In today’s Washington Post, Steve Case argues for breaking up Time Warner (TWX):

This past July, having concluded that integration would never happen, I proposed to the company's board that it was time to "liberate" and split the conglomerate into four freestanding companies -- Time Warner Cable, Time Warner Entertainment, Time Inc. and AOL -- each with its own strategy, stock, balance sheet, management team and board.

units would benefit from the separation. Time Warner Cable would be better positioned to compete effectively against aggressive communications companies like Verizon and the new AT&T -- and it would lose little in being divorced from the Time Warner movie and television companies, as few benefits have ever materialized from having Time Warner Cable and Turner Broadcasting under the same roof. Time Warner Entertainment (Warner Bros., New Line, HBO and Turner Broadcasting) could build on its strength as one of the world's leading entertainment companies, and more vigorously embrace new technologies and new distribution channels. Time Inc. would be able to grow from being a traditional magazine company into a multifaceted media and information company, focused on expanding its brands well beyond magazines.

AOL would be the fourth company, and perhaps the one with the greatest potential. At a time when some of the fastest-growing enterprises in our economy are Internet leaders -- such as Google -- shareholders would benefit from seeing AOL return to its roots in the Internet sector. A split into separate companies has one other advantage for shareholders: Investors who don't believe in the promise of one of these endeavors could sell their shares in that business and double up in their holdings in other parts of the former Time Warner empire.

The success that Warner Music has had since being spun off from the parent company is an example of how this strategy can deliver value for all stakeholders. When Warner Music was part of Time Warner, it was -- much like AOL -- seen as a business in decline, a troubled division with a glorious past but a questionable future. But since being separated, Warner Music has increased in value by cutting bureaucracy, signing new artists and investing more aggressively in digital music. The private equity firm buyers have already recouped their initial investment, and are still major owners of a stock that is up 20 percent since its initial public offering six months ago.

My sense is that other parts of Time Warner would achieve similar results if set free from the conglomerate. Time Warner has proven to be too big, too complex, too conflicted and too slow-moving -- in other words, too much like a classic conglomerate -- to seize new opportunities.