I didn't bother to read any comments when this news first came out and I saw it in my reader. It's obvious that AOL and Yahoo! worked together and that this is a business model. Almost all of the tech commentary I read was absolutely terrible. I don't suggest reading sites such as Tech Crunch that missed the boat on this one. They are probably wrong on others as well.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/26/aol-one-step-behind-again-new-home-page-identical-to-yahoo/

Can you explain why would Yahoo license the design of their homepage to a competitor?

They only compete in certain arenas. Being portals, neither AOL nor Yahoo! can compete with Google's spartan design. The best thing they can do is team up and make their interfaces a de facto standard. This encourages AOL users to use Yahoo!, and Yahoo! users to use AOL. It's a symbiotic relationship that makes a lot of sense.

If there is a relationship, how come nobody is aware of it? There's a ton of articles saying the design was ripped off, and nobody has said anything to the contrary:
http://www.digg.com/tech_news/New_AOL_com_Beta_Rips_Off_Yahoo_Home_Page

Do you have any evidence that there was a partnering on the design, or are you just speculating?

suggested reading of insider thoughts wrt to the new design :)-

http://www.kickingpebbles.net/?p=70

You heard it first here, then. Take a good look at how close those designs are. AOL and Yahoo! were in cahoots and stand to make money.

I'm sure you all know something about copyright law. AOL hasn't been sued because they have a contract.

there HAS to be a connection. no way does Y let that go unless they sanctioned it.

> If there is a relationship, how come nobody is aware of it?
> There's a ton of articles saying the design was ripped off,
> and nobody has said anything to the contrary

Speculation: maybe the participating players enjoy the news hype, even if it's for the wrong reasons it might get some people to check out AOL. Someone could ask AOL press support...