To some extent, I think Barlow and Dyson are confused from the get-go by the fact that so much content on the Web--including this--is now free. But that fact is rooted in the peculiar history of the Internet, not in its economics. Online magazines that give content away for free aren't worried that if they start charging, you'll start getting their magazine on the black market or from friends. They're worried that if they start charging, you'll resentfully decide that you can do without their content. In any event, periodicals are starting to charge--the Wall Street Journal, for example--and at least some people are paying. Slate, of course, plans to start charging at some point, too.