I would like this answered by 3pm Sun. May 19th plesae.

Why is AOL currently under scruntiny by the government?

How many members does AOL have currently.

Hello.

It seems that AOL's accounting practices are under scrutiny from the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Specifically, the SEC
is looking into whether AOL artificially inflated its reported
advertising revenues.

From Fortune Magazine:

"Take AOL. The SEC is investigating the company's accounting for
several unorthodox deals of which E&Y was apparently well aware. Ernst
& Young allowed AOL to count all kinds of oddities--stocks, warrants,
barter deals, and even legal settlements--as ad revenue. AOL has since
restated $190 million of that. But now the SEC is looking into another
$400 million in advertising sales that came along with AOL's purchase
of Bertelsmann's 49.5% stake of AOL Europe. Some accounting experts
think those ads shouldn't really have been counted as revenue either.
The SEC is also asking about a similar arrangement with Monster.com
that contributed $100 million in ad revenue and smaller transactions
with drkoop.com and Catalina Marketing."
source: Fortune, May 12, 2003 
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/investing/articles/0,15114,450891,00.html


From PC World:

"Just one day before AOL Time Warner was set to release its first
quarter 2003 results, reports surfaced Tuesday that a government probe
into the company's accounting practices has widened even further.
The Washington Post reported in its online edition Tuesday that the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is now scrutinizing a $100
million transaction between Monster.com and the company's AOL Internet
unit, as well as smaller deals with Drkoop.com and Catalina Marketing.
The report comes on the heels of news last month that federal
investigators, who initiated an inquiry into the company's accounting
last year, had shifted their focus to two advertising deals the
company forged with German media giant Bertelsmann."
source: PC World, April 23, 2003
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110387,00.asp

"AOL's New Cash, New SEC Woes," from atnewyork.com
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/2195121

"Ex-AOL dealmaker weak on details," from CNN.com
http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/15/news/companies/colburn/

"SEC Rains on AOL TW - Probes More Dubious 'Round Trip' Ad Deals"
source: smartpros.com
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x37997.xml

"AOL advertising inquiry widens"
The Guardian, April 23, 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,941495,00.html

search strategy:
google news: aol, scrutiny
aol, sec
aol, "exchange commission"

I hope this helps.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 17 May 2003 21:41 PDT

AOL has 35 million members.
source: zdnet.com
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-992142.html

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 17 May 2003 21:46 PDT

Additional source:

"...if AOL delivers on its promise to offer a free blogging service to
its 35 million users."
source: BBC, May 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2992587.stm

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Request for Answer Clarification by faithski-ga on 18 May 2003 09:05 PDT

Are the number of members 33 or 35M?  the ZD net article states 33M? 
Any clue what the publically available number is as of their latest
earnings?  that is probably the gold standard to be using.

The other answer was excellent. 

Also, I posted a questions on the interoperability of Instant
messaging questions ($15)  Any chance you might be a sleuth and be
able to  help out there.

Best,
Faith

Thank you!

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 18 May 2003 10:23 PDT

Hi.

Oddly, that ZDNet article mentions the 33 million figure at the
beginning but also cites the 35 million figure in the fourth paragraph
from the bottom:
"The world's largest Internet service, with 35 million members, AOL
has seen its rocketing subscriber numbers stall over the past year..."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-992142.html


In any case, 35 million is the number that AOL itself provides:
"AOL: The World’s Leading Interactive Service
  * 35 million members worldwide "
source: AOL, Who We Are
http://www.corp.aol.com/whoweare/who_datapoints.html

Also see an April 2003 AOL press release:
" AOL News... offers an exclusive news experience for the company's 35
million members..."
source: AOL Time Warner Press Releases
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55253125

I hope this helps.