Poor Steve Case. In the last 12 hours, he -- or someone -- removed the link describing "AOL's Mission" from Case's personal home page. Maybe Case's resignation as Chairman of AOL Time-Warner made it too painful to read Case's cocky earlier boasts that "I am personally committed to doing my part to build a medium we can all be proud of."

Fortunately AOL Watch has preserved the complete text of the web page (below). (The original page still appears on Steve Case's site, but the links to it have been removed.) Google has cached Case's original page as well. Even more interesting is the grandiose mission statement Case had been displaying on his web page in 2001 . "We believe that AOL Time Warner will be the premier global company -- delivering information, entertainment and communications services across rapidly converging media platforms..."

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The statement of "AOL's Mission"

Link removed from Steve Case's home page 1/13/03

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At AOL, our mission has always been to build a global medium as central to people's lives as the telephone and the television...and even more valuable.

At the dawn of the Internet Century, we are more committed than ever to fulfilling that vision --and I am personally committed to doing my part to build a medium we can all be proud of.

I am also very excited about the many possibilities presented by AOL's merger with Time Warner, which we believe will enhance our ability to provide people with the richest, most rewarding online experience - and to ensure that the benefits of the interactive medium reach around the world.

As we go forward, we will continue to be guided by four principles which have helped make AOL the largest, most diverse online community in the world: fostering community, encouraging responsibility, increasing interactivity, and leaving no one behind in the Internet Century.

It is a challenge we look forward to meeting.