Making the Case for the Internet

New York - Steve Case, chairman and CEO of the embattled America Online, Inc., opened Internet World this morning with wise words for the auditorium-filling masses.

"We are in the middle of a transition where the [Web] is going to turn from a hobby to a necessity," he said. Pretty soon, he said, people will be saying, "Honey, what's online tonight?"

While Case was upbeat about the future of the Internet, he urged others to learn from the mistakes of his company, which has suffered for more than a decade from not being able to meet the demands of the growth it has experienced.

America Online membership has grown from 200,000 users five years ago to more than 10 million today.

"Make your product accessible and easy to use, enriching and safe to use, and inexpensive," Case cited as the three paramount responsibilities industry participants have.

"Consumers don't care about technology, but instead what it can do for them," Case said. He added that users expect cooperation between companies behind the scenes to make operation of various systems transparent to them.

Case pointed to last week's Internet Online Summit in Washington, D.C. as an example of productive cooperation to protect the Internet community. Out of that conference will come a cyber tip line to report cybercrimes and ubiquitous public service announcements to help educate people about the proper uses of online media.

"We have an obligation to create something we're proud of, not embarrassed by," he said.

Case warned newcomers to the industry not to be taken in by Wall Street. "We should be catering to Main Street," Case said, adding Wall Street is too fickle.

He also urged companies to take charge in Internet issues affecting their industries, claiming if they do not, the government will. Already, he said, there are 160 proposals dealing with the Internet before Congress.