Re: ADMIN: More on upcoming list changes--READ ME

[Paul Branchaud <paul -at- ZEROKNOWLEDGE -dot- COM>]

Dick Margulis wrote:

"Is there a way to make this a paid subscription service? If half the
current listmembers were willing to pay $5.00 per year, that would
generate $10,000, which ought to be enough to cover the overhead of
handling the transactions online as well as the overhead charges you
describe. (I'm assuming half the list members would be too annoyed or
lazy to cough up the five bucks; I may be overly pessimistic in this. If
more signed up, there would be money to support other features, maybe
return a little to you guys for your management efforts, something I for
one would not resent in the least.)"

I, for one, feel that TECHWR-L is a bargain at twice the suggested price. An
annual fee for membership to the list is an easy way to subsidize the costs
of running a service that has proven, time and time again, to be an
invaluable resource.

HOWEVER... With list members paying dues, it becomes much harder to suspend
posting privileges or throw particularly troublesome members off the list.
This list has seen more than its fair share of flame and holy wars. It is
naive to think that charging a token sum for annual membership will suddenly
snap people into civilized conduct. People may feel that questionable
behavior will have to be tolerated because of the poster's status as an
equal "shareholder". Eric is a patient moderator with a fuse that is
infinitely longer than my own, but suspending or ejecting paid members is
asking for a whole mess of trouble

The only way to limit list abuses that I can think of includes a "code of
conduct" contract (outlining the procedures for suspension or expulsion from
the list) that must be accepted and signed when paying the annual dues.

My two cents...

Paul
--------------------Zero-Knowledge: Nothing Personal--------------------
Paul "RTFM Guy" Branchaud (mailto:paul -at- zeroknowledge -dot- com)
Lead Technical Writer, Zero-Knowledge http://zeroknowledge.com
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Never express yourself more clearly than you think. -- Niels Bohr

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