(2002-11-19) — Buried in more than 430 pages of Homeland Security legislation is an amendment that effectively merges AOL Time Warner with the new Department of Homeland Security.
Appearing together this evening at a news conference, Tom Ridge, the likely Secretary of Homeland Security, and AOL CEO Steve Case said the deal would offer “robust synergy.”
“AOL Time Warner reaches tens of millions of households with a communication pipeline that can both send and receive,” said Mr. Case. “What better way to keep track of potential terrorists than to monitor their computer usage, and even watch them through their own webcams and TV sets.”
“My old colleague, Gerald Levin, once said he didn’t want AOL Time Warner to be just a company, but an institution for the ages,” said Mr. Case. “Today we have realized this dream, making AOL not just an institution, but part of the biggest bureaucracy on earth.”
Mr. Case will remain as director of the AOL Division of the Department of Homeland Security, “but he’ll have no duties and no accountability,” said Mr. Ridge. “He’ll just have a big fat salary. In other words, his role won’t change.”

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