I'm wondering if we are talking about the same issue. My issue is that I used to be able to post an opinion on HuffP using my account sign in. But they changed it up a few years back and the only way I could post an opinion was to do it via FB. Is this what you are talking about? I have a feeling I am not getting your issue when you wrote:
AOL says you should never be required to sign onto any other site or community to post on AOL news
I thought we were talking HuffPOst? I don't know anything about AOL news - I don't go to their site or use them other than they are the provider of my old VZ email. AOL is old school so I am not interested in them. Was never a big fan of them when they were huge either.
One thing I can add. I can't stand VZ, but I have to defend them about this...I can't tell you how many times in the past if there were an issue on a site, that site would always give the "it's not on our end - must be your isp" remark. That used to be the go-to excuse for tech support when they didn't have a clue.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
