AOL Exec Is Reportedly Locked Out

Associated Press | August 14, 2002

[HAL9000]

DULLES, Va. (AP) — David M. Colburn, who negotiated many of America Online's biggest deals, reportedly has left the company.

Colburn was locked out of his office on Friday at the company's Dulles headquarters only days after AOL named Jonathan F. Miller as its new chief executive, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Colburn's business affairs division was involved in advertising and commerce deals that have led to investigations of AOL's accounting practices by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.

His departure came just days before Wednesday's deadline for corporate executives to vouch for their accounting statements.

The Post said that late last month AOL relieved Colburn of his day-to-day responsibilities for business affairs and shifted him to a strategic planning job.

AOL did not immediately return a phone call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

At AOL Colburn led a unit of about 100 people who brokered hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising and commerce contracts.

America Online and Richard D. Parsons, chief executive of parent company AOL Time Warner Inc., have said the deals were made based on accepted accounting principles and reviewed by the company's outside auditor. Parsons said AOL would cooperate with federal investigators.

The Post said Colburn declined to come to the door of his Potomac, Md., home, but told a reporter through his intercom that he had no comment.

[ken5050]

I really don't have enough expertise to assess it. Financially, it's NOT going under, but whether or not it's worth anything for an upside move, I can't tell....the company is subject to so much regulation...I caught a little bit of FCC sec Powell in front of Congress last week..the one question NO ONE asked is why, in this day and age, we still differentiate between LOCAL and LONG DISTANCE.....heck..there's no difference, except in the regulators' minds....that has to be the FIRST thing that goesa...

[unixfox]

They have done everything on the list of "How to Rip-off Your Customers" and some of their lemmings are starting to catch on.

Kinda like our government huh?

[bvw]

Armstrong seems much more comfortable now -- whether he has a good plan forward is another story. A year and a half ago I thought he was in over his head, and just throwing spagetti at the wall. He did say on Monday that ATT's books were honest and maybe that was the reason they were then at a competitive disadavantage to the lately fallen high-flyers.

I suspect his comfort is mostly in the fall of his rivals.