Microsoft to Buy Part of AOL?

Time Warner may sell a stake in AOL to none other than Microsoft, reports the NY Post this morning. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft "would pay New York-based Time Warner an unspecified amount of cash for a stake in AOL and combine it with its Internet unit, MSN." According to Red Herring, "One report on Thursday had Time Warner and Microsoft in “advanced discussions” on a merger of AOL and MSN. Another has AOL unveiling the VoIP product at next week’s Voice On the Net (VON) Coalition conference in Boston. " "According to the web publication Light Reading, AOL, which was one of the first web portal companies to dabble in VoIP, is getting set to launch a full-service VoIP product that will not require AOL membership or AOL’s software client. It will be a full-blown VoIP service, much like Vonage’s, that will be available to consumers across the United States." "Also, the New York Post cites two unnamed sources that claimed Microsoft is proposing a deal in which it would pay Time Warner for a stake in AOL, after which the two companies will create a joint venture that will merge the portal efforts of AOL and MSN. " “Voice is becoming commoditized to the point of being free, which is in such contrast to 20 years ago. This is a revolution happening in real time,” said Mr. Nordgaard. “I think Vonage will get folded into one of those companies. Vonage has an embedded customer base so I could see either one cutting a deal,” said Mr. Nordgaard.