> I really think people seem to think that since something has always been "free" that it's their God-given right that it should remain that way. Guess what, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Someone has to pay for it - it's just that everyone seems to think it should be someone else. This is the same mentality that makes our taxes climb rather than fall.
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Quoting Milton Friedman... You are right, there is no such thing as a free lunch. I think some of the philosphys of western economics are lost on the rest of the world. Since Nick N. opened this floor up, I will comment. Certainly there are a bunch of other folks with an entirely different frame of reference. I understand their plight in needin this to be a free forum. There are alot however, that could pay otherwise, that do not. If ad's can fund this thing, great. If they cannot, then folks are going to have to pay. And, if some folks cannot participate because of cost, it then lies in the owners court to subsidize those folks if he feels he must. At the same time however, you cannot diminish services to folks who are paying the money.

In a word, life sucks, and at times, it is not fair.

It is also important to note that Michel has some serious dis-economies of scale in Canada, and perhaps Quebec in particular. There are much better economies of scale in the United States. There are some obvious remedies to this situation...

> Ultimately this is all Michel's decision. There wasn't anything wrong with your original message - you disagreed with the way he handled it and you said so. Maybe people took your original post as some sort of personal attack on them (maybe they feel guilty for not paying?? Nah..). At any rate, it sure degenerated quickly.
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> Just a suggestion for people before responding:
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> If you're going to disagree with someone at least give them some valid reasons and other alternatives. Otherwise you're just complaining. It's annoying in person and it's still just as annoying in your messages. And pointless.

Some good advice there...