From: <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 07:35:36 +0000

Ari,

In any freemium business (which is, in essence, what I am proposing) there
is a basic service provided for free and a set of premium services for
payment. One of the keys to a successful freemium business is a constant
shuffling of the line between what is provided for free and what is paid
for because a premium service today could become commoditised and become a
basic service tomorrow - at the same time, technological advances create
opportunities for new premium services which allows the basic-premium line
to be re-drawn.

I am proposing a baseline where the basic service is an ability to read the
content, online, free of charge. Without this baseline, access is not
'open'. But it is a baseline that could edge forward, provided sufficient
income is coming from premium services (which, we have to understand, must
cover the cost of providing the free service too).

So, to answer your question, with a read-only baseline, premium services
could include the ability to cut'n'paste, to print, to save for offline
reading. I'd rather not specify the type of format that would provide these
services, that is for the publisher to decide and there is no easy answer
(it is technically possible, for example, to offer a read-only PDF file).
In our case, we create a read-only file using HTML and offer PDF, e-Pub,
.csv and excel file formats for our premium editions.

As to who would need premium services - well, anyone who needs to do more
than simply read content. I would hazard that there is a sizeable audience
for doing more than simply reading online: in our case, we've found that
15% of all accesses to our content is to premium versions. This might sound
small, but since we launched our free, read-only service in 2012, the total
number of accesses to what are now premium versions is larger than the
total number of accesses we had before. So we've succeeded in reaching a
much, much larger audience and have sufficient demand for premium editions
to keep the books balanced.

Hope this helps.
Toby

Toby Green
Public Affairs and Communications Directorate
OECD
Winner The Academic and Professional Publisher Award 2017

On 17 Sep 2017, at 21:01, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: Ari Belenkiy <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2017 11:20:21 -0700

Toby,

May I ask what the "premium version" is? Just easier to read? A PDF file?

And could you give an example of who might need it and why?

Ari Belenkiy

Vancouver BC
Canada

On Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 9:40 AM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2017 06:08:47 +0000
>
> Hi Arie,
>
> Thanks for your questions.
>
> Yes, I am suggesting a model where services are designed for different
> stakeholders and they pay for them.
>
> Your question (why would publishers do this) is good and I often hear it.
> My answer is this: the margins publishers enjoy today are under pressure,
> especially from policy makers and customers. Eventually, this pressure will
> win. So, as a publisher, what to do? Wait, milk and delay change for as
> long as possible? Or move first, grabbing a PR bonus and a head start on
> the competition?
>
> Now, to your second question. Readers. In an unbundled world, I can see
> three types of reader. The largest group with be individuals who are
> satisfied with the free, read-only version; they pay nothing. The next
> largest group will be those at large institutions (universities, companies
> etc) and their employer might purchase premium versions, on annual
> subscription, on their behalf because there is value in the utility of the
> premium features. Then there will be some who need the utility of the
> premium versions but are not at a subscribing institution - they will
> pay-as-they-go (like buying a book today).
>
> Best,
> Toby
>
> Toby Green
> Public Affairs and Communications Directorate
> OECD
> Winner The Academic and Professional Publisher Award 2017
>
> On 15 Sep 2017, at 01:04, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Ari Belenkiy <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2017 00:16:03 -0700
>
> Toby,
>
> Did I miss something: you suggest to pay for every item separately, like
> airlines do for our breakfasts and suitcases?
>
> Why would the publisher reduce prices for reading individual articles?
> Whom do you bundle us, readers, with?
>
> Ari Belenkiy
>
> Vancouver BC
> Canada
>
> On Sun, Sep 10, 2017 at 10:45 AM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> From: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2017 12:40:49 +0000
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I published an opinion piece in Learned Publishing last week and it has
>> attracted a fair amount of attention on Twitter and I wonder if those on
>> this list might be interested. The article presents evidence about the
>> current lack of success for the green and gold open access models, suggests
>> the reasons why and if we shouldn't look to change direction. For those
>> interested, here's a link: https://goo.gl/KPh4Uk
>>
>> I'll be at the ALPSP Conference next week and look forward to seeing
>> anyone on this list who might be going.
>>
>> Toby
>>
>> Toby Green
>> Public Affairs and Communications Directorate
>> OECD
>> Winner The Academic and Professional Publisher Award 2017
>>
>