He's hiring expensive lobbyists and public-relations firms to wage a lobbying war against the cable industry's Internet strategy.

Multichannel News, April, 1999 by Umstead, R. Thomas

America Online Inc. chairman and CEO Steve Case is considered one of the kings of the Internet because he managed to fend off Bill Gates from the outside (The Microsoft Network) and Paul Allen from the inside (Allen once had a big chunk of AOL stock). Now, Case is taking on the cable establishment.

But last week, appearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, Case decided to audition his "I'm-totally-naive-about-politics" routine, probably hoping that people would forget that he's hiring expensive lobbyists and public-relations firms to wage a lobbying war against the cable industry's Internet strategy. Case began his testimony by saying, "This is the first time that I've had an opportunity to appear before Congress... I just ask that you be gentle."