% layoff across the board at AOL, including a substantial number of Systems Operations personnel, a significant change from previous layoffs where SysOps employees routinely suffered only minor personnel reductions. <ref>{{cite news|url = http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/tuesday-is-layoff-day-at-aol/|title = Tuesday is Layoff Day at AOL|date = 2007-10-15|accessdate = 2007-10-17}}</ref>. An additional round of layoffs, mostly confined to analysis groups and the staff at AOL Voice Services in [[City of Halifax|Halifax, Nova Scotia]], occurred on [[December 11]] and [[December 12]], [[2007]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/12/live-aol-twx-layoffs-commence.html|title=LIVE AOL (TWX) Layoff Coverage, AOLers Weigh In|date=2007-12-12|accessdate=2007-12-18}}</ref>.

===TMZ.com===
In 2005, AOL (along with [[Telepictures Productions]]), launched [[TMZ.com]], one of the leading celebrity news and gossip sources on the web. TMZ.com has become known for its quickness to break celebrity news, often accompanied by exclusive videos and photos<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMZ.com</ref>.

== Controversies ==
Being named '''#1''' in [[PC World]]'s list of the 25 worst tech products of all time,<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125772,pg,2,00.asp ''
|title="The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time"''
|date=2007-03-26
|publisher= PC World Magazine}}</ref> AOL has been involved in many controversies.

=== Community leaders ===
Prior to mid 2005, AOL used volunteers called [[AOL Community Leader Program|Community Leaders]], or CLs, to monitor chatrooms, message boards, and libraries. Some community leaders were recruited for content design and maintenance using a proprietary language and interface called [[RAINMAN]], although most content maintenance was performed by partner and internal employees.

In 1999, a [[class action lawsuit]] was filed against AOL citing violations of U.S. labor laws in its usage of CLs. The [[Department of Labor]] investigated but came to no conclusions, closing their investigation in 2001. In light of these events, AOL began drastically reducing the responsibilities and privileges of its volunteers in 2000. The program was eventually ended on [[June 8]], [[2005]]. Current Community Leaders at the time were offered 12 months of credit on their accounts.

=== Billing disputes ===
AOL has faced a number of lawsuits over claims that it has been slow to stop billing people after their accounts have been canceled, either by the company or the user. In addition, AOL changed its method of calculating used minutes in response to a class action lawsuit. Previously, AOL would add fifteen seconds to the time a user was connected to the service and round up to the next whole minute (thus, a person who used the service for 11 minutes and 46 seconds would be charged for 13 minutes). AOL claimed this was to account for sign on/sign off time, but because this practice was not made known to its customers, the plaintiffs won (some also pointed out that signing on and off did not always take 15 seconds, especially when connecting via another ISP). AOL disclosed its connection time calculation methods to all of its customers and credited them with extra free hours. In addition, the AOL software would notify the user of exactly how long they were connected and how many minutes they were being charged.

=== Account cancellation ===
In response to approximately 300 consumer complaints, then-[[New York]] Attorney General [[Eliot Spitzer]]’s office began an inquiry of AOL’s customer service policies. The investigation revealed that the company had an elaborate scheme for rewarding employees who purported to retain or "save" subscribers who had called to cancel their Internet service. In many instances, such retention was done against subscribers’ wishes, or without their consent. Under the scheme, consumer service personnel received bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars if they could successfully dissuade or "save" half of the people who called to cancel service. For several years, AOL had instituted minimum retention or "save" percentages, which consumer representatives were expected to meet. These bonuses, and the minimum "save" rates accompanying them, had the effect of employees not honoring cancellations, or otherwise making cancellation unduly difficult for consumers.

Many customers complained that AOL personnel ignored their demands to cancel service and stop billing. On [[August 24]] [[2005]], America Online agreed to pay $1.25 million to the state of New York and reformed its customer service procedures. Under the agreement, AOL will no longer require its customer service representatives to meet a minimum quota for customer retention in order to receive a bonus.

On [[June 13]], [[2006]], a man named [[Vincent Ferrari]] documented his account cancellation phone call in a [http://insignificantthoughts.com/2006/06/13/cancelling-aol/ blog post], stating he had switched to broadband years earlier. In the recorded phone call, the AOL representative refused to cancel the account unless the 30-year-old Ferrari explained why AOL hours were still being recorded on it. Ferrari insisted that AOL software was not even installed on the computer. When Ferrari demanded that the account be canceled regardless, the AOL representative asked to speak with Ferrari's father, for whom the account had been set up. The conversation was aired on CNBC. When CNBC reporters tried to have an account on AOL cancelled, they were hung up on immediately and it ultimately took more than 45 minutes to cancel the account. AOL eventually fired the representative who had spoken to Ferrari and issued an apology.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13447232/ | title = How hard can it be to cancel an AOL account? | first = Jane|last = Wells|publisher = CNBC |date= [[2006-06-21]] | accessdate = 2006-07-24 }}</ref>

On [[July 19]], [[2006]], AOL's entire [[retention]] manual was released on the Internet. [http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/exclusive/aol-retention-manual-uploaded-in-full-188310.php] (7MB PDF).

On [[August 3]], [[2006]], [[Time Warner]] announced that the company would be dissolving AOL's retention centers due to its profits hinging on $1 billion in cost cuts. The company estimates that it will lose more than six million subscribers over the next year. [http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/aol/timewarner-dissolves-aol-retention-centers-191878.php]

Currently, Free Account members who try to cancel their accounts, via AOL Keyword "cancel", are only redirected to a website allowing them to choose from three different paid membership plans, making it difficult to cancel the account. Also, despite cancellation before a free trial ended, customer's AOL e-mail accounts would be suspended stating that you owed them for that month. <!-- I stated it blandly to get the point across. -->

=== Software ===
In 2000, AOL was served with an $8 billion lawsuit alleging that its (now outdated) AOL 5.0 software caused significant difficulties for users attempting to use third-party Internet service providers. The lawsuit sought damages of up to $1000 for each user that had downloaded the software cited at the time of the lawsuit. AOL later agreed to a settlement of $15 million, without admission of wrongdoing. Now, the AOL software has a feature called AOL Dialer, or AOL Connect on Mac OS X. This feature allows users to connect to the ISP without running the full interface. This allows users to use only the applications they wish to use, especially if they do not favor the AOL Browser.

=== Usenet newsgroups ===
When AOL gave clients access to [[Usenet]] in 1993, they hid at least one newsgroup in standard list view: ''alt.aol-sucks''. AOL did list the newsgroup in the alternative description view, but changed the description to "Flames and complaints about America Online". With AOL clients swarming [[Usenet]] newsgroups, the old, existing user base started to develop a strong distaste for both AOL and its clients, referring to the new state of affairs as [[Eternal September]].

=== Terms of Service (TOS) ===
There have been many complaints over rules that govern AOL's members conduct, called the ''[[Terms of Service]]'', which apply to everyone who uses AOL, regardless of age, or where an AOL member is on the Internet. Claims are that these rules are too strict to follow (many find AOL's authority to change these terms at any given time and without warning particularly troublesome).{{who?|date=September 2007}} TOS is known as COS (conditions of service) in the UK. In addition, the Terms of Service are not even made known to potential customers until they have already signed up for the service.

=== Certified e-mail ===
In early 2005, AOL stated its intention to implement [[certified e-mail]], which will allow companies to send email to users with whom they have pre-existing business relationships, with a visual indication that the email is from a trusted source and without the risk that the email messages might be blocked or stripped by [[spam filter]]s.

This decision has drawn fire from [[MoveOn]], which characterizes the program as an "e-mail tax", and the [[EFF]], which characterizes it as a shakedown of non profits <ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004398.php | title = AOL, Yahoo and Goodmail: Taxing Your Email for Fun and Profit|author = [[Cindy Cohn]]|publisher = [[EFF]] | date= 2006-02-08}}</ref>. A website called [http://web.archive.org/web/20070104175854/http://www.dearaol.com/ Dearaol.com] was launched, with an online petition and a blog that garnered hundreds of signatures from people and organizations expressing their opposition to AOL's use of goodmail.

[[Esther Dyson]] defended the move in a ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial saying "I hope Goodmail succeeds, and that it has lots of competition. I also think it and its competitors will eventually transform into services that more directly serve the interests of mail recipients. Instead of the fees going to Goodmail and EON, they will also be shared with the individual recipients."<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/opinion/17dyson.html?ex=1300251600&en=04138dcf8237c907&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | title = You've Got Goodmail|author = [[Esther Dyson|Dyson, Esther]]|publisher = [[New York Times]] |date= [[2006-03-17]] | accessdate = 2006-07-24 }}</ref>.

Other members of the antispam and blogging community are broadly critical of moveon.org and the EFF's attempts to characterize this as a "shakedown".

Tim Lee of the [http://www.techliberation.com/archives/038303.php Technology Liberation Front] posted an article that questioned the EFF's adopting a confrontational posture when dealing with private companies. Lee's article cited a series of [http://www.politechbot.com/2006/04/15/debate-over-dearaolcom/ discussions] on [[Declan McCullagh]]'s [[Politechbot]] mailing list on this subject between the EFF's Danny O'Brien and antispammer Suresh Ramasubramanian, who has also [http://www.circleid.com/posts/eff_use_of_propaganda_karl_rove/ compared] the EFF's tactics in opposing Goodmail to tactics used by Republican political strategist [[Karl Rove]]. [[Spamassassin]] developer [[Justin Mason]] posted some criticism of the EFF's and Moveon's "going overboard" in their opposition to the scheme.

The dearaol.com campaign lost momentum and went defunct, with the last post to the now defunct dearaol.com blog - "AOL starts the shakedown" being made on [[May 9]], [[2006]].

=== Search data ===
{{main|AOL search data scandal}}

On [[August 4]] [[2006]], AOL released a compressed text file on one of its websites containing twenty million search [[keyword]]s for over 650,000 users over a 3-month period between [[March 1]], [[2006]] and [[May 31]], intended for research purposes. AOL pulled the file from public access by [[August 7]], but not before its wide distribution on the Internet by others. Derivative research, titled "[http://www.ir.iit.edu/~abdur/publications/pos-infoscale.pdf A Picture of Search]" was published by authors Pass, Chowdhury and Torgeson for [http://www.cs.hku.hk/infoscale06/ The First International Conference on Scalable Information Systems].

These data are being used by Web sites such as [http://www.aolstalker.com AOLstalker] for entertainment purposes, where users of AOLstalker are encouraged to judge AOL clients based on the humorousness of personal details revealed by search behavior.

As of [[December 11]], [[2007]], [[Google]] and the [[Microsoft]] search engine "store personal information for 18 months" and [[Yahoo!]] and AOL "retain search requests for 13 months".<ref>{{cite news|author=Liedtke, Michael|title=Ask.com will purge search info in hours|url=http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071211/BIZ/712110335|work=Journal Gazette|publisher=Fort Wayne Newspapers|date=[[December 11]], [[2007]]|accessdate=2007-12-11}}</ref>

== Company purchases ==
As it grew, AOL purchased many other software companies, including:
*Redgate Communications, in August 1994, through which [[Ted Leonsis]] joined AOL.
*[[BookLink]] bought on [[December 29]] [[1994]].
*[[NaviSoft]]'s [[NaviServer]] (later to become [[AOLserver]]) on [[November 30]] [[1994]].
*Medior in May 1995, through which Barry Schuler joined the company.
*[[Ubique (company)|Ubique]] maker of [[Virtual places|Virtual Places]] on [[September 22]] [[1995]].
*[[Johnson-Grace]], developers of data compression technology, on [[February 1]] [[1996]]
*[[Global Network Navigator|GNN]] Global Network Navigator, [[1995]]
*iAmaze
*[[ImagiNation Network|ImagiNation Network (I.N.N.)]] from [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]] on [[August 6]] [[1996]].
*[[CompuServe]] on [[February 22]] [[1998]].
*[[Mirabilis (company)|Mirabilis]] (maker of [[ICQ]]) on [[June 8]] [[1998]].
*Personal Library Software (PLS) (maker of CPL full text retrieval engine software) on [[November 11]] [[1998]].
*[[Nullsoft]] (maker of [[Winamp]]), in May 1999 for $86 million.
*[[Netscape Communications Corporation|Netscape]], on [[March 17]] [[1999]] for $4.2 billion.
*[[AOL Radio|Spinner.com]], formerly TheDJ.com, in May 1999 for $320 million.
*[[Moviefone]] on [[May 21]] [[1999]] as part of a $525 million stock deal.
*[[Tegic]] on [[December 1]] [[1999]].
*[[Mapquest]] on [[July 3]] [[2000]].
*[[Quack.com]], a voice-based infrastructure and services company, on [[August 31]] [[2000]] for $200 million.
*[[eVoice]], a telecom services company, in 2001 .
*[http://infointeractive.com InfoInterActive], a telecom software company, on [[July 19]] [[2001]].
*[[DeadAIM]] in 2003 .
*[[Singingfish]] audio and video search engine, November 2003 .
*[http://advertising.com Advertising.com], an Internet advertising agency, on [[August 2]] [[2004]].
*[http://mailblocks.com MailBlocks], a personal, Web-based email service, on [[August 4]] [[2004]].
*[http://xdrive.com Xdrive], a leading provider of [[online storage]] and [[file sharing]] services, on [[August 4]] [[2005]].
*[http://wildseed.com Wildseed], a privately held mobile software vendor, on [[August 8]] [[2005]].
*[[Weblogs, Inc.]], a [[blog]]ging network that runs such sites as [[Engadget]], [http://www.autoblog.com/ Autoblog], [http://www.cinematical.com/ Cinematical] and [[TV Squad]], on [[October 6]] [[2005]], for $30 million.
*[http://www.musicnow.com/ MusicNow], an online music service, from [[Circuit City]], on [[November 3]] [[2005]].
*[http://www.truveo.com/ Truveo, Inc.], a video search company, on [[December 21]] [[2005]], for $50 million.
*[http://www.lightningcast.com/ Lightningcast, Inc] a provider of technology that enables broadband audio and video marketing, branding and advertising, in May 2006 .
*[[Userplane]], a [[social network]]ing software provider, in August 2006.<ref>http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1031&section_id=14</ref>
*[http://www.gamedaily.com/ GameDaily], a gaming web site, in August 2006.<ref>http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=13535</ref>
*[http://www.relegence.com/ Relegence], a financial news and information services company, in November 2006 for between $55 and $65 million.<ref>http://www.relegence.com/November8.htm</ref>
*[http://www.adtech.info/en/index.html AdTech], an advertising network based in Germany<ref>http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1232</ref>
*[http://www.tacoda.com/ Tacoda], founded in 2001, a targeted advertising network
*[http://www.thirdscreenmedia.com/ Third Screen Media], a mobile advertising network, on [[May 15]], [[2007]]<ref>http://www.thirdscreenmedia.com/wordpress/?p=117</ref>

== Company sales ==
AOL ([[Time Warner]]) has sold a number of its sub-companies in Europe. [[AOL Europe]] has six million users, but its subscription base had been steadily declining. In 2005, 287,000 European AOL online users migrated to other service providers.<ref>{{cite news
| url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/15/aol_for_sale/
| title= AOL Germany for sale?
| publisher= The Register
|date=2006-04-15
| accessdate=2006-11-08
}}</ref>
In September 2006, [[AOL Germany]]'s ISP business ([http://www.aol.de AOL Deutschland]) was sold for $863m (€675m) to [[Telecom Italia]].<ref>{{cite news
| url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/telecom_italia_buys_aol
| title= Telecom Italia buys AOL Germany
|date=[[18 September]] [[2006]]
| accessdate=2006-11-11
}}</ref>

In October 2006, [[AOL UK]]'s ISP business was sold for $688m (£370m) to [[Carphone Warehouse]].<ref name="CPW">{{cite news
| url= http://www.cpwplc.com/cpw/media/press/2006/2006-10-11/
| title= Carphone Warehouse to acquire Time Warner's AOL Internet access business in the UK for £370 million
| work= Carphone Warehouse Press Release
|date=2006-10-11 | accessdate=2006-10-27
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite news
| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6039740.stm
| title= Carphone Warehouse buying AOL UK
| work= BBC News |date= 2006-10-11 | accessdate=2006-10-11
}}</ref>

== Notable people associated with AOL ==
{{Unreferenced-section|date=January 2007}}

*[[Randy Falco]] (CEO and board chairman)
*[[Ron Grant]] (President and COO)
*[[Jonathan Miller (America Online)|Jonathan Miller]] (former CEO and board chairman)
*[[Jim Kimsey]] (former CEO and board chairman)
*[[Steve Case]] (former CEO and board chairman)
*[[Barry Schuler]] (former CEO)
*[[Peter Ban]] Ridgewood, NJ
*[[The Untouchable DJ Drastic]] (DJ, Radio Personality, & Industry Tastemaker)<ref> http://music.aol.com/artist/the-untouchable-dj-drastic/343138</ref>
*[[Jan Brandt]] (former President of Marketing)
*[[Jim Barksdale]] (former director)
*[[Colin Powell]] (former director)
*[[Alexander Haig]] (former director)
*[[John Barnes]] (former head researcher)
*[[Justin Frankel]] (Nullsoft founder)
*[[Mary Cheney]] (vice president for consumer advocacy and daughter of Vice-President Dick Cheney)
*[[Ted Leonsis]] (Vice-Chairman, President AOL Audience Group)
*[[Randall Boe]] (Executive Vice President and General Counsel)
*[[Michael Powell (politician)|Michael Powell]] (during merging with [[Time Warner]])
*[[Marc Andreessen]] (Netscape co-founder)
*[[William Raduchel]] (former CTO at AOL and former CFO at Sun Microsystems)
*[[Jason Smathers]] (former AOL employee convicted of stealing the Internet provider's entire subscriber list -- over 30 million consumers, and their 92 million screen names -- and selling it to a known spammer.)
*[[Jason Calacanis]] (former CEO of Weblogs, Inc. and former GM of Netscape)
*[[Michael Jones (Internet entrepreneur)|Michael Jones]] (former CEO of Userplane)
*[[Maureen Govern]] (former CTO)
*Da Chronic (maker of [[AOHell]])<ref>{{cite news|author=Simson L. Garfinkel|authorlink=Simson Garfinkel|date=[[1995-04-21]]|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/17.10.html#subj3|title=AOHell}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|pages=297|title=Steal This Computer Book 3|id=ISBN 1-59327-000-3|publisher=NO STARCH PRESS|author=Wallace Wang|date=[[2003-01-01]]|chapter=AOHell}}</ref>

== Online security services ==
AOL provides online security services for their free and paid subscribers. AOL has partnered with anti-virus company, [[McAfee]], to provide software for Windows users. AOL's initial security offering was McAfee VirusScan 8.0 and Firewall Express 5.0. Initially, it was only available to subscribers using AOL 8.0 and 9.0 software; but has since become available to anyone using versions as old as 6.0.

In late-2005, AOL released AOL Safety & Security Center. It was designed to be an all-in-one solution to security needs. Replaced in 2007 by McAfee VirusScan Plus, the AOL Safety and Security Center included McAfee powered virus protection, spyware, spam and phishing protection, plus parental controls and a firewall. The software was offered free of charge, but only to users with an AOL e-mail address or an AOL My eAddress running Microsoft Windows XP or 2000.

On [[August 7]], [[2006]] <ref>http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1025</ref>, AOL began offering a new anti-virus software offering, [[AOL Active Virus Shield]]. This software was developed by [[Kaspersky Lab]]. Active Virus Shield software was free and did not require an AOL account, only an e-mail address. It also ran on various Microsoft operating systems such as Windows 98, 2000, ME & XP. On [[August 1]], [[2007]], AOL halted new registrations for this service.

On [[June 8]], [[2006]] <ref>http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1201969,00.html</ref>, AOL offered a new program called AOL Active Security Monitor. This is a diagnostic tool to check your security status, and recommends additional Security software from AOL or Download.com in the category you are lacking. The program rates you on Firewall, Virus Protection, Spyware Protection, Windows and Web Browsers, Wireless and Home Network, Peer to Peer, PC Utilities, as well as giving an overall PC Safety Score Summary. The current version (2.0.0.18) only supports Windows 2000 or XP with Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater.

On [[July 18]], [[2007]] <ref>http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1269</ref>, AOL released McAfee VirusScan Plus - Special Edition from AOL (VSP) and it premium version named McAfee Internet Security Suite - Special Edition from AOL (MIS). It succeeds both The AOL Safety and Security Center and AOL Active Virus Shield. Like the AOL Safety and Security Center, it is an all-in-one security suite available free of charge to all users with an AOL e-mail address. Free AOL users can download the VSP while paid subscriber can download MIS. VSP includes an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and a firewall. MIS contains all components of VSP plus includes tools like automatic back-up and one-click restore of computer critical files, to help avoid crashes and keep the PC running at its peak. Additionally, it supports several modern Microsoft Windows operating systems including Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. On this date, AOL no longer provided Active Virus Shield.

== AOL Keywords ==
Keywords are words or phrases that act as shortcuts to AOL areas and Web sites. For example, to view football news and results, you go to AOL Keyword: Football.

Many companies used to pay AOL to have their content featured as an AOL Keyword. One used to see AOL Keywords listed on products or in advertisements in much the same way that Web URLs are used today.

Some AOL keywords at AOL USA, AOL Germany, AOL Canada or AOL UK only work in these countries and cannot be used by AOL customers in other countries (and vice versa). Every other country (where AOL is available) has its own AOL keyword(s).{{Fact|date=January 2007}}

== Free services ==
On Wednesday [[August 2]] [[2006]] AOL announced: "We’re in the process of offering all of our content and many of our services for free -- with or without an AOL Internet connection."<ref>{{cite news
| url= http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20061004/aol_uses_refurbished_software_to_woo_customers-id-101785.html
| title= AOL Uses Refurbished Software to Woo Customers
| publisher= The Money Times
|date=[[4 October]] [[2006]] | accessdate=2006-11-11 }}</ref>

Among the announced plans are free email services similar to many 'free' email providers. Chatrooms are included with the free service, but users are required to verify the age of an account created under the free plan using a credit card. AOL charges $1 to the credit card provided and then immediately refunds the charge. Thus people making new accounts currently experience problems whereas those who have simply converted their pay accounts over to the free plan can chat without worry.

The current version of AOL's software as of August 2006, AOL 9.0, was once identified by [[Stopbadware]] as being "under investigation" [http://stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol082706], for installing additional software without disclosure, and modifying browser preferences, toolbars, and icons. However, as of the release of AOL 9.0 VR on [[January 26]], [[2007]], it is no longer considered badware due to changes AOL made in the software [http://stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol90vr].

On [[16 February]] [[2007]], it was announced that AOL now supports [[OpenID]].{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

On [[October 4]] [[2006]], AOL released its new, free Internet suite, AOL [[OpenRide]], which combines a web browser, instant messenger, email client and media player in one program window.

AOL currently provides free usage of a custom [[domain name]], which it calls an [http://domains.aol.com AOL My eAddress]. This currently allows you to create an e-mail address like 'example@whateveryouwant.com', and allows up to 100 other addresses to be created. These e-mail accounts can be accessed in similar manner to other AOL and AIM e-mail accounts. The domain, however, is currently limited to e-mail through AOL's service, and is solely registered to AOL. This may make it unsuitable for a corporate image, and currently does not allow a website or [[domain name service|DNS]] configuration. Details can be found in the [https://domains.aol.com/personaldomain/html/tos.html AOL My eAddress Terms of Service] under section 4 'Domain Name Registrations'.
In late 2006, AOL began offering free and unlimited digital picture storage for anyone who has an account (even free ones) with AOL, AIM, or AOL My eAddress. Users can access their photos at [http://pictures.aol.com/] which can be accessed with any account type, paid or free. There is no storage limit on the number of digital photos, and original resolutions are preserved. An ActiveX control provides a drag-n-drop interface, permitting users to drop an entire folder of photos into the web page to upload them. Features include tagging and photo descriptions, similar to Flickr.com's features.

=== UnCut Video ===
AOL's latest contribution to its free services is UnCut Video. UnCut Video allows registered users to post and comment on videos[http://uncutvideo.aol.com/Main.do]. UnCut video has never made it out of beta and AOL has reglegated the project as stopped; which means the project is no longer in development. The Servers and source code have been moved from the Mountain View facility to Dulles, Virginia.

=== AOL Local ===
Consolidating local local-based products, AOL Local brings together like the popular [http://cityguide.aol.com/ AOL CityGuide], [http://yellowpages.aol.com/ AOL Yellow Pages] and [http://local.aol.com/ AOL Local Search] to help users find local information like restaurants, local events, and directory listings.

=== YouTube partnership ===
In addition to hosting UnCut Video, AOL is rumored to be partnering up with
[[YouTube]] by integrating video services
[http://www.inreview.com/showthread.php?postid=691353&forumid=1027#post691353].
Based on the leaked internal web site at AOL, some have also speculated that
YouTube is countering MySpace's efforts to compete with them
[http://youtubeforums.com/showthread.php?t=1427].

=== Xdrive ===
Xdrive is a service offered by AOL which allows users to back up their files over the Internet. The service provides a free 5 [[Gigabyte|GB]] account (free [[online storage]]) to anyone who has, or is willing to sign up for a free AOL screenname.<ref name="Pogue">{{cite news
| last =Pogue
| first =David
| coauthors =
| title =Fewer excuses for not doing a PC backup
| work =
| pages =
| language =
| publisher =The New York Times
| date =[[January 6]] [[2007]]
| url =http://news.com.com/Fewer+excuses+for+not+doing+a+PC+backup/2100-1046_3-6147459.html?tag=nefd.lede
| accessdate =2007-01-06 }} Quote: "Online backups, where files are shuttled off to the Internet for safekeeping, are suddenly becoming effortless, capacious and even free."</ref>

Xdrive also offers remote backup services and 50GB of storage for a $9.95 per month fee.<ref name="Pogue"/>

Recently, problems have arisen with Xdrive signups. People who sign up for Xdrive using an existing AOL screenname have had their screenname disabled without explanation. Those who had been using AIM as a free service, even under screennames in existence for many years, have been unable to get the accounts reinstated or access the data associated with them. In addition, affected users with free AIM accounts cannot reach AOL for help or even for information, as their phone support explicitly excludes such users. AOL is apparently either unaware of this problem or has no intention to investigate or rectify it. In addition canceling the account seems to be very difficult even for paying customers. Online help suggests that it can be done with either support email or by phone using 1-800 number. Unfortunately due to constant technical problems the phone number and the email address are not visible for every paying account as they should be. Even with email canceling option many have stated that phone call to 1-800 number was required while others have found that changing their credit card was the only option.

== Movie studios partnership ==
[[Image:Aolbeverlyhillsoffice.jpg|thumb|AOL's Beverly Hills branch office]]

On Friday, [[August 25]], [[2006]], AOL announced that it had signed a deal with several major movie studios to open an online video store allowing users to "download to own" full length movies and television shows. The deal was signed with [[News Corporation]]'s [[20th Century Fox]], [[Sony]] Corp.'s [[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment]], [[NBC Universal]]'s [[Universal Pictures]], and Time Warner Inc.'s [[Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group]]<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401544.html
|title=AOL Goes Hollywood With Video Portal
|date=2006-08-25
|publisher=The Washington Post
}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[AOL Radio]]
*[[AOHell]]
*[[AOL Explorer]]
*[[Eternal September]]
*[[Inside-AOL.com]]
*[[Vincent Ferrari]]
*[[Tier 1 carrier]]
*[[AOL Sessions]]
*[[.art]]
*[[AOL UK]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.aol.com/ AOL]
*[http://corp.aol.com/ AOL Corporate]
*[http://discover.aol.com/international.adp AOL International Services]
*[http://www.aol.in/ AOL India]
*[http://canada.aol.ca AOL Canada]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Time Warner}}
{{IT giants}}

[[Category:AOL]]
[[Category:Companies based in Dulles, Virginia]]
[[Category:Companies based in New York City]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:Online service providers]]
[[Category:Internet companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Internet service providers of the United States]]
[[Category:Internet service providers]]
[[Category:Time Warner subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Companies without an unabbreviated name]]
[[Category:Global internet community]]
[[Category:Web service providers]]
[[Category:Orphan initialisms]]

[[ar:إيه أو إل]]
[[da:AOL (internet)]]
[[de:AOL]]
[[es:AOL]]
[[fr:America Online]]
[[ko:AOL]]
[[it:AOL]]
[[lt:AOL]]
[[hu:America Online]]
[[nl:AOL]]
[[ja:AOL]]
[[no:AOL]]
[[pl:AOL]]
[[pt:AOL]]
[[ro:AOL]]
[[ru:AOL]]
[[simple:America Online]]
[[sl:AOL]]
[[fi:AOL]]
[[sv:America Online]]
[[vi:AOL]]
[[tr:AOL]]
[[zh:美国在线]]