So, let me get this straight. AOL doesn't want to spend money on proper spam filtering (which can be had for free anyway), so they're wanting to start charging companies to allow them to bypass said filtering entirely, making things worse for their customers. Even if spammers don't starting paying to bypass the filters, the filters will eventually become neglected enough to defeat their own purpose. Yeah, that's logic...
The only way they'll be able to deter spammers from using this to get past their defenses is to make the fee high enough to keep any legit business from wanting to use it either, which will only get more people pissed off at them.
It's a lose-lose situation, so why are they wanting to do it?
Like I said, backward thinking.
If you agree, be sure to sign the open letter to AOL telling them just how stupid, greed-inspired, neglectful, etc. their proposal is.