Silicon.com: Ex-AOL chief accused over ad revenue 'deception'

AOL founder Steve Case stands accused of knowingly misrepresenting AOL ad revenues prior to the merger with Time Warner. He is to appear in court to answer questions. Former CFO Joseph Ripp and former CEO Gerald Levin also face similar claims. The case was brought in May, charging that the executives knew AOL's prospects were headed downward.

At the time, the brunt of AOL's ad revenues came from a relatively small number of very large deals with big brands. Renewing those deals would likely be required to keep up ad sales figures, but as it happened, AOL was unable to convince many of the largest clients to renew. It remains debatable whether that failure had more to do with the dot-com bust or more to do with the fact that AOL's deal terms were generally terrible relative to the prevailing rates and terms of the day.