Paywalls: A Demurrer

     I’ve been asked by several Gentle Readers why there’s no way to create a regular monthly or yearly “paid subscription” to Liberty’s Torch. I received another such inquiry a few minutes ago. It’s simple: My opinions are mine alone and freely dispensed, so that’s what I charge for them. The Blogosphere started as a place of freely expressed and freely consumed material, including the sort of drivel I produce. I intend to keep my corner of it that way until I cease to write or depart from this vale of tears (whichever comes first).

     I dislike paywalls. Even on sites I enjoy and to which I’d appreciate unfettered access, I refuse to pay for it. I might be less averse to the practice were it not for two things:

  1. They’re all “auto-renew,” and many of them do it silently.
  2. Many site owners will sell their paying subscribers’ email addresses to others for the extra revenue.

     There are already many outfits selling collected email addresses to charities, businesses, scam artists, and others who hope to solicit wider attention. I refuse to abet the practice. Atop that, now that I no longer have a PayPal account – the “$2500 fine” scandal put an end to that — there’s no method by which I could reliably protect my credit card information…though in all candor I doubt I’d decide otherwise if there were.

     Fortunately (and happily), I don’t need money. As retirees go I’m well off. So Liberty’s Torch will be a place where what we produce is free to all men of good will. As for men of other than good will…I’m fairly sure they can find other sites more to their liking, and it wouldn’t take more than one visit here to send them off to find them.

1 comment

  1. With a simple click of the mouse, I could monetize my own blog through Goolag’s Blogger. I prefer to make my money at work and not annoy my readers with ads plastered all over the blog or constantly popping up blocking the content. The other thing I despise is when a blog post links to a another website for a reference that wants me to pay for the content. I just close both browser windows and move on to something else. If it isn’t free, it ain’t for me.

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