Subscription websites/Pay per view?

[Dave]

Hi everyone,

I received an email earlier regarding the new NFA Direct website, offering me temporary, free access to their new website. The majority of the site is only viewable once you have subscribed to it and paid a fee.

My own personal feeling on this is I do not agree with 'Subscription Websites' or 'Pay per view' pages as I think that the 'net should be free for all.
There is a need in certain circumstances to charge for information such as technical data, etc, but not just to surf the 'net which is what you'll find most anglers and many others do.
I thought the NFA had the makings of a good site but I feel that they have just shot themselves well and truly in the foot with this one.
I might be wrong but time will tell.

What's your opinions of Subscription websites or Pay per views [?]



Dave

 

[Geoff P]

Dave,

I had the same E-Mail and had a quick look, but I don't think I will be going back.

This is the only fishing web site I am really interested in.

As I said to you before I would be willing to pay to join this site but if I am asked for money I am usually the first behind a yorkshireman running away.

Geoff

Clean Banks Campaign member

 

[Dave]

quote:As I said to you before I would be willing to pay to join this site but if I am asked for money I am usually the first behind a yorkshireman running away.

Firstly - it wasn't a leading question by the way - I've no intention, now or in the future , of charging for access to any part of this site []

Secondly - You'll be a long waaay behind lol, even with my little legs [8D][)]

Dave

 

[everyready]

this site is there for people who fish ,is free and gives good all round information with out trying to sell you something

 

[Geoff P]

quote:Originally posted by Dave
[br
Firstly - it wasn't a leading question by the way - I've no intention, now or in the future , of charging for access to any part of this site []

Secondly - You'll be a long waaay behind lol, even with my little legs [8D][)]

Dave

Dave I know, I think you know what I mean.

Geoff

Clean Banks Campaign member

 

[teepee]

No i dont agree with subscription web sites!
we already pay inflated prices for our ISP's,

What do you get for your money regards the NFA subscription pages???
apart from being ripped off!

quote:Firstly - it wasn't a leading question by the way - I've no intention, now or in the future , of charging for access to any part of this site

Tony Blair Dave
So come on Dave how much is it going to cost us????[]

teepee.

 

[Dave]

Buck shee Tony lol



Dave

 

[AndyA]

quote:but if I am asked for money I am usually the first behind a yorkshireman running away.

now that really.....really .....really hurts me []

quote:I've no intention, now or in the future , of charging for access to any part of this site

now I feel much .... much .... better, good od ya Dave lad.

Aaaah .... soon be fishing

 

[norm]

if any site was pay per view i reccon there would be no members

just my opinion

as if you knew it was pay per view you would not have become a member in the first place

 

[esox.20]

I agree the internet should be free. If the NFA are charging then I wont be visiting. Why dont we bombard then with email saying this?.
However it seems to me that a lot of sites are considering charges. Yahoo for one has a choice free email or pay for an enlarged storage. I believe microsoft were thinking along these lines to. As time goes on more sites will jump on this band wagon. Unless we all refuse to pay and boycott them, I can see a time coming when surfing the net will be very restricted.

chill out go fishing

 

[MALC]

To Pay or Not To Pay........

Some site's should be pay to access or the owners shot at least namely the adult sites and they should also stop sending me in your face porn when not requiested [!] even Gemma gets it in her mail so i have to open and check it all [!][!]

As for all "Normal Sites" they in my opinion should be FREE

And as for THE NotForAnglers site

When the New NFA site was launched last year i joined up and had my say regards the treatment of the England Disabled Trialist's (regulars will remember)[] but even after speaking with the powers that be things were just left by them still unresolved to this day.[!][!]

Why should somebody who already pays to be an NFA member through their Fishing Club have to pay again for the rubbish that is on the site.

Big shot in the foot me thinks [!][!]

MALC

IT'S CATCHING ...BUT ARE YOU !!!

 

[Beebs]

There were a couple of websites I used to view quite a bit, but now longer visit - Autosport, which you have to give over all your details just to view their site. Why? And what do they want your details for? And another F1 site that has ridiculous amounts of pop up ads (even ones that my pop-up stopper can't filter).

There are plenty of other free web sites out there you can get the same information from, so why should I have to give out my name, address and personal details or have unwanted advertising flashed up in front of my face?

Got to applaud the way you run this site, Dave. It still has all the information you can want, but still manages to retain a 'Community atmosphere' (but there again, Royston Vasey's a community!!) without resorting to ramming ads down your throat.

 

[Dave]

Malc, use the Mailwasher program in the 'Freebies' section to filter the spam from yours and Gemma's mail before you download it []



Dave

 

[AlanP]

Think about it for a minute, why should a website be free to the end-user?


Would you expect a book, newspaper or magazine to be free?


There are some exceptions to this I would add - Public Service Sites such as Local Government, Tourist, etc., and maybe the NFA site should fall into this category. Also, sites that belong to a business as they are being used in an attempt to sell you something - either directly over the net, or by persuading you to go out and buy their product - and (hopefully) recover their costs that way.


But for general, information, discussion type sites about a specific "minority" interest why should they be free?

They aren't free to setup, host and administer, as I'm sure Dave will confirm.

There is no "right" to have a totally "free of charge" internet. In fact virtually all sites run at a loss, and more of them will be looking to recover their costs in the future. The exception being Adult Entertainment ([] the "industry name for Porn and Gambling) which is very profitable.

Until now we have been spoilt with the amount of free material available to us via the Internet. But, if you think about it, the organisations that are providing the "free information" are using exacly the same method of marketing as Drug Dealers really.

Give it away free until the user is dependant on it and then CHARGE.

Whether we, as their consumers, choose to pay for access to all/some of their content is another question.

As regards MDs, Dave has publically stated that he has no intention of charging, for which I think we should all be grateful.

What we shouldn't do is take this for granted and treat it as "the norm" - because there is no such thing as a free lunch. This site, and all websites, are costing somebody, something. If the website owner decides to charge (or not to charge) that is their decision, and unless it is a Public Service Site, they should be free to make that choice - as we are free to pay & use, or go to a different site.

AlanP

 

[norm]

alanp
i agree we would pay to buy a book etc
but we would not pay to walk into the shop eg(13.99 a month freeserve)

the sites on the net are usually set up as a bit fun at first as i am sure this site was
but this site as many others has took off and is a well used site
(prob getting more hits than most big sites)

i don't think for one min that fishing sites are minority interest sites -there are thousands of people every day looking for fishing sites

when fun sites start to charge for entering that is the day the internet will die a death
and every one knows it

i for one will not be paying anymore than i do now for the internet

so when the day comes when all sites start to charge for the net i will just get disconnected as fast as i got connected

just my opinion
what does every one else think?

(or is it just me being a tight ass ) (LOL)

 

[martin.]

Norm you are just a tight ass LOL

tight lines.
martin.
talk fishing flip football

 

[Larry]

I Wont pay for anything on the web if i have to pay i stay away,&the nfa site i wont be visiting. i pay enough just to browse.

Anyone who stops learning is old.
Wether at 20 or 80.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
Cheer's Larry AKA as toma say's Shimano Man The Tackle Tart

 

[kerching]

Well I know im new around here but i agree with (whoops I forgot his name)who said why do we ? we should get everything fore free but i logged on the nfa site a long time ago and when I got an email telling me I had to pay I went back the thing that decided me was that I could pay part of my fee (10)to coaching kids in angling and i agree with that.

I was not sure about my extra 5 but i went on the shop and bought my usual stuff and got a discount of 1.50 so I guess I will make my fiver back soon

what now [V]me off is that lots of the pages on the site are still free to view but on Friday I got a ppreview press release about nfa asking for applications to trials for the junior england team

so all in all I think it is good value

My tenner is helping to get kids off the street and learning to fish
and that makes me smile

 

[AlanP]

Norm


The question of whether you should have to pay to access the internet via an ISP is different to whether an individual site should be free-to-view or pay-to-view. I was putting my point about the sites issue rather than the ISP issue, as the start of the Topic was about the NFA site.

As a matter of interest, if the 13.99 a month for Freeserve (or whoever) is a bone of contention why pay it?

I used to be on that service from Freeserve and realised that I wasn't using it enough to justify the cost and that a Pay-As-You-Go service would work out better. Now I'm lucky as I can access the internet from work so am not totally reliant on dial-up access from home so it works out ok for me that way.

Anyway, the 13.99 is your "entry fee" basically isn't it. Once you have access you can go where you like, sticking to free-to-view sites if that is your choice.

As to your question of whether we would pay to go into the shop before we bought the book - How many of us have paid an entrance fee to get into a Tackle Show/Sale, Car Boot Sale, Auction, Jumble Sale even? That is the same principle surely, we pay to get in before we decide if there is anything we might want to buy/use?


I'm not picking on you Norm, sorry if it comes across that way.

I work for an internet software company and I spend most of my time working with, and talking to, ISPs and large hosting companies.

I am totally puzzled really as to why the Internet is perceived as something different to any other service we use (and pay for). The amount of money spent on providing the service is enormous. They are providing a service, why should companies not be able to charge the "market rate" for that service?


If anybody feels strongly enough that the charge their ISP makes is un-reasonable there is nothing stopping them from setting up their own ISP and offering a totally free service. I'm sure that they would attract lots of customers and it would be in keeping with the philosophy of "a free internet for all".

Oh, just one thing, they would need a few million quid starting capital obviously for the equipment, and then a few million each year for the running and staff costs. Or, are all the staff supposed to work for nothing as it in the interests of a "free internet for all"?

Seriously, if anybody would like to do something along these lines, for NO PAY, there are various organisations and pressure groups run by volunteers who campaign about such issues. One that a colleague is involved in concentrates on Intellectual Property Rights & Copyright issues - e.g. who owns the rights to the book, MP3 file once it is in the public domain (on a website) etc., and, is reading it illegal as well as publishing it? They are always looking for more people.

AlanP

 

[norm]

Alanp
thanks for not picking on me (LOL)

i have freeserve anytime as i am on the net very regular and if i am not then my wife or my son is (i think this is my cheepest option)

people come onto this site with the intentions of asking other anglers around the country there advice

they are not entering this site as they would a takle show with the intention of buying anything (at a massive dicount)

i for one come on this site for one reason and one reason alone and that is its members
i dont bother with most of the other sites anymore that i am a member of

you get the odd serious person with no sence of humer but most of the members are fun and you can have a good laugh at some of the postings and some good advice

a few million to start an isp is that all were do i sign

Alanp i am not picking on you either (LOL)

one question thou does the adverts put on to various sites not generate the income ?

if not why advertise for some other company free

for instance bottom lefthand corner ---- click here and support the site

come on boys lets call it a day and just take the peeee out of each other instead of being to serious

catch ya later
norm