Greenberg says that under federal labor guidelines, AOL volunteers should be paid at least minimum wage and should be paid in cash. If he is right, the economic implications are staggering. Using the most conservative figures, if America Online had been forced to pay these volunteers in cash, it would not have shown a profit until fiscal year 1999-seven years later than it actually did. In all, since 1992, it would have had to spend nearly $1 billion in wages, or $166 million (see table) in the recently concluded fiscal year, an analysis of AOL's own financial records shows.

So now I'm wondering, what about all those people who moderate on Slashdot?