"It's no secret that I've never been a fan of America Online's takeover of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) since news of the deal first broke wind. The stakes from this proposed mega-merger are far too high for mainstream consumers to accept the deal at face value. It deserves a triple-dose of scrutiny, and neither company's laundry list of empty promises should be taken lightly...

Since mid-April's high-tech wilting on the vine, we've witnessed a pessimistic sentiment that's infected nearly every facet of the Internet and technology in general. A byproduct of that pessimism and belt-tightening in the capital markets is that some innovation has started tapering and the time to market has slowed. That's also left the once-aggressive rollout of broadband Internet access stalled for many consumers. Fewer marketing dollars are being dog-eared to promote faster Net access, and the pace of costly upgrades to cable and phone networks have suffered."

—Kelly Black, "AOL-Time Warner Needs To Get Done", internetstockreport.com