Maybe you, like me, don't really believe in paper anymore, and prefer to get your information over the Internet. So you're subscribed to a handful of newspapers and magazines, some which require a subscription fee. The Wall Street Journal asks a $50 US yearly subscription fee ($20 more than the paper delivery), but allows you access to over 100,000 articles, other sources not covered in the paper version, an "interactive personal site" with your stock portfolio and filtered news, and an interactive job database. You get to save trees and get more for your dollar, unless you have to read WSJ on the commuter train and don't want to print it out.
A pay-per-view site isn't just for news distribution anymore. Sports sites now hawk paid memberships that bring you audio/video and "special" stats. Didn't get an encyclopaedia with your computer, and prefer the Internet as your research tool? The Electronic Library lets you browse their index of newspapers, magazines, international newswires, books, maps, and photographs for only $9.95 US per month or $59.95 US per year. And in case I'd forgotten, after a Yahoo! search of "pay-per-view," I was graphically reminded that plenty of porn sites require payment. In the same search I even found a site that offers a "pay-per-view database of Scottish genealogical records dating as far back as 1553."
How can I implement subscription-based or pay-per-view access on my or a client's site?
Subscription access is normally assigned by having the customer fill out a form. Their payment gets processed, and your site assigns them (or lets them choose) a unique username and password. Also built into the scripting and database would be how long that subscription is viable and what areas of the site the customer is allowed to see.
On the cheaper end of subscriptions is a site like BestFares, a travel magazine that offers extra information to those who subscribe. Subscribers also receive the benefits of a monthly print magazine as well as membership in BestFares travel club, which claims to get the best fares (hence their name). Once you fill out their online form, the information and payment information are manually processed by a human within a few days. You can get a temporary username and password online, but the real username and password are printed every month in the magazine. Unlike a site that uses a complex database and user/password encryption method or cookies, the BestFares site seems to have member access in its own subdirectory, and has a simple .htaccess file that asks the user to login. While this method saves the cost of complex scripting and site development, the wait for the registration to be completed and the password assigned could turn off some users.
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