Late last February, visitors to the popular video game Web site IGN.com got an unwelcome surprise – the message boards had been made “Insider Only.” This was met with negative response as Insider is IGN’s subscription service, which had of late been sucking up more of the site’s once-free content.

So what caused a popular, once-free Web site like IGN to start charging to view material? Well, Insider Editor in Chief Jason Bates said it is the same Internet advertising crash that has caused many Web sites to go under or rethink business models.

While some Web sites have decided to improve ad content to make more revenue, we are seeing more and more Web sites locking up content and charging a fee. However, as is the case with IGN, many are not making their whole site subscription-based. Instead, they are offering regular “free” information, while at the same time creating exclusive content for members.

This seems like a good idea at first, but as Bates also mentioned, a Web site has to have unique content that people can not get anywhere else for this to be successful. With sites like IGN, this can be problem. Video game news is still distributed to many Web sites, and sites like Gamespot.com still give everything away free.

So, IGN must work to get exclusive news or information or create something unique on its own. But, as is the case with many former IGN visitors around the Web, the idea of “I can get it elsewhere free” is a popular one.

Yet everything seems to be going well for IGN so far. Bates said in nine months they have managed to get 50,000 subscribers. It is these same 50,000 that may have saved IGN from going the way of other Web sites when the advertising market crash-and-burn came.

Sites other than IGN have adopted this new trend as well. Visit some major newspapers’ Web sites, such as Wall Street Journal’s, and you will be greeted with the same “subscribers only” message. This trend has even gotten to the point where newly created sites are emerging with the model already in place.

Such is the case of ModernTales.com, a Web site devoted to online comic strips. For $30 a year, members can get access to more than 20 different comics, each updated weekly. ModernTales.com seems to have the idea right then, by offering unique content that you will not find anywhere else. Whether it’s worth it is up to you.

Still, the idea of Internet subscriptions poses a serious threat to the way the Internet works. Before, information was readily available, not just for general enjoyment, but for research and business as well. With more sites going subscription, this could create a lack of available resources.

It is tough to find a subscription site at less than $20 a year. If you then start to take into account all the Web sites the average Internet user visits, it becomes apparent just how fast money would disappear.

Luckily, most Internet sites are still free and the trend of subscription service has yet to become widespread. Sadly, this is at the cost of annoying pop-up ads and other gimmicks, but it beats the alternative.

Still, it seems that the days of a “free” Internet are over. Whether with time-consuming ads, pointless registrations or fees, somehow, you pay.

It is really hard to say if subscription services are a way of the future though, or just another passing trend. They certainly have saved some sites, as is the case with IGN, but they have also driven readers to other Web sites.

So, for now, the best advice is before you sign up at Web sites, search around and make sure you cannot get the information elsewhere.

Even if you can’t, make sure the site is worth every penny, because next week you may find your other favorite Web sites asking for a little in return as well.

Chris Weishaar is a sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication from Bronson.