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Slashdot

I was thinking of a one-time link, but we all seem to agree it should be limited somehow. If money were solicited at forward time, and there was a scale, then there would be little different between $1 for 5 "reads" and $0.20 per "read" (except convenience, and a transitive property). A limited number of "free" forwards sounds like it would earn some good will.

I suppose you could also add a number of forwards to each subscription level. Just because someone is at the lowest level does *not* mean that they don't know people who would also pay.

In balance, I think I'd suggest something like:

* 6 free forwards per year for any subscriber (one every other month)
* extra subscription feature to add more forwards

- If you add forwards at renewel/subscription time, you pay a flat rate (subscriber is speculating, transaction fees are minimized, encourage excess!)

- If you add forwards at other times, make the minimum payment sufficiently high that you make money despite transacation fees. Perhaps set different minimums for different transaction types.

And as so many others suggest, do *not* lower the price of the existing subscription levels, and do *not* make extra forwards free! My reasoning is that everyone might pay for extra forwards, regardless of subscription level. Maybe the subscriber could choose each time whether to use a "free" forward or a "paid" forward.