An LWN status update

An LWN status update

I think LWN subscribers want to help you, but they are limited by the lockout from telling people "Hey, check this great article out". So how about this variation on the micropayment idea?

Part of each subscription (say $5) compulsorily goes into a pot for that subscriber. All the URLs a subscriber visits have their ID encoded in. Subscribers can send those same URLs to anyone they like; every time it's viewed by someone who isn't them, the page says "Page recommended by person X; please subscribe if you like our stuff" and the pot decreases by one cent. Once the pot is empty, all the URLs stop working. People can donate to recharge their pots if they like.

So, subscribers can share LWN content with their friends legally and immediately, thereby publicising the site, but not in an unlimited way.

Advantages:

- Gets LWN read by non-subscribers in a limited way.
- Gives people an incentive to send LWN links around; if they don't, that pot is "wasted", as it gets emptied and refilled at renewal time.
- Prevents the "Slashdot a free article link" problem - the pot of the person whose link it was would empty very quickly and then the link would stop working.

Gerv