Blowback on the AOL search-query scandal reached high up the corporate ladder today, as the company announced CTO Maureen Govern has decided to leave the company immediately. According to Bloomberg, the position will be filled by President of AOL Digital Services John McKinley, whom Govern replaced as CTO in September 2005. The company also plans to create a task force to improve privacy practices, a much-needed PR move, if anything, in the wake of the recent privacy scandal, which included The New York Times’ outing of 62-year-old Thelma Arnold of Lilburn, Ga., as AOL searcher No. 4417749. Two other AOL employees have also been dismissed. AOL’s technology department has not been the only thorn in Time Warner’s side as of late. Last week Time Warner announced it would restate earnings going back 6 1/2 years to fix accounting errors in response to a 2005 SEC settlement, which required Time Warner to review transactions with 17 companies during 2000 and 2001.Add to this the current drag AOL is perceived to be having on Time Warner’s overall financial performance, and it appears more changes may be in the offing. Technology Industry