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In early 1985, von Meister left the company. Kimsey was brought in by his West Point friend Frank Caufield, an investor in the company. In May 1983, Jim Kimsey became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video, which was near bankruptcy. In January 1983, Steve Case was hired as a marketing consultant for Control Video on the recommendation of his brother, investment banker Dan Case. The telephone disconnected and the downloaded game would remain in GameLine's Master Module and playable until the user turned off the console or downloaded another game. GameLine permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of US$1 per game.
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Subscribers bought a modem from the company for US$49.95 and paid a one-time US$15 setup fee. Its sole product was an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console, after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Bros.
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By 1995, AOL had about three million active users. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and The Source. A new IBM PC client launched in 1988, eventually renamed as America Online in 1989. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), who went online in November 1985. The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc.
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