Germanernet company T-Online yesterday announced that it has
started changing its users for the type of content that it once
provided free. It is the latest company to make such a move in a
bid for profitability, a trend being followed by web site
TheEndOfFree.com.
T-Online, which operates as both an ISP and portal, is a
division of Deutsche Telekom AG with over 8 million subscribers.
According to The Wall Street Journal, it will be offering users an
on-line computer game at €1.50 and on-line fitness videos at €1.60.
Its financial newsletter will cost €17.90 per month or €2.90 for a
single issue. (€1.00 currently equates to £0.61.)
The End of Free is a web site "chronicling free to fee and
beyond". Contributions to the site quote various press releases and
media articles from March 2001 onwards which chart the changes in
numerous sites as they explain their conversions from free to
fee-based content and services.
